A New Era Could Soon Come to the Beecher Street Building

For the past year, the Beecher Street building has stood vacant as town officials looked for a way to fill the space formerly serving as home of the Board of Education offices. The building may be vacant no longer.

Members of the Southington Town Council on Monday set up a public hearing regarding a potential sale of the former Beecher Street School for $220,000. The agreement would sell the property to Beecher Street, LLC with plans to turn the school and surrounding area into a 30-unit residential complex for elderly and affordable housing.

“The plan presented is to retain the original building and renovate it, as well as putting an addition on it,” said Southington Town Attorney Mark Sciota.

The building at 49 Beecher Street has remained unused since the Board of Education gave up control to the town last fall after making the move to the Southington Municipal Center. The building itself was first built in 1911, according to town records, and will require various remediation and renovation for use.

In an initial Request For Proposals for the building, there were no bidders, officials said, but a second RFP helped lead to a plan for the building and property.

According to Sciota, the plan for the property calls for development of 30 units of elderly housing including a 30-percent dedication to affordable housing. The sale would require a financial stipulation that would allow the company to seek state financial aid for property redevelopment and also requires an 8-24 referral to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

“If approved, (Beecher Street, LLC) would be able to move forward in applying for financial contingency,” Sciota said. “Once that is obtained, we’d be looking at a closing date for sale of the property in September 2014.”

The Democrats on the council presented concerns on Monday, however, voting against the referral and saying they are concerned that at $220,000, the town is not receiving proper value with the sale.

The 1.76-acre parcel is assessed at $561,750 in all, including buildings on the property, according to information available through the Southington Town Assessor’s Office.

“On behalf of caucus, we feel the property is more valuable than the offer in front of us (this evening),” said Minorty Leader Christopher Palmieri. “We feel it would be more prudent for the town to hold off and see if there are better offers out there.”

The town will hold a public hearing on the matter during the Sept. 9 Town Council meeting, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Public Assembly Room at the Southington Municipal Center.

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