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Torrington is applying for a state brownfield grant for $1.5 million. If received, the money will be used to demolish some of the more dilapidated portions of the Hotchkiss property on Water Street and remove hazardous material from it, as well as the adjacent site on Church Street. A proposal to use the properties for a housing development with retail space was presented to the city last year.

Torrington is applying for a state brownfield grant for $1.5 million. If received, the money will be used to demolish some of the more dilapidated portions of the Hotchkiss property on Water Street and remove hazardous material from it, as well as the adjacent site on Church Street. A proposal to use the properties for a housing development with retail space was presented to the city last year.

Torrington is applying for a state brownfield grant for $1.5 million. If received, the money will be used to demolish some of the more dilapidated portions of the Hotchkiss property on Water Street and remove hazardous material from it, as well as the adjacent site on Church Street. A proposal to use the properties for a housing development with retail space was presented to the city last year.

Torrington is applying for a state brownfield grant for $1.5 million. If received, the money will be used to demolish some of the more dilapidated portions of the Hotchkiss property on Water Street and remove hazardous material from it, as well as the adjacent site on Church Street. A proposal to use the properties for a housing development with retail space was presented to the city last year.

Torrington is applying for a state brownfield grant for $1.5 million. If received, the money will be used to demolish some of the more dilapidated portions of the Hotchkiss property on Water Street and remove hazardous material from it, as well as the adjacent site on Church Street. A proposal to use the properties for a housing development with retail space was presented to the city last year.

TORRINGTON — City leaders moved forward with a plan to demolish and clean up portions of the former Hotchkiss Mill property, recommended by Economic Development Director Rista Malanca.

The plan requires Torrington to apply for a $1.5 million grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, from its Municipal Brownfield Grant program.

The brownfield grant proposal moves forward a plan to develop the property at 199 Water St. and 229 Church St.

In August 2021, a development group led by Paul Janerico, owner of Water’s Way and Paydirt LLC, presented the City Council with a concept design of the properties at 199 Water St., formerly known as the Hotchkiss Bros. factory, north to 229 Church St., formerly known as the Minetto building.

Malanca’s proposal calls for “selective demolition” of the buildings that cannot be salvaged, as well as removal of hazardous materials. The CT State Historic Preservation Office has reviewed and approved the demolition plan, she said.

According to Malanca, phase one of the redevelopment project will be the adaptive reuse the former office building, a 10,000-square-foot brick structure located on the southerly portion of the property closest to Stop & Shop.

“This building will be a mixed-use building containing approximately eight market-rate residential units and 2,500 square feet of commercial space at the ground level,” Malanca wrote in her recommendation. “This phase will also include the grading and stabilization of the site, and construction of a parking lot to serve phase one of the development project. All future development will be designed, approved, and completed in additional phases.

“This phased approach addresses the environmental justice and public safety concerns that currently exist on this property. The demolition of the vacant buildings will reduce blighted conditions that have attracted vandalism and stymied private investment,” Malanca wrote.

According to the project presented by Janerico last year, the plan calls for 155 apartments, ranging from studios to four-bedroom units, as well as a retail store area, restaurants, and amenities for the tenants such as dog-washing stations, a gym, a community room, a swimming pool and hot tub, according to the concept drawings.

Mayor Elinor Carbone, who worked with Water’s Way on the preliminary plans, said last year that Janerico’s proposal is not affordable housing, but will be sold at market value. She also said the existing properties collect little tax revenue, and that the project is a way to continue the city’s mission to revitalize the city and provide better housing for people seeking a home in Torrington.

“The current tax revenue is $15,183, and with a cost analysis, to retain some semblance of safety, those costs far exceed $15,000,” the mayor said. “A market analysis we did asked us where we wanted to focus our investments, and the analysis shows there is a demand for multifamily housing, and that people supported the need for 288 additional apartments in Torrington — not single-family housing, but apartments.

Emily M. Olson is the community editor for the Torrington Register Citizen, the New Haven Register and the Middletown Press.

She is a 1997 graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a degree in English and a minor in journalism.

She started her career at the Patent Trader newspaper in Westchester County, NY in 1998. After a brief period as a reporter with the Register Citizen in Torrington in 1999, she joined the former Housatonic Publications group as a reporter. She was managing editor of the former Litchfield Enquirer and helped run the weekly newspapers at Housatonic and the Litchfield County Times. She returned to the Register Citizen in 2009.