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NORWALK, Conn. The next phase of a long-awaited Norwalk development kicked off Friday with officials and shovels on the concrete sidewalk of Wall Street.
"I don't think I have ever been as excited as I am for a demolition," State Sen. Bob Duff said of the impending destruction of a building on the corner of Isaac and Wall streets.
Duff, Mayor Richard Moccia, Emil Albanese of the Norwalk Redevelopment Authority and Ken Olsen, president of POKO Partners, were there to celebrate the application for a demolition permit filed on Sept. 1 by POKO Partners and IWSR Developers for the former Merchants Bank, located at 61-65 Wall St. It's part of the 6.3-acre redevelopment site where Wall Street Place has been planned since 2005, when Alex Knopp was mayor.
"To paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is the end of the beginning," said Mayor Richard Moccia.
Plans for Wall Street Place include a phased development of 380 apartments, 870 parking spaces, 60,000 square feet of commercial and retail space and a small performing arts center. "The application process is at a minimum 120 days," said Olsen. That allows time for residents and businesses in the area to voice their concerns and for utility companies to look things over. Financing for the project is "mostly there."
Moccia commented on the "stick-to-itiveness" of Olsen. Duff seconded the thought. "Over the past few years it's been very difficult for developers to hang on and overcome the financial difficulties that so many developers and communities have faced," he said.
The development is planned to coincide with the building of Waypointe and with 95/7. Albanese said, "This is the transformation we have all dreamt of and planned for the last five years."
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