Hope burgeoning on Steel Point deal

9/19/07
If there was one word that summed up this week’s announcement that Bridgeport is finally ready to get moving on the massive Steel Point project, it was splayed across the developer’s glossy executive summary: “Finally.”
Yes, decades after the project was first discussed and years after the last homes there were demolished, the city has a deal in place. There are some steps to take before shovels hit the ground, but all the property is in one piece and all the cards are lined up to make it happen.
The plan, as always, is to build a huge development of housing, shops, restaurants, etc. The face of Bridgeport would never be the same if anything close to the proposal’s lofty goals are realized.
And, of course, Steel Point (which we’re apparently now calling “Steelpoint Harbor”) is only one of three huge developments and various stages in the city, though it is by far the largest. The former Pequonnock Apartments site near Harbor Yard and the former Remington site in the South End each have their own megaprojects in the works. The hope for better days is palpable.
Then there are all the questions. The developers have been forthright in their desire to hire locally whenever possible, and reach out to the community. It’s a laudable objective, and one that needs to be followed-up on. Only by making this a project for all Bridgeport, and not just the well-to-do, can it be a long-term success.
Then there’s the thorniest issue, affordable housing. Developers aren’t in business to warm people’s hearts; they want a maximum return on investment, and that usually requires a bare minimum of housing units that won’t bring in healthy profits. But a project of this size also demands sensitivity to local needs, and this city, and this region, need affordable housing. This is not an issue we can scrimp on for the purpose of pleasing investors.
Backers insist that only by building back the city’s tax base can we raise the city from the depths, lower the mill rate and lure people back to the state’s largest city. And they have a point. But there needs to be a payoff, and it needs to be directed at the people who live here and work hard every day. They’ve waited long enough — this project must, first and foremost, be for them.