Bridgeport again on the losing end

1/18/09
What is left to say about another letdown in Bridgeport? A developer comes to town promising big things; city leaders envision a long-awaited turnaround. Instead, there's nothing but a dusty, empty lot. Same old story.

This time it was a celebrated visit from NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson that set the process in motion. Since his playing days ended, Johnson and his development company, Canyon Johnson Urban Funds, have delivered multimillion-dollar projects in the kind of inner-city neighborhoods other businesses wouldn't touch.

So when he came to Bridgeport and toured a development site in 2007 with then-Mayor John M. Fabrizi, the excitement was palpable. On a lot used for parking adjacent to the stadium and arena at Harbor Yard, the investment team talked about a massive complex involving homes, retail and entertainment. Visions of Bridgeport's rebirth as a consumer destination, as well as millions of dollars annually in tax payments, ran rampant.

Then, for a long time, came silence. While the developers and investors tried to attract retail tenants and get the project on solid footing, the national economy collapsed underneath them. What had looked so promising quickly turned into a debacle.

So no one was all that surprised recently when word came out the project was dead. The dreams of a hotel, movie theater, townhouses and retail were out the window. Along with the continuing inaction at the former Remington Shaver factory and Steel Point , Bridgeport is 0-for-3 on large-scale developments.

City officials have more immediate concerns, of course, like closing a budget deficit before the fiscal year ends. But there's no point minimizing this loss. Donald Eversley, the city's economic development director, said the Canyon Johnson proposal "was never a project as far as we were concerned." That comes as news to everyone paying attention the last few years.

The development focus returns, then, to smaller-scale deals, like the continuing rehabilitation of downtown office buildings into apartments and the growing chain of new restaurants on Fairfield Avenue. If there's a positive spin on the economic calamity, it's that these projects continue, albeit slowly, even through the slowdown.

If Bridgeport is ever to become self-sufficient again, it likely won't be on the strength of one or two mega-projects. Slow and steady is about the best city residents can hope for these days.