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03/22/2017 02:51 PMAn application for a demolition permit has been submitted to tear down Branford's former Atlantic Wire factory and make way for Atlantic Wharf, a 205-unit residential and commercial mixed-use development. The new Atlantic Wharf will rise on 7.5 acres of former industrial land overlooking the Branford River.
Cherry Hill Construction of North Branford applied for the permit on March 13 at the Branford Building Department. The town's legal notification of permit application will be published in The Sound on Thursday, March 23, according to an office representative.
From that point, the clock begins on a required 30-day window of action to fulfill any testing or reports required by the town's Building Inspector. During the permit application notification period, which includes a required visible posting of notice to demolish on the building's exterior, objections which give a reason why the building cannot be demolished can also be submitted to the town's building department.
The 30-day window closes on April 21, 2017 and a town demo permit, if issued, will be considered active as long as demolition work begins within six months from that date.
After nearly a year of review, the final Atlantic Wharf site plan was approved by Branford's Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) in January of 2016. An intended spring 2016 project start was then stalled by a civil suit brought in February 2016 by a Wilford Avenue property owner. The suit, brought against the PZC and Atlantic Wharf developer Metro Star LLC (Milford), was dismissed earlier this year.
Located at the corner of Montowese and Meadow Streets, the Atlantic Wire mill began operating in 1906. It was permanently shut down for site contamination problems in the early 2008, including pollutants detected in the Branford river.
The rambling factory, which includes a lengthy, looming presence on Meadow Street, will be replaced a complex of 10 three-story buildings with a maximum allowable building height of 40 feet. Nine of the buildings will occupy the former factory land while one will be built across the way at 256 Meadow Street (presently an empty lot).
At the time Metro Star's site plan was approved, Phase One of construction called for constructing the first building 256 Meadow St. Meanwhile, the former Atlantic Wire factory would be dismantled to make way for Phase Two.
MetroStar Properties Executive Manager and founder Robert Smith Jr. has described the new Atlantic Wharf complex as one which will draw millennials and others seeking high end homes in a transit-oriented area. Atlantic Wharf's location puts it within walking distance of bus lines and the town center as well as the newly-expanded Amtrak rail station. In December 2016, the station opened a second platform connected to a new drop off and up-and-over pedestrian bridge at the platform, accessed at the intersection of Meadow and Kirkham Streets. The expanded services increase the frequency of Shoreline East daily commuter and weekend rail offerings along the shoreline and connections to Metro North and Amtrak at Union Station in New Haven.
Atlantic Wharf will also include a residential underground parking garage with 195 parking spaces below and 78 above (street level). The complex will also install a new road, facing the Branford River and accessed from a realigned Meadow Street/Church Street intersection and a new four-way intersection at Montowese Street and Pine Orchard Road.