The plan is still in preliminary stages, but the town’s economic development council recently endorsed it for municipal tax abatements after concluding it would add value to Colchester. The Jasko Zelman LLC partnership’s plan would create three 24-apartment buildings and three 36-apartment buildings, all served by a new loop road that would connect to Norwich Avenue just east of Mill Street. Typically, the alternative is to lose development to neighboring towns while receiving little or no revenue on vacant land, they contend. The vacant Colchester property, for instance, generates less than $15,000 a year in taxes. By the fourth year after construction, Zelman said, the apartment complex would begin paying more than 10 times that, followed by steady increases in later years. Developers also argue that building desirable housing brings more prospective customers to local businesses, and generally helps build a town’s future.
https://www.theday.com/business/20221015/developers-look-to-colchester-as-apartment-market-for-commuters-to-new-london/