The idea of forming a Tax Increment Financing district comes even as a developer moves forward with plans for the estimated $36 million adaptive reuse of the vacant sprawling mill complex on Garfield Avenue. The new owner, Litchfield-based Park Lane Group, is planning 90 apartments, a mix of market-rate and affordable housing, inside buildings originally constructed to house rows of silk looms. While the coronavirus pandemic slowed movement with the development of the mill, Park Lane Group principal Ted Lazarus said plenty of work has been going on behind the scenes to secure funding through a mix of sources that include state and federal historic tax credits available for adaptive reuse projects such as this one. Lazarus also had worked with city officials, including Grants Coordinator Adriana Reyes, to secure a $1 million award from the state Department of Economic and Community Development Brownfield Grants Program. There is no city match required and the money will help defray costs of remediation of contaminants at the site. Lazarus said his company is finalizing funding for the project and performing further environmental studies of the property.
https://www.theday.com/local-news/20211218/new-london-to-target-garfield-avenue-area-for-infrastructure-improvements