Possible buyer emerges for historic Reid and Hughes Building in downtown Norwich

NORWICH — The Reid and Hughes property, a prominently vacant building in downtown Norwich, has inched closer to life.

City Council Monday morning gave the green light to the Norwich Community Development Corporation to apply for a $500,000 Brownfield Remediation Grant from the state’s Community Investment Fund to help remediate and redevelop the Reid and Hughes building on Main Street.

Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said the funding is needed to take care of asbestos, lead pipes, and other things that aren’t up to modern code compliance.

“You’d want to take anything and everything out of there that is considered substandard today,” Nystrom said.

As for the special meeting, Nystrom said the city was required to pass resolutions for the Community Investment Fund, but the applications were only finished Thursday, after the second monthly meeting.

Before that, the Norwich City Council passed an ordinance during the regular July 18 meeting that discharged the mortgage from the defunct Women’s Institute Realty of Connecticut to further the sale process for Heritage Housing, Inc.

At that meeting, Kevin Brown, president of the Norwich Community Development Corporation, said he’s expecting a closure on the sale within a month or so.

Pourings and Passages book store'This place cried out to be a bookstore.' Inside Danielson's award-winning used book shop

The importance of getting the building developed relates to both the nostalgia of the former Reid and Hughes department store, and the prominent placement in downtown Norwich, Brown said.

The plan for the Reid and Hughes building is to create 17 apartments and a first-floor retail space.

An interested buyer for Reid and Hughes

Heritage Housing, Inc. is the developer interested in the Reid and Hughes building. It already owns the Wauregan Building across the street.

“We have an interest in continuing to see that part of Norwich getting redeveloped, so it’s a natural fit for us,” Heritage President David R. McCarthy said.

Brown said working with a developer with a vested interest in downtown bodes well for the project.

Road constructionNorwich just committed to a Complete Streets policy. What does that mean for city roads?

“Despite all the fits and starts the Reid and Hughes has been through over the years, this is a real opportunity to finally turn it around,” Brown said.

The Wauregan Building, once a grand hotel that Abraham Lincoln stayed at,  is now apartments and retail space. Heritage Housing bought the building under the Wauregan Owner LLC name from the entity that redeveloped it, but it has continued to do well, maintaining full occupancy.

McCarthy is also still caring for the historic building per the city’s request, as crews have been repainting the trim and other outside fixtures through the summer.

“It’s a really nice property, and we’re happy to have it in our portfolio,” McCarthy said.

Route 82 roundaboutsLosing livelihoods: What it's like to have your shop seized for a state traffic project

Once the signing happens on Reid and Hughes, McCarthy said it’ll be another year until renovations are started, which could take “the better part of a year to complete.” He said his company isn’t interested in other Norwich properties right now, as the Reid and Hughes building needs heavy renovation, and, as a historic building, must be renovated to certain legal requirements.

Alderwoman Stacy Gould, like all the members of the city council, is excited the project is moving forward.

“We were basically told you can’t take it down; figure out how to do something with it, (McCarthy has come forward), and we have to support him moving forward,” Gould said.

President Pro Tempore Joe DeLucia said Monday he’s gotten negative emails toward the project, with those residents wishing to tear it down, still burnt by the Women’s Institute project falling through. However, as the city has gone to court with the state in the past, the building will stand, and the city needs to work with it.

Revitalizing downtown NorwichEmpty storefronts plague Norwich's downtown and beyond. What is the city doing about it?

“Sometimes a project doesn’t come to fruition until the timing is right,” DeLucia said.

DeLucia also hopes work on the Reid and Hughes and other downtown projects will provoke other property owners to do something positive with their properties.

Looking forward on other projects, Brown said the city is in talks with a developer on the Flat Iron building and the former downtown Dunkin Donuts, and work on the 42 market-rate apartments for 77-91 Main St. should be underway soon. Work on redeveloping the former Elks club and Majestic Rose into a boutique hotel has also resumed.

An application for $10 million to the state for redeveloping lower Broadway, and an $8 million grant application to eventually help fund a new public safety complex were also approved Monday.

“We all want to see the ribbon cutting, but you don’t get there by snapping your fingers,” Brown said. “A lot of hard work has gotten us to the point where we’ve got movement up and down Main Street.”

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Reid and Hughes building on Norwich Main Street may have a buyer