First Selectman Michael Freda is looking at the new year as an opportunity to usher more new businesses and developments into town. He expects several new projects to be completed or break ground this year.

"I'm playing the economic development ballgame on varying levels: retail, housing, industrial and commercial, and restaurant development," Freda said. "I'm a guy that likes challenges, and that's how I'm looking at this. Failure is not an option."

Several new projects are planned for along two of the town's major roads. A Panera is expected to open on Universal Drive, adjacent to a Chick-fil-A, and Freda said construction should be completed this spring. A new Hilton Inn and Suites, originally approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2019 but delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, is also expected to break ground later this year.

"The hotel project next door had been stalled because of the fact that coming out of a pandemic, occupancy rates at hotels have declined significantly," said Freda. "But after meeting with the owners of the hotel, they're fully committed, and ground should be broken sometime in 2023 for the Hampton Inn to be built."

Freda said he also anticipates new additions in the shopping district. By the beginning of March, Freda said he plans to make "a major announcement" on the arrival of a new "very recognizable" retail chain store at 410 Universal Drive, the site of the Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) that relocated to Hamden Plaza in January 2022.

A 7.28-acre parcel of land at 1000 Universal Drive is also being considered as a location for a new retail plaza. Previously, the property was the site of a plant owned by the baked goods distribution company Otis Spunkmeyer. Freda said he is currently working with the property owner to sketch out the new shopping center.

Freda said these plans will go into the process "to finalize Universal Drive," in finding new stores and tenants to replace formerly closed down and relocated stores.

"Once we complete the hotel, the finishing of Panera, 1000 Universal Drive…and getting the new retail at the [previous] DSW, then I only have to deal with a couple of empty spaces down in the Best Buy shopping center, which we know we're going to fill," Freda said. "My goal there is to also find a tenant for where the old Panera Bread store was."

Freda also identified Washington Avenue as another major roadway for greater development of retail stores and residential spaces.

"My focus this year, in addition to other projects, is really making sure Washington Avenue has more development in some of the empty locations," Freda said. "Each one of those empty locations has a story behind it that has been a prohibitive factor in getting things done, and that's why I look at this as a tremendous challenge."

Among the most crucial projects for Washington Avenue, Freda said he is looking to fill the empty properties on the south side, specifically one near the driveway to the Amazon warehouse. The town has "some exciting development prospects for those two sections," according to Freda, and he is confident that "something is definitely going to happen on both of those sites," by the end of the year, which will be "new and unique" additions to the town.

In fulfilling the goals of the town's Affordable Housing Plan, Freda said a 225-unit apartment building at 445 Washington Ave. will also be completed this year. The project will consist of 45 affordable units intended to provide young families and recent college graduates, specifically those saddled with student debt loans, with affordable choices. The building will also include retail stores, including a restaurant, a coffee shop, and other establishments.

Freda said it was important to gather members of the town's Affordable Housing Plan Advisory Committee who could bring in a multitude of perspectives to consider plans regarding housing, senior citizens, and economic development in the process that would go into the new apartment building. A public hearing on the project at 445 Washington Ave. will be held at a Board of Selectmen meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26.

"We've put together a group of multi-diverse people with varying points of view," he said. "They put a lot of time into this, and their recommendations are what we're going to look at on the 26th, and the public can comment on it"

Another project on Washington Avenue includes locating a new tenant at the North Haven Fairgrounds, the site of what used to be a Howard Johnson's hotel.

"The North Haven Fair Association has been great to work with, the owner of the old building has been great to work with, and I have a major developer… that's developing the site, and I'm hoping we could finally get that site moving."

Freda said he hopes to see movement at other undeveloped parcels, including the south side of Stop and Shop, a replacement for the relocated Dino's Seafood, the former site of Sips Coffee and Cafe, the latter at which the First Selectman has "got to get something moving."

Other roadways identified for development include Valley Service Road, which has two empty slots for potential retail tenants. These new projects pose another challenge as the empty parcels lie on land designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as being in a "national flood zone," according to Freda.

"Even though 74 percent of Valley Service Road is in a national flood zone, 26 percent of it could be developed, and I'm focused on that…to see what we can do," he said.

Freda pointed out that more warehouse space should be made available in town, recognizing that distribution companies want to expand and construct new facilities. Freda said he recently met personally with associates of a distribution company that is now negotiating plans to establish a new warehouse site in town.

"There's a great need here for additional warehouse space, so I see some opportunities, maybe on State Street and even in Defco Park, to have warehouse distribution facilities being built in these industrial areas."