Foreign interests eye potential manufacturing sites in region
A delegation from China’s Shandong Province toured the former Norwich Hospital property in late April. More recently, a Chinese group looked at land the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe owns on Route 32 in Waterford as well as at sites in Rhode Island’s Quonset Business Park.
Emissaries from Korea, Tibet and Ireland also have visited the region, Tony Sheridan, president and chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, said Wednesday.
“All of a sudden, there’s keen interest in eastern Connecticut,” he said.
So far, none of the foreign interest has yielded any formal agreements.
The Chinese delegation that toured the Preston property was following up on a previous visit in December, according to Robert Congdon, the town’s first selectman. Weeks after the delegation’s April 27 visit, the Mohegan Tribe signed a preliminary agreement to develop the site, effectively removing it from the market.
“We never received anything from them formally,” Congdon said, referring to the Chinese delegation.
He said he later heard that the group was interested in finding a site for a tire-manufacturing plant, among other things.
“That’s not the sort of thing we’re interested in,” Sheridan said. “We’re looking for high-end small manufacturing — software, cleaner manufacturing, tourism. The Chinese gave a big presentation at the governor’s tourism convention in April, but it’s not just the Chinese. A whole bunch of other countries are interested in us, too.”
In September, a Chinese group looked at a 220-acre site the Mashantuckets own at 607 Mohegan Ave. Parkway in Waterford’s Quaker Hill section. The land is tucked between Route 32 and the Thames River. The tribe, owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino, pitched the site in a report that includes a map showing “conceptual development” of the property.
The map shows areas designated for 115 houses on quarter-acre lots, 1-acre house lots, 90 condominium units, retail, restaurants and on the river, a boat launch, a marina and “coastal public access.”
The property currently is zoned for industrial development.
Lori Potter, a Mashantucket spokeswoman, said the tribe has met in recent years with “foreign and domestic” groups interested in Foxwoods and property the tribe owns in nearby towns. She said the tribe has not heard from the Chinese delegation since it toured the Waterford property and several other tribe-owned sites.
On Sept. 26, a 60-member delegation from Shandong Province visited the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, R.I., according to Ted Kresse, a spokesman for the Quonset Development Corp., which manages the facility. The contingent included government officials and representatives of developers, private companies and investors, Kresse said.
The park, considered a key driver of Rhode Island’s economy, is home to more than 200 companies that employ nearly 11,000 people. Quonset’s Port of Davisville is one of the top 10 auto importers in North America.
“We showed them several different sites in the park,” Kresse said. “It was really a fact-finding mission, very preliminary. There have been no follow-ups.”
Anne Evans, director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Connecticut office, helped organize the Chinese delegation’s recent visit.
“Southeastern Connecticut is an absolutely fabulous area for logistics,” she said. “With recent upgrades to rail, the port (New London), 95 and 395, it’s like heaven. I think we’ll see a lot of U.S. and foreign companies looking to be in the region.”
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