Brewery, 'food hall' proposed for former Norwich Human Services building
Norwich — The city received two proposals to purchase and develop the former Human Services building at 80 Broadway and accompanying parking lot Friday afternoon, one for a brewery and one for a “food hall,” a collection of private food vendors with a shared kitchen space and eating area.
The city closed the building in September, moving the Human Services department into the second floor of City Hall, also located on Broadway, and the Youth and Family Services unit to the city Recreation Department building on Mohegan Road with a goal of selling the vacated building and placing it on the tax rolls.
The proposal by Raymond Casper and Justin Smith of Norwich called for buying the building for $50,000 and creating a brewery in it.
Sofia LeWitt and Asaf Cohen of Norwich submitted a bid under LeWitt Group LLC to buy the building for $131,300 and create a food hall there. The couple attended Friday’s bid opening. They declined to discuss details, but said the concept would be to have various food vendors offer breakfast, lunch and “afternoon tea” from individual booths or stations, with communal tables and a shared kitchen space.
City Purchasing Agent William Hathaway said the bids would be forwarded to City Manager John Salomone and assigned to a review committee, which will make a recommendation to the City Council.
No timeframe was given for the review.
Both bids fall short of the minimum price set for the building of $196,300 and the parking lot, $22,100 listed in the request for proposals the city put out.
But the request for proposals stated that price would be just one of several factors to be considered by the review committee. Criteria to be considered include proposed use of the properties and compatibility with surrounding properties, visual appearance, feasibility of the proposal and experience of the developer.
The 1860 building at 80 Broadway is the original home of Otis Library and still bears its name on the front façade. The parking lot, at 68 Broadway, behind the building, was purchased by the city several years ago from Dime Bank across the street. The bank has parking in the Wauregan parking garage behind its building.
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