With 2016 in the books as a banner year for the announcement of major development projects locally, the new year will tell whether any of them finally gets off the ground.

But developers and economic development officials say they see no reason why the good news of major plans at the former Norwich Hospital property in Preston, at Fort Trumbull in New London and at the Perkins Farm and Mystic Harbor Landing sites in Mystic can’t approach fruition in the coming year.

“It seems like they are all coming to a head at once,” said Tony Silvestri, manager for the New London Harbour Towers and City Flats developments who is proposing a new condominium project on Howard Street in New London.

The economic optimism is being spurred by hiring at Electric Boat —  about 14,000 new and replacement employees for retiring workers over the next dozen years — and the Mohegan Tribe's plans to purchase and develop the former Norwich Hospital property, which could create between 200 and 700 permanent positions. 

"Contracts secured literally for decades gives people a little more confidence," Peter Davis said of the defense contracts secured by the submarine maker.

Davis is the executive director of the Renaissance City Development Corp., overseer of plans in the Fort Trumbull area, where a Massachusetts-based developer says he is interested in building a $15 million hotel and conference center on a long-vacant waterfront parcel.

He said Yale-New Haven Health System affiliating with Lawrence + Memorial Hospital also could have a big impact, as could the newly constituted Connecticut Port Authority's plans for boosting shipping traffic to New London's State Pier.

"Any tick up in median income is going to be a positive thing for the area," Davis added.

Sean Nugent, interim executive director at the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region, said the economic cloud over the region probably started lifting even before the Mohegan Tribe announced its planned acquisition of the former Norwich Hospital property for its Preston Riverwalk development. But the huge project, whose specifics are expected to be unveiled early this year, didn't hurt, he said, as others stepped forward with their own plans.

"It created a positive buzz," he said.

The project's overall economic infusion was expected to be double the $600 million development price tag, according to University of Connecticut economist Steve Lanza, thanks to the addition of new retail, housing, recreation and lodging amenities.

Officials have said the region hasn't seen a similar size investment since the Mohegan and Mashantucket tribes developed local casinos more than two decades ago. Nugent said both the proposed Coast Guard Museum in New London and the Preston Riverwalk will serve as catalysts for further development.

"Projects like these attract other things that are similar," Nugent said. "It's all coming to a head."

The two Mystic projects — a medical campus and condominiums — could cost $80 million to complete.

Communication, innovation are key

Nugent said economic development in the past has been hindered by a collection of competing groups. Now, he said, he sees more leaders looking for common ground and doing what's best for the region, thanks to relatively new groups like the Eastern Advanced Manufacturing Alliance, the Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition and Thames River Innovation Places.

"There's more communication on a regional level — it's refreshing," Davis said.

There's also new buzz associated with the creation over the past year of the Spark Makerspace in downtown New London, a grass-roots effort to spur economic change, the CURE Innovation Commons business incubator in Groton and the Foundry 66 co-working space in Norwich.

Nugent said he sees fewer people looking to the state for solutions to local problems. Instead, people are acting more positive and looking for the region to manage its own destiny through public-private approaches and regional solutions, he said.

"The talk in this part of Connecticut has changed," he said.

One thing continuing to impede growth, both locally and statewide, he said, is the regulatory environment. The world moves quickly these days, and while developers in the past may have been willing to sit through an 18- to 24-month process to secure a site and get approvals, now the process needs to be sped up, he said.

Other issues involve securing enough skilled workers locally to satisfy hiring demands at EB and elsewhere as the economy expands, officials said. The Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board has ramped up efforts to increase trades training in partnership with Three Rivers Community College in Norwich and the Ella T. Grasso Technical High School in Groton.

"EB's success story is really something we're working hard to capitalize on," said Bob Mills, executive director of the Norwich Community Development Corp. "That is defining the region and it's reinventing the way workforce development is being done."

l.howard@theday.com