New London — The City Council has approved the sale of the Richard R. Martin Center, a move that has reignited talks about the need for a community center.

The sprawling former school at 120 Broad St., which has fallen into disrepair, will be sold to Tauche Capital LLC for the development of a 75-unit apartment complex for seniors aged 55 and older. The city plans to finalize the sale over the next few months.

Tauche is controlled by New York City real estate investor Malcolm Taub, who has enlisted Norwich-based D’Amato Builders + Advisors to design the development.

Under a lease agreement also approved on Monday, Tauche will provide a long-term $50,000-a-year lease for the adjoining New London Senior Center, an updated part of the complex that was built by the city in the 1980s. The city will lease the senior center rent-free for the first three years and, in exchange, has agreed on a 10-year tax abatement schedule with Tauche that includes three years tax free.

Tauche also has agreed to provide a memorandum of understanding to allow FRESH New London to stay on site for at least two years. FRESH maintains an urban farm and education center on the grounds of the Martin Center, at the corner of Mercer and Williams streets.

Several FRESH members consistently have called for a focused effort to find an alternative location for programs formerly housed at the Martin Center, which is home to basketball courts for recreational leagues and hosted a variety of recreation programs for youths and seniors.

All city offices and tenants had vacated the building because of deteriorating conditions.

“As a nonprofit that works with young people, we are concerned that there is no timeline for replacing the youth spaces — the gym, the ceramics room and other spaces in the building,” FRESH Director Alicia McAvay wrote.

“We would like to see the council make a firm commitment to finding public community spaces for youth to gather and attend programs,” she said.

McAvay and others submitted comments to the council by email rather than attending Monday’s meeting, heeding advice of health officials about public gatherings during the coronavirus epidemic.

FRESH member Frida Berrigan called for any savings from the sale of the Martin Center to be used as seed money for a community center. She called the Martin Center a silent victim of decades of neglect and abdication of responsibility by city officials and councils.

“It is now your responsibility to turn this silent victim into a loud, public, unequivocal declaration that this community NEEDS, REQUIRES and IS DUE a Center,” Berrigan wrote. “There are dozens of people in New London who would work to build, staff and budget for operations for a community center that serves the needs of New London residents.”

Councilor Reona Dyess was among other councilors who said they planned to work on forming a new coalition to strategize a path forward toward a community center. Mayor Michael Passero said he continues work to find a location and partner to make it happen.

Tax revenue at the end of 10-year tax abatement could range from $180,000 to $220,000 by some estimates but will depend on the final number of units. The projected final value when work is competed could range from $6 million to $8 million.

Felix Reyes, director of the city's office of Development and Planning, has said the cost of maintenance and future renovations to the building are out of reach for the city.

The building, with an estimated value of $2.6 million, is to be sold to Tauche for $1 but Reyes said when factoring in the savings from maintenance costs and capital expenses, it is still a net savings for the city.

“We have a vacant building that needs millions of dollars in repairs. If we maintain the building and keep it, we have to be prepared to make significant capital investments,” Reyes said.

Not all were convinced the sale was the right move. Councilor John Satti was the lone dissenting vote on the sale, lease and tax abatement agreements and said the city has a history of selling municipal building and not all have benefitted the city. The most notable failure, he said, was the sale of the former Edgerton School. The building has remained abandoned since it was sold off to a developer.

Resident Kris Wraight said the deal seemed like ”yet another example” of the city wanting to move really quickly with a would-be developer with all of the benefits seemingly in favor of the developer.

“We’ve been here and we’ve done this. We’ve seen this play out before,” Wraight said in an interview prior to Monday’s meeting. “It’s just another asset that we’re going to give away. And for what? Luxury senior apartments. Is that the urgent need for the city?”

g.smith@theday.com