New London― A New Haven development firm on Wednesday formally purchased the last parcels of city-owned land on the Fort Trumbull peninsula with plans to start constructing the first of two housing complexes on the property next year.

The Renaissance City Development Association (RCDA) the city’s development arm, brokered an agreement in 2023 that included selling 6.28 acres split among three parcels to RJ Development + Advisors, LLC for $500,000.

RJ Development, which built The Beam, a 203-unit apartment complex on Howard Street, pitched building two 250-unit apartment complexes on Nameaug and Walbach streets, and constructing a 1,200-space parking garage at 26 East St.

Both apartment projects call for a mix of market-rate studio and one- and two-bedroom units with on-site property parking. The proposed six-story East Street garage is expected to be heavily used by employees at the nearby Electric Boat engineering offices.

Wednesday’s deal was finalized less than two months after the City Council on Sept. 16 approved nearly $6.5 million in tax breaks over 20 years to RJ Development, which would cover about half the $13 million in estimated pre-construction costs. In exchange, the city will receive approximately $18 million in tax revenue over the life of the agreement.

“There is no inventory left on Fort Trumbull,” Mayor Michael Passero said.

Progress after a controversial land taking

The Fort Trumbull area in the late 1990s was cleared of homes and businesses as part of a plan developed by the city and the New London Development Corp., the predecessor of the RCDA, to help jump start economic development in association with the construction of Pfizer’s research headquarters.

A bitter fight ensued in which a handful of property owners refusing to sell their land led to the landmark 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case Kelo v. New London. The court ruled in favor of New London and its use of eminent domain to seize the properties for private development.

Except for construction of the Pfizer facility, now occupied by Electric Boat, and Fort Trumbull State Park, the rest of the peninsula remained undeveloped for decades, with the area becoming overgrown and devoid of activity.

Talks with developers interested in Fort Trumbull land moved sporadically in the years after the ruling but only gained real momentum in 2022 with the purchase of 4 acres by the Optimus Construction Management company for $750,000.

The Massachusetts company, which specializes in building and running senior living facilities, planned to build 104 apartments and a hotel with extended-stay suites on the site.

Though there’s been no movement by Optimus to begin building on the peninsula, RCDA Executive Director Peter Davis said there are some promising signs that something will eventually be constructed at the sites.

“The timing for (Optimus) was horrible coming right before the pandemic and the related supply chain issues,” Davis said. “But two weeks ago, I had conversations with Optimus about a hotel chain interested in the property, as well as a developer who worked on housing projects in Groton.”

Davis said Optimus recently hired an office employee to help conduct “due diligence” work regarding the two projects.

“We brought people down for a site walk and they’re aware of the community center construction,” he said, referring to the ongoing building of a new $40 million city recreation center at Fort Trumbull. “I think seeing that did a lot for them.”

A new RCDA mission

Felix Reyes, the city’s director of planning and economic development, said Friday large-scale development projects move in cycles tied to larger market and real estate forces.

“We’re seeing those plans from the 1990s and 2000s finally realized,” he said about the RJ Development projects.

Passero, Reyes and Davis said while the RCDA’s initial overarching mission – to successfully market city-owned Fort Trumbull properties – is complete, there’s still plenty of other work on tap for the nonprofit.

Reyes said he expects the RCDA to play a continuing role in redeveloping land once home to the Crystal Avenue high-rises, as well as the reconstruction of the Fort Trumbull “elbow” fishing pier.

“There’s a lot of historic buildings and neighborhoods that need to be redeveloped for use, including the Garfield Mills district,” Reyes said.

Davis said despite so many years of working almost exclusively on Fort Trumbull, the RCDA is prepared to adjust its focus.

“We’ve had a partnership with the city going back to 2016 and we’re ready to shift full-time to other city projects,” he said.

j.penney@theday.com