By David Fortier 

The city has received a $2 million grant from the state for the rehabilitation of the Sessions building on Riverside Ave. The award ends an almost two-decade effort. 

“We are thrilled that after more than a decade of thoughtful planning we are on our way to reclaiming this building,” Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said in an email response to award earlier this morning. 

The grant, a maximum award, will allow for the renovation and expansion of the former J. H. Sessions & Son Co. complex located at 273 and 296 Riverside Avenue into 91 apartments. 

“This is yet another piece of the puzzle that will contribute to the new look of downtown,” Zoppo-Sassu said. 

In a separate email Justin Malley, the city’s Economic and Community Development director, said “We have spent many years assessing the level of contamination in the building so, fingers crossed, I think we are in good shape and the $2 million will get us where we need to be.” 

He did acknowledge that while the grant will cover the majority of cleanup as things stand, there is always a possibility for surprises. 

“In my experience, environmental remediation work is full of twists and turns,” Malley said. “Items may pop up that were unexpected. This is the ‘nature of the beast.’” 

The grant is among 31 awards totaling $19 million to aid with the assessment and remediation of properties in 23 towns and cities across the state, the Governor’s office announced in a press release yesterday. 

The grants are from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s Brownfield Remediation Program. The funds will allow for the assessment and clean-up of 418 acres throughout the state and is expected to meet $156 million in private funding, according to the release. 

In Bristol, the funding is key in that it allows for the current developer to perform an environmental cleanup of pollution in the building and soil before the building is transferred to a new owner, Vesta Corp./BHA (Bristol Housing Authority), which will redevelop it into apartments, according to Malley. 

The building is now occupied by several tenants, with whom the city will be working over the next year to ease their transition, Zoppo-Sassu said. 

According to Malley, the exact timeline for the cleanup has yet to be determined. 

“The city will meet with CT DECD next week to learn more about grant execution and administrative requirements,” Malley said. 

From there the city will need to open a bidding process for the cleanup, work with tenants, establish a cleanup timeline and coordinate with the state regarding the appropriate paperwork and approvals, he said. 

In his email, Malley acknowledged the hard work that has gone into the effort to obtain the grant, as well as the persistence that spanned several administrations. 

“Several staff have retired and it is an absolute honor to continue their work on the way to a finished project.” he said. 

According to the current executive summary (available here in full), the most recent effort began in 2019 under the current administration with the establishment of J.H. Sessions & Sons Building Task Force, an ad-hoc committee “charged with reviewing proposals from developers toward the resolution of Brownfield issues and redevelopment of the J.H. Sessions & Sons property.” 

The developers who will benefit from the cleanup are Vesta and the Bristol Housing Authority. The Vesta/BHA joint venture has for its goal converting the current structure into 40 one-bedroom apartments and 19 two-bedroom apartments, as well as adding a new 45,000-sq.-ft. structure with six one-bedroom and 26 two-bedroom apartments. 

Vesta Corporation owns, manages, and develops apartment housing, more than 20,000 housing units in 13 states and the District of Columbia. Its main offices are in Connecticut where is has over 1,500 apartments. 

Bristol Housing Authority develops and manages housing in the area. Unlike other BHA projects, however, this joint venture will be 100 percent market driven and will not be subsidized for lower-income earners. 

The project’s construction partner is D’Amato Construction.