The proposed film studio project off Interstate 291 still is moving forward, but, Town Manager Matthew B. Galligan said it will progress in phases, focusing on the original plan.
“We made a change,” Galligan said. “Their core business is a studio.”
The original Connecticut Studios LLC project planned for 60 acres was going to include a big-box retail center along Ellington Road in addition to a studio and hotel complex, Galligan said.
But because of the difficult financial climate, developers are going to start with the studio and hotel on about 40 acres along Route 5 and add on the retail center later, Galligan said.
Galligan said that across the country major retail companies are holding off on expansions.
“There is not a lot of funding going on out there from banks,” Galligan said, adding that the core plan is moving ahead at the old drive-in theater site along Route 5 and Chapel Road.
“We are trying to bring the costs down,” Galligan said.
He would not release the financial institutions’ names, but said developers have been working with numerous entites to secure financing, which is the norm rather than having just one bank provide all the funding.
The 22 acres that would have been the retail center is owned by Robert Milkie and was the site of a tiger beetle relocation project. It now has a sale sign.
The beetle relocation project cost about $200,000 and was paid for with state grant funds.
Connecticut Studios had paid Milkie for an option on the land, Galligan said, but the option ran out and Milkie is looking for another buyer.
“He’s a businessman,” Galligan said. “He wants to sell his property.”
Galligan said he recently received a call from an out-of-state company that supplies products to film studios that has expressed interest in setting up a presence.
Town Planning Director Marsha Banach said Friday that Connecticut Studio LLC expects to present its site plan to the Planning and Zoning Commission by the end of February.
“We hope to have a shovel in the ground in April,” Galligan said.
