Is There Light at the End of the Development Tunnel for Route 83 Building?

The owner of one of Vernon's most noticeable commercial vacancies told the Town Council on Tuesday that he could be ready for a certificate of occupancy for his primary tenant by October and the council has given him a little incentive along the way. 

The council approved a series of tax breaks that would trim any increase in assessed value for the Shoppes at Eastview until 2018. 

The building is located at 425 Hartford Turnpike, also known as state Route 83. 

Once a series of final improvements is completed, Cardio Express, which now sits just down Talcottville Road in the 200 block, can move in, ending a frustrating five-plus years for owner Peter Rusconi. 

The building has an assessed value of $1,277,500. According to a memo from Town Administrator John Ward to Mayor Jason McCoy, Rusconi has invested more than $1.6 million in improvements plus another $300,000 in design and environmental costs. 

Rusconi became a poster boy for development frustrations. Everything looked promising in 2006 when he razed an old supermarket that had fallen into disrepair over a decade and laid out plans for a multi-tenant commercial strip that would be anchored by Cardio Express. 

The state asked him to pay for a new traffic light at  the intersection of Talcottville Road and Merline Road and he did. The state also held up construction because of a debate over widening the road and state Rep. Claire Janowski eventually intervenes and the plan was scrapped. 

Then, Rusconi encountered what his lawyer, Leonard Jacobs, described as "the worse economic conditions this country has seen since the Great Depression.''

Vandals have also been routinely been damaging the property in relatively minor, but nagging incidents. 

Jacobs said Rusconi is finally in a position to finish the building but it will cost about $400,000. The tax breaks will help him along, he reasoned. 

Rusconi had requested a 50 percent reduction in any assessment increase for 10 years but the town has settled on a seven-year deal that calls for a 50 percent reduction in any assessment increase over the first fur years and a 25 percent reduction over the final three. 

The council also imposed Jan. 1 deadline on Rusconi obtaining a certificate of occupancy, a suggestion made by council member Daniel Champagne. If it is not in place by then, he would have to reapply for a tax break. 

Champagne has monitored the building as closely as anyone both in his role as a council member and as a sergeant in the Vernon Police Department. 

Jacobs said the development is ''significant'' given the history of the property. 

Rusconi pays abut $35,000 in taxes annually on the vacant building, town officials said.