Hundreds of Units for Ridgefield

From the Record:

44 acres and a vision
By SHAWN BOBURG

A national real estate development company is moving to buy 44 acres of underused industrial land along Overpeck Creek in a bid to carry out the borough's plan for a waterfront development worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

New York City-based Tarragon Corp. has agreed to buy the 12-acre site of the former J. C. Penney distribution plant for an undisclosed price, said Burt Ross, managing owner of the land. Tarragon is negotiating with owners of the two other properties that make up the boot-shaped parcel along the creek south of Route 46, Ross said.

The land deal could be a pivotal step in Ridgefield's plan to replace the empty factories, fallow land, and contaminated sites along Overpeck Creek with hundreds of housing units, retail stores, a hotel and waterfront parkland. The development, likely years away, would remold the northwestern section of town into a vibrant residential and commercial district and bring in tax dollars, officials say.

Tarragon's purchase of the land also would end the prospect of borough officials taking the three parcels by eminent domain and selling them to a redeveloper of their choosing -- a politically risky move that officials say they want to avoid.