How will state funding offer opportunities for development?

Meriden, formerly known as "The Silver City" due to its historic connection with that industry in Central Connecticut is virtually the center-most city in the Nutmeg State, and sitting thereby on the crossroads of Southern New England. Right off The Merritt Pkwy. North and South, North-South I-91 just off I-691 which links I-84 East and West a few minutes drive away, Meriden is, simply stated, the "doorway" to all of New England. Downtown Meriden boasts not only a superb highway connectivity with its northernmost neighbors, but it also hosts a major commuter rail connection primarily to Hartford and Springfield, and thus raising hopes among state leaders looking for development along this crucial rail "path." Experts look toward potential housing rehabilitation, and commercial redevelopment along this important "corridor." Strong attention to the rail "hub" which consists of station(s) and tracks that pass directly through the center and amidst the downtown streets of The Silver City, point to a positive future for commuter and other travel along this path that converges on the Capital City of Hartford from points farther South heading due North to Hartford and beyond. Some several tens of millions of dollars are being proposed for enhancing this rail conduit as a significant impetus to future jobs and other economic stimuli. Meriden offers a downtown that is pregnant with long-standing infrastructure improvements in the form of major utilities, storm and sewer systems, significant electrical and fiber-optic distribution, to say nothing of access and egress to and from all of the major highway components mentioned above. 100 Hanover St., offered by The Carabetta Companies, is among several prime locations that point to possibilities for leased space in many older and newer buildings that are in and about the commercial district of the city. Asking rates are extremely tenant-friendly and these attractive rents create superb opportunities for those companies and/or institutions in need of useful, functional, well-located and expandable space in which to locate headquarters and even back-office buildings for such functions as banking, financial, retail/banking transactions such as that needed even for credit union operations. With a state government leadership that is looking for businesses that offer great job opportunities that are in need of lower rental cost alternatives, and with a mature downtown business centre which offers buildings for lease which offer practical and less costly solutions to the high cost of doing business, and with proximity to intermodal means of access and egress, locations such as 100 Hanover St. in downtown Meriden make perfect, logical sense. Archie D'Amato is director of marketing at Carabetta Management Company, Meriden, Conn.