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First Bristol purchases old Alhambra’s site for class A medical office space.

5/7/2008

WESTPORT — Despite the gloomy regional and national economic reports commonly appearing in the news these days, the Westport Economic Development Task Force is pleased to report that the business climate in this rural suburban community is doing just fine.

At last week's regular monthly meeting, members spent quite a bit of time discussing the Finance Committee's decision not to recommend the task force's town meeting request for $7,500 to continue the group's work.

The town's tight finances have created a finely-balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2009, reported FinCom representative Tony Viera, Jr. and the FinCom feels Westport just doesn't have $7,500 to spare on economic development.

"It's unfortunate, because things are just starting to get going here" in terms of economic growth, noted task force Chairman Steven Ouellette, who had to withdraw a similar $7,500 funding request on the floor of town meeting last year because of the town's financial restraints.

The chairman was referring to the presentation part-time economic development outreach coordinator Michael Sullivan was scheduled to give the group later that evening— a monthly report highlighting two major new business developments in north Westport that are sure to make a significant positive impact on the town's commercial tax base.

"It's a small amount of money," suggested Mr. Sullivan, who has been busily spending many of his limited hours trying to match up commercial property owners in Westport with the increasing number of investors looking for land and opportunities in this growing town.

Quite successfully, he noted, citing his efforts to help a Fall River corporation purchase the burned-out former Alhambra's nightclub (803 American Legion Highway) at the junction of Route 177 and Route 88.

First Bristol Corporation of Fall River, headed up by businessman James Karam, has just completed the purchase of the site, and is planning "a multi-million dollar office complex" for the property, Sullivan told the task force.

"It will be a medical and office facility, which has not yet been designed," Mr. Sullivan reported, detailing his work to help the developers find a suitable site in the area between Little Compton and Dartmouth for their proposed project.

The medical offices First Bristol Corp. is planning to build there is just the kind of "desirable" development the task force has been seeking to recruit to Westport for the past two years, noted Mr. Vieira.

Without a town planner, the value of an economic development 'point man' such as Sullivan is of great value to Westport, he suggested, citing the First Bristol Corp. project as a prime example of what kinds of new business such a staffer can bring to town.

"We've been talking about such a (first class office) facility for two years," Mr. Vieira said. Without Michael's help, I don't think we could have pulled that off," he added.