By Brian McCready
Milford Bureau Chief
MILFORD — The Milford Crossing project, which included relocating 200 Ryder Park mobile home residents and building a mall anchored by a Wal-Mart, has brought the city a prestigious regional award.
The Northeastern Economic Developers Association, which recognizes the best economic development achievements in the 11 Northeastern states for 2008, choose Milford Crossing to receive its Project-of-the-Year Award.
The Milford project beat out others from cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington.
"It’s significant," said Economic and Community Development Director Robert Gregory. "We’re talking New York and Boston. There were a lot of big cities. It wasn’t just the development."
The development included relocating the mobile home residents’ from the Boston Post Road to a new mobile home park on Cascade Boulevard. Developer Louis and John Ceruzzi Jr. then built the 400,000-square-foot mall, creating 600 jobs and adding $72 million to the city tax base, Gregory said.
Ceruzzi purchased the new mobile home park site and the previous Ryder site on the Boston Post Road in 2002 for $20 million.
But Gregory said it clearly wasn’t the actual scope of the project that landed the city the recognition.
"The way in which Ceruzzi dealt with the residents was the key," Gregory said. "Not only did they create a whole park for them, they financed the mobile homes."
He said Ceruzzi also offered the residents three years of living free at the new park, and Ceruzzi paid half of the costs for the new mobile homes, or $12,500.
According to Gregory, Ceruzzi only had to give the residents $8,000 and he "could have sent them on their way." In the mid-1990s, the former owner of Ryder Park tried to evict residents, but the community rallied around them and the residents were allowed to remain.
"Milford Crossing represents a true public/private partnership. John Ceruzzi worked with the residents of Ryder Park and the city for an outcome that benefited all," said Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. "He later became our partner with the former Milford Jai Alai site, resulting in another example of a quality development."
Ceruzzi paid the city $14 million in 2006 for the former fronton on Old Gate Lane. Ceruzzi has since constructed a Lowe’s and a Hilton Gardens hotel.
The award will be presented NEDA’s annual conference in Buffalo, N.Y., Sept. 22.
Brian McCready can be reached at bmccready@nhregister.com or 401-3501.