n 2007, Onekey, LLC, a private developer from New Jersey acquired the main building in the Ponemah Mill complex located in the Taftville village of Norwich. They envisioned creating a mixed-use, mixed-income adaptive reuse project for the historic mill building located on the banks of the Shetucket River.

Over the past eight years, the company has secured permits, developed and designed the scope of the project and ultimately came up with a phasing strategy to attract investment capital from various sources. Since 2007, Onekey has invested more than $10 million into the building.

Persistence has paid off for Onekey with the announcement earlier this year that the State of Connecticut would invest up to $14.22 million into the project to start work on Phase 1 of the project (116 housing units) on the property. In total, the project would have three phases with an estimated cost of $75 million and 314 rental units.

While NCDC is very encouraged to learn about the substantial progress being made with this important project, a great deal of work remains prior to construction, as various sources of funding – as many as six – need to be finalized.