The administration of Mayor Paul Fader is fully behind a plan that would bring a million sf of office space, a major hotel and conference center, several hundred housing units and 50,000 sf or more of retail space to a 60-acre site. The site is currently home to warehouses and light industrial plants, much of the space vacant. Two years ago the City Council approved a plan to have the industrial park declared blighted, allowing the privately owned properties to be consolidated and condemned under state law.

It hasn't gotten to that point yet, but it could come soon. The city is deep into negotiations with five private development companies competing for the honor of turning the site into a new source of much-needed ratables. The five developers are the survivors of an RFP process the city kicked off last. The negotiations are closed to the public and the identity of the developers hasn't been made known. Public hearings are on tap once the developer of choice is named.

The project is indeed mostly about ratables. City residents foot 65% of the municipal tax base, and that figure has long been a source of controversy. According to Fader, if just a dozen acres of the site are developed, residents' tax bill would be reduced to 58%.

Of course, Fader and the City Council are going for the whole thing, and that could bring another controversial issue to a head. When Home Depot wanted to build a store near the proposed development tract last year, enough people opposed it on the basis of traffic concerns to send the home improvement retailer packing.

With congested arteries like Route 4, I-95 and others crisscrossing the region, traffic has indeed been a long-term problem here. City officials are hoping a proposed light rail system will take some of the sting out of that particular problem.

"This is the single most important project for the future of this city," according to Fader.