In January 2020, the state of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) hired inSITE to help identify state-owned properties considered to be priority development sites located in federally designated Opportunity Zones.   Working in partnership with multiple local and state agencies, inSITE was tasked with the review of more than 6,900 state-owned properties in order to determine the best sites suited for redevelopment.

Using GIS mapping, the State-Owned Real Property Database and the Federal Designated Opportunity Zone Database, inSITE developed a process to identify and map the position of state-owned properties in the 27 Federal Designated Opportunity Zones within the State of Connecticut. inSITE gathered and analyzed data, screened properties to confirm that they met the DECD’s criteria and performed field visits.

During the first screening, inSITE used established Evaluation Criteria and field visits as to create an initial list of 20 Opportunity Zone Properties recommended for consideration. 

The second screening consisted of reviewing criteria provided by the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Deputy Commissioners recommendations and using attributes in their state statute.

During this process the team discussed each property with local community representatives to gain insight on the properties, their history and potential future development plans. This provided the team with substantial information and resulted in narrowing the list to the Top 10.

A third and final screening resulted in the Top 7 Opportunity Zone Property List. Once the Top 7 Opportunity Zone Property List is approved, the DECD will move forward with Request for Proposals to market these sites to developers.

inSITE was able to accomplish all of this using a proprietary service called Project in a Box which streamlined the entire process.  From start to finish, the project was completed in 4 weeks time.  inSITE is prepared to apply this proprietary process throughout the United States.