MIDDLETOWN — Liberty Square has brought a fine building to the North End, added jobs, some parking spaces, resulted in the cleanup of a brownfield and preserved a valued historic home.

On top of all that, owner Peter Harding is a great landlord, said Don Sataline, owner of It’s Only Natural Market, which occupies the first floor of the three-story building.

In December Harding was honored with the American Planning Association’s Physical Development award. Director of Planning and Conservation William Warner nominated Harding for the award.
Economic Development Specialist Rick Kearney congratulated Harding at a meeting of the Central Business Bureau last week.“It looks just great,” Kearney said of the building. “It’s just inspiring.”

Warner spun off a list of reasons he made the recommendation. The kudos he mentioned included putting a store that sells healthy food in a low income area, creating jobs and adding 68 parking spaces — 20 of which are open to the public.

“We see a lot of night clubs and bars doing well now,” Warner said of the benefit to parking spaces in the area. “It’s nice to hear young people stay in town.”

Warner said he was also impressed by what Harding did before he built Liberty Square. The developer moved a Federal Era house from the lot, which is on the corner of Liberty and Main Streets to an empty lot on Rapallo Avenue.

Built in 1853, the home once housed a Methodist chapel, has been used for rental units in recent years and is one of seven locations in the North End being converted from dilapidated multifamily rental properties into affordable housing by Nehemiah Housing Corp and Broad-Park Development Corporation.

Harding donated the house to Nehemiah and paid one-third the moving costs to relocate it. The planning developer also gave accolades to the developer for cleaning the toxic mess left from one former tenant of the lot — a gas station.

The in depth process, Harding said, included removing asbestos, taking out four 6,000-gallon gasoline tanks, digging out and moving 550 tons of earth, and then bringing in 550 tons of clean earth to fill the hole.

Then, just to be safe, the developer said he installed a special ventilation system that seals everything from the ground to the roof, where pipes are monitored for odor and such.

“Assuming that we’ve removed everything anyway,” Harding said. “But that’s a chance you don’t want to take.” The second floor of the building in up for grabs and Harding has shown it to many prospective tenants.

The third floor, however, will be occupied by the American Library Association, which is just about moved in. The association purchased the floor as a corporate condominium. It is the only floor Harding plans to sell.

One reason Harding said he took on the project was because he was able to get It’s Only Natural to take the first floor. Having the health food store as the anchor tenant was an important step, he explained.

“The reason is, you really needed somebody on the first floor because the city needs retail,” he said. The market started out in the North End and later moved to the Main Street Market but the owners wanted to return to a community setting, they said.

“Of course this was our home,” Sataline said. “This was where we started. This is the perfect location for us; we have parking; we have a great building; Peter is a great person to deal with, he’s a great landlord.”

Sataline also pointed out that Harding did not cut any corners in building Liberty Square. He pointed to a large arched window and said it was made of high quality materials.

“Everything he put here was first rate,” Sataline said. Harding, who is also working on getting the building certified as green construction, said he was pleased by the award, which he was presented with on Dec. 12 during a catered party on the unfinished second floor of the building.

“We were pleased with it,” he said. “Didn’t know it was coming and coming from the American Planning Association, it’s kind of a big group so it’s kind of a prestigious award.”

Harding runs the building with his son Patrick Harding and his son-in-law Bob Wheller.