Press Releases
Press Releases
Danbury developer’s plan to transform Newtown industrial eyesore into “nice” retail center advances
March 20, 2024 - Danbury News Times
A Danbury developer who bought a weeded-over blighted property in the high-traffic Church Hill Road corridor a year ago has advanced plans to create a retail center after a town land use commission approved a zone change to allow stores and shops.
“We like taking older buildings that have become eyesores and going into a community to become a good neighbor by making them vital again,” said Anthony Rizzo Jr., CEO of Danbury-based Rizzo Companies. “We’re going to take that building that’s been an eyesore for years and clean it up, make it look good, and bring in some good tenants to make a nice addition to Church Hill Road."
Rizzo is referring to a 6-acre property on two lots between The Reverie Brewing Company and the Burgerittoville restaurant in a high-profile section of Church Hill Road near Interstate 84 Exit 10, anchored by the Blue Colony Diner.
Wetlands permit OK'd for Metal Supermarkets site near Danbury DMV that would clean up Still River
November 13, 2023 - Danbury News Times
Wetlands watchdogs gave the green light to redevelop an industrial site next to the DMV where a Sandy Hook man opened the state’s first Metal Supermarkets last year after the landlord promised to clean up the Still River by removing invasives and filtering pollutants.
“You have the revisions we made after the last meeting,” said Ben Doto, an engineer representing the landlord during a meeting with the city’s wetlands commission last week. “There have been some additional specifications added to the landscape plan with respect to the removal of invasives.”
Doto was referring to a plan to redevelop a 2.5-acre site on Lee Mac Avenue where a Sandy Hook man left the corporate world to open Metal Supermarkets last year. Landlord JAR Associates wants to add a 10,000-square-foot addition to the existing Metal Supermarkets store and build a 12,000-square-foot warehouse in the back of the property near the railroad tracks.
Plan To Add Buildings At Danbury Metal Supermarkets Site Would Eliminate Overflow Parking For DMV
October 19, 2023 - Danbury News Times
A plan to develop the site of the state’s first Metal Supermarkets for more industrial tenants would eliminate the overflow parking lot for the Department of Motor Vehicles office that is located next door.
“The parking that is in the back of the site that was previously used for DMV overflow parking is no longer needed now since DMV went to their reservation system where you make appointments,” said Benjamin Doto, an engineer representing the landowner, who plans to construct a warehouse and office building on the same property where a Sandy Hook man opened a small-order metals store last year.
Donated EMS Building Opens on Danbury’s West Side
May 9, 2022 - Danbury News Times
A new emergency medical services building has opened on the city’s west side to better serve that growing area of the city.
Rizzo Corporation constructed and donated the building at the site of Keystone Place at Wooster Heights, a senior living facility. The former mayor once estimated it would have cost the city a half million dollars to construct itself.
This gives equipment and personnel a place to call home on the west side and is meant to reduce response times, officials have said.
Danbury OKs New Complex for Aging
November 27, 2017 - Danbury News Times
A new continuing-care complex for the aging has been approved on a hilltop site just east of Danbury Airport.
The four-story complex, planned for a five-acre site at the top of Wooster Heights Road, will have 139 apartments with varying levels of care, the developer said.
“We’re excited about this project,” said Thomas Beecher, the attorney representing property owner Anthony Rizzo Jr. “This concept is for three stages of living - people who are independent, people who need some level of assistance from onsite staff with things such as meal preparation and laundry, and people who have Alzheimer’s disease.”
Brian Koonz: A Business Model for Danbury and America
September 29, 2012 - Danbury News Times
The boy with the jet-black hair and the Italian accent has been replaced by a much older man, his face carved with creases of devotion to his God, his family and his business.
And always in that order.
At 72 years old, Anthony Rizzo Sr. is gone from the CEO chair of the Rizzo Companies, but he is not nearly retired. He still walks through the hallways here with a "Rizzo Corporation" lanyard around his neck and a Bluetooth receiver in his ear.
A half-century in business will do that to a man. The technology changes, but not the ardent commitment.
Many Happy Returns at Freedom Park: Tony Rizzo Reflects on His Life
April 22, 2008 - Danbury News Times
Sure, other projects cost more. Sure, other projects stretched higher and drew more gasps around town.
But none ever matched the anthem beating inside Rizzo's chest like the corner he calls Freedom Park.
The park is Rizzo's tribute to America, his adopted country from the day he moved here as a 12-year-old boy from Platania, Italy, a small village in Catanzaro province.
A replica of the Statue of Liberty stands guard over Freedom Park. It rests atop a chunk of granite almost as big as a VW bug. The rock serves as the park's centerpiece, an imposing symbol of strength and perpetuity.