Connecticut is filled with abandoned factories, but on Friday in Bridgeport, Gov. Ned Lamont broke ground on a new high-end apartment complex that will be built at a decaying West End factory.

Gary Flocco, of Corvuse Capital Partners, is developing the site and says it has quite a history.

"Alexander Graham Bell was financed by P.T. Barnum and they invented the prototype for the movie projector in this building," he says.

Across Connecticut, hundreds of industrial sites sit crumbling - so Lamont cut the red tape that's scared developers away from projects.

"Bridgeport is hot. And I'm not talking about the temperature. This is where the action is," he says. "We're not changing the rules of the road, but we're speeding up and getting you a faster decision."

The state just replaced the decades-old Transfer Act. It threw up costly obstacles to selling abandoned industrial sites.

"I think it's having a good team who understands the buildings, what is needed to renovate the buildings, who understand what it's going to take to clean them up environmentally," says Geof Ravenstine, of Corvus Capital Partners.

Flocco says the old building is a smart investment. He has already converted another old factory down the block.

"Right now, when we have a vacancy, it takes us longer to prepare the apartment than to get it rented," says Flocco.

These apartments could be ready to move into in about two years. They're also planning a grocery store and retail stores.

The new development is on Railroad Avenue in Bridgeport's West End. It's part of the city's Cherry Street Revitalization project.