The city had awarded redevelopment rights to a Connecticut developer, Carabetta Enterprises Inc., in 1986 but the company declared bankruptcy in 1992, leaving 48 oceanfront properties under protection of the court.

Arnold Peck, a Connecticut developer who has experienced some financial difficulties, owns the Cromwell property and a site in Orange.

Now, Otto Papparazo, a Connecticut developer, has challenged that assumption in his newest venture, a 500-acre subdivision called Devonwood, in Farmington, an affluent suburb of Hartford.

The market value of their appeal and their prime downtown location - often in revitalized urban areas - are creating a new awareness among Connecticut commercial developers and retailers that space in the old stations is well worth seeking.

Last month, the State Ethics Commission began an investigation into the unusually generous prices the governor paid to rent vacation homes owned by a large Connecticut developer and major contributor to Rowland campaigns over the years.

Another of Mr. Pirro's business associates, Louis L. Ceruzzi, a Connecticut developer, has given $33,900 to Ms. Pirro's attorney general campaign.

The long-vacant Bloomingdale's store in downtown Stamford has been sold to two Connecticut developers, who plan to renovate the 23,000-square-foot structure into a multitenant retail center called Stamford Place.

MR. REIS, the Connecticut developer, doubts this, however.

In association with the mayor's office in White Plains, a plan has been presented by a Connecticut developer to build a 21,000-square-foot museum on Mamaroneck Avenue across from the new City Center.

IN recent months Connecticut developers have been plunging back into the business of building new homes in multi-unit residential communities, ending a hiatus of more than four years.