The Hamlet at Saugatuck is dead.
But when Spinnaker Real Estate bought 2 of the properties that had been slated for development — the rectangle anchored by Minute Man Cleaners, and the private parking lot now filled with boats above Luciano Park — Westporters knew that new ideas would be proposed.
Today, we have our first look at Spinnaker’s plans.
The Norwalk-based firm has filed a pre-application with the Planning & Zoning Commission. It includes 157 units of rental apartments, with a mixed-use component, on the 1.5-acre parcel at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Charles Street (the current dry cleaners, locksmith and parking lot). Eighteen — a bit over 10% — of the units would be affordable, based on state definitions.
The view from Riverside Avenue. Charles Street is on the right.
Working with Beinfield Architecture — a firm that has designed many multi-family buildings (including The Mill on Richmondville Avenue), residential homes, restaurants and offices in the area — Spinnaker envisions buildings of varying heights.
Those facing Riverside Avenue would be 3 1/2 stories. Buildings behind it would be taller.
Two levels of screened parking would accommodate 283 vehicles.
The view looking at Railroad Place. The train station is at far left.
Spinnaker’ traffic engineers, AKRF, say that an initial review suggests the plan would generate “substantially fewer vehicle trips than earlier submittals.” A full analysis is underway now.
Construction staging would be done at Spinnaker’s other property, the lot on Franklin Street currently used for boat storage.
The plan also includes environmental remediation of the site (before its current use as a dry cleaners, it was a car dealership), along with right-of-way and pedestrian improvements.
Along with the P&Z pre-app, a preliminary presentation to the Architectural Review Board is planned for later this month.
Click here for a link to a complete summary of the pre-application. Spinnaker has set up a website – 606riverside.com — for the project, though it has no content yet.
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