Tag Archives: Rick Redniss

Affordable Housing: Humane Opportunities, All Over Town

Posted on June 19, 2025 | 9 comments

Town officials and residents have been laser-focused on 2 zoning issues: HB 5002, and plans for the Hamlet at Saugatuck retail/residential/and more  project, or a 500-unit 8-30g housing complex there.

Both the omnibus housing bill and large-scale development would impact Westport, everywhere from traffic and density to taxes and moratorium points.

Meanwhile — far from the spotlight — quiet but steady progress is being made on affordable and below-market housing.

And it’s happening all over town.

On Monday (June 23, 6 p.m., Zoom), the Planning & Zoning Commission will hear a pre-application for the property at 455 Post Road East.

For decades, the building between Compo Shopping Center and Westport Fire headquarters has been home to the Connecticut Humane Society.

Connecticut Human Society, on Post Road East.

They’re moving soon, to Wilton. That offers an opportunity for new housing — right on the bus line, a few steps from Trader Joe’s, CVS and more.

Westport’s Inclusionary Housing Zone — in place since 2010 — has encouraged housing (including affordable units) on mixed-used properties along the Post Road. Beneficiaries include developments behind Splash car wash, and at the former Geiger’s and Kowalsky sites opposite Greens Farms Elementary School.

But according to Rick Redniss, the regulation is not “user-friendly.” Some of the provisions discourage housing, especially of the affordable and below-market kinds.

Rick Redniss

He should know. He’s a partner in Redniss & Mead, the land use consulting firm that has worked on many successful local projects.

Redniss says the pre-app addresses the question: “Why can’t a site on the Post Road be all residential?” It seeks to add flexibility to the IHZ designation.

Housing — some of it affordable — is more necessary than “another small commercial building,” he says.

A builder with extensive Westport experience has contracted to buy the Humane Society property, Redniss says. But they need to know the P&Z backs housing at the site.

Redniss has worked on other affordable housing — some of it off-site — that many Westporters may be unaware of.

The Residence — the independent, assisted and memory care community on the Post Road near Morningside Drive — was built in an IHZ area. Instead of 3 small apartments on-site, the project includes 2 single-family homes — with yards and garages – on Crescent Park.

The Mill condominium project on Richmondville Avenue includes 5 units at 136 Riverside Avenue, next to Saugatuck Elementary School.

The Victorian home was completely renovated. Four apartments are now occupied by adults with special needs. A fifth is rented by an income-eligible resident director. A 49-year lease with the town has been pre-paid.

136 Riverside Avenue, after renovations.

Meanwhile, residential units are going up on land between New Country Toyota and Splash car wash. In collaboration with Homes with Hope, Redniss is proposing an affordable 2-family home off-site.

Also in the works: on-site affordable housing at 220 Post Road West — the 2-story retail building that housed a rug store, on the corner of Sylvan Road North.

And, in the northern corner of Westport, 14 units of special needs housing at Glendinning Place, near the former Bridgewater headquarters off Weston Road.

Taken together, that’s a lot of affordable and below-market housing, at a wide variety of sites.

Keep your eye on the Humane Society — and other spaces — as public and private officials seek humane solutions to a town, state and national housing crisis.

(“06880” covers real estate, zoning, local politics — and much, much more. If you enjoy our hyper-local focus, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

9 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Affordable Apartment Plan Dropped; Moratorium Points Lost

Posted on May 2, 2025 | 17 comments

In recent days, Westport camethisclose to moving forward on a new affordable housing project.

Just a few yards from the Post Road, its 32 units would have provided apartments for teachers, police officers, firefighters and other town employees.

Estimates are that 242 town employees could qualify, at less than 60% of the area media income (about $82,000, for a family of 2).

Of those, 144 are teachers. The high cost of housing — and long commutes from communities where homes are less expensive — is one reason educators leave the Westport district.

And — because every one of those units would be considered affordable under state guidelines — it would have marked an enormous step forward in Westport’s efforts toward a moratorium from Connecticut’s onerous 8-30g mandate.

But the plan to convert the current hair salon and adjacent multifamily home at 6 Maple Avenue South — just behind the Exxon station — was scuttled right near the end of real estate negotiations. Owner Ken Kronberg (who also owns the gas station) decided not to sell.

6 Maple Avenue South. The Exxon gas station (not shown) is on the right.

Architect Joseph Vallone and Rick Redniss of the civil engineering and land use firm Redniss & Mead had worked on the plan since last fall.

Redniss tells “06880” that, with 4% low-income housing tax credit financing, the 32 units might have yielded 40.5 points — almost 20% of those needed for Westport’s next 8-30g moratorium.

A traditional 8-30g development, with only 10 affordable units, would yield only 23 points.

Vallone and Redniss were all set to move forward with a text amendment, called “Deed Restricted Housing Development.”

But after speaking with several neighbors, Kronberg declined to sell. Those plans are now off the table.

Joe Vallone’s sketch of the proposed 32-unit affordable housing apartment building at 6 Maple Avenue South.

Kronberg — who has owned the property for 36  owned the gas station for 36 years, and 6 Maple Avenue South since May 1 last yea r— tells “06880” tha after hearing from several neighbors, and seeing a sketch of the proposed apartments, “I didn’t want to be the bad guy that created a large commercial look at the top of Maple South.”

He is unsure what comes next for the property. The 3 bedrooms and studio apartment are rented, but the salon has been empty since Juljen moved to Southport.

“In a perfect world, I’d like to fix it up,” he says. “Make it super-nice, maybe like an old-fashioned barber shop, maybe with apartments or a quaint house.”

Redness rues the lost opportunity.”Westport has missed an opportunity to meet the needs and goals outlined in the Plan of Conservation and Development and Affordable Housing Plan,” he wrote on Tuesday to Planning & Zoning director Michelle Perillie.

“A well-known, long-term, local Westport resident with a proven track record in town was preparing to leverage his expertise to help provide true workforce housing. Joe Vallone was days away from our pre-app meeting with the Planning & Zoning Commission when the property owner reneged on selling the property.”

(“06880” is your hyper-local source for real estate, political and business news — and much more. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

The Exxon station, Post Road East at the Maple Avenue South corner.

17 Comments

Posted in Local business, Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , , ,

The Mill: From 19th Century Factory To 21st Century Condos

Posted on February 20, 2024 | 11 comments

In its 210 years, the brick building on Richmondville Avenue has been home to a twine mill, a candlewick factory, artists’ studios and offices.

The Mill when it was an office building, on Richmondville Avenue.

Later this month, the first owners move into The Mill. That’s the new/old name for the 31-unit luxury condo complex that has been developed — quietly, uniquely, and with an eye toward both the historic past and the modern, amenity-driven future — near the Saugatuck River, just off Main Street.

Despite initial fears by neighbors of increased traffic and noise, the project moved ahead after the 2.41-acre property, with 55,000 square feet of office space, was bought by Coastal Luxury Homes and Gault Family Companies in 2019.

The Mill: ready for occupancy.

As part of the project, the developers created off-site affordable housing. They converted a town-owned 1880 Victorian house at 136 Riverside Avenue into 5 apartments. Four are occupied by people with special needs; a fifth is rented to a staff member.

The historic house got a $2 million restoration (and landscaping) through Redniss & Mead.

136 Riverside Avenue.

On Richmondville, Coastal’s Joe Feinleib, the Gaults and Redniss worked with architects Marybeth Woods, Bruce Beinfield, Philip Hazan, Philip Cerrone and landscaper Bill Kenny to create a concept that The Mill’s website says is “inspired by European boutique hotels.”

All 31 units have different layouts, finishes and ceiling heights. Many include 12-foot windows. Several incorporate the factory’s original brick and stone work.

Primary bedroom, with stone, beams and wide plank floor.

There are 2 styles. “Vintage Modern homes honor the pre-war history of this great structure in the post and beam style, while the New Modern layouts are constructed with steel and glass.” Five units have private outdoor space.

Prices range from $1.495 million to just under $3.5 million. Most are in the $1.7 to $1.8 million range. All have 2 bedrooms, except for the penthouse. Common fees are 93 cents per square foot.

Den and living room.

The Mill’s amenities include a common area with gas fireplace, café, gym, and outdoor lounge with grills and garden.

Artist’s rendering of back yard with lounge, pool area and garden.

A concierge will be on duty 6 days a week, while a furnished guest suite can be reserved for guests.

The Mill is 35% sold. Buyers include Westport residents looking to downsize (units range from 1,400 to 2,400 square feet, out-of-staters who want to be close to family members, and New Yorkers who appreciate the full-service lifestyle, Tribeca/boutique hotel feel, easy commute and proximity to downtown.

“Hudson Malone is next door — and it’s a New York restaurant,” Feinleib notes.

The Richmondville mill has been part of Westport since the early 19th century. When the moving vans arrive this month, it pivots toward the 21st.

(For more information, click here or call 917-388-5432.)

(“06880” is your hyper-local blog. We cover real estate news — and everything else. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

Nighttime at The Mill.

11 Comments

Posted in Looking back, Real estate, Restaurants

Tagged , , , , , ,

From Glendinning To Bridgewater … And Next, A Few Homes?

Posted on November 28, 2023 | 24 comments

Over the past few years, a few big housing developments riveted Westport’s attention. There’s 1177 Post Road East, opposite Greens Farms Elementary School, for example, and 3 others in various stages of construction: 157 units on Hiawatha Lane Extension, 68 on Lincoln Street, and 16 more being shoehorned onto Wilton Road opposite Fort Apache on Kings Highway North.

Sometimes, Westport is handcuffed by state legislation that trumps local boards and commissions (and traffic and safety concerns). The driving force: the need for each town in Connecticut to provide a share of “affordable housing.”

1177 Post Road East

But local officials have been proactive. They’ve searched for sites where a new development might work (like the state maintenance facility between Walgreens and West Parish Road), and enacted zoning regulations to encourage “cluster cottage” housing on town-owned land.

All of that construction — already done, and planned — has one thing in common: It’s south of the Merritt Parkway. That’s where zoning enables its construction.

Recently, however, a unique property came on the market. It offers a chance for a small new development, with a decent-sized affordable housing element.

Glendinning Place is the 16-acre site first developed as an office park in the 1960s by Ralph Glendinning. His eponymous company was the first marketing promotion firm in the world.

(The wooded land next to the Saugatuck River — much of which he preserved —  had a long history with business. The Dorr-Oliver Company, which made chemicals and other products, was headquartered in a nearby former mill.)

One view of the Glendinning property …

Eventually, Bridgewater Associates became the office park’s tenant. The world’s largest hedge fund was famously secretive. Westporters barely noticed the firm, which departed over a year ago to consolidate all its operations at Nyala Farm, next to I-95 Exit 18.

Three partners — Westporter David Waldman, and New Haven-area Urbane Capital and Sachem Capital — purchased the property in September, for $10.6 million.

They’re leasing out the office space. But they saw a chance to use 3.7 acres to build 14 single-family, 2-story detached homes that they believe fill an unaddressed niche: 3-bedrooms, and just under 3,000 square feet.

Ten of those homes would be sold at market rates. The other 4 would be deed-restricted, as “affordable” (using state guidelines).

The developers need a text amendment. But they felt the timing and the site was right, for a small project including several affordable homes, on the only commercially zoned property north of the Merritt Parkway.

… and the office building.

Rick Redniss — whose Redniss & Mead land use and engineering firm is working on other local projects like Delamar Westport and The Clubhouse — is helping guide the project through the approval phase.

He calls it “an opportunity to add affordable housing in pretty innocuous ways. Generally, it’s very difficult to do that without an 8-30g proposal” — an often-adversarial process, pitting developers against the town.

However, he admits, “this is a balancing exercise. It always is, with housing in a Gold Coast town.”

Traffic concerns will be minimal, he says. Soil tests have been positive.

But feedback from neighbors — including concern about the septic threshold of 7,500 gallons a day — caused the partners to rethink the project.

They withdrew a planned text amendment application, as they reduce the number of homes. The goal remains to have 20% of them be affordable.

A new proposal and text amendment, and future meetings with neighbors, are in the works.

A previous rendering showed 14 homes built just below the top yellow line (underneath “Aspetuck Land Trust.” That number will be lower, in the next plan to be submitted.

Redniss remains convinced that Westporters want to do their share to provide affordable housing.

“I defended the town when it’s been attacked about housing,” he says. “Over the last 8 years, Westport has been proactive. It’s not ‘no’; it’s ‘let’s try to accomplish different ideas, and meet the diverse needs of the community.'”

Housing is a complex issue, he notes, involving everything from politics and zoning to history and tradition.

“Everyone has a responsibility to do their fair share,” he says. “This is a modest proposal. It’s not 150 units. It’s in a commercial zone.

“If we can’t do this here, where can we do it?”

Conceptual plans for the Glendinning homes.

(“06880” covers every aspect of Westport: real estate, business, politics, the environment, and more. Please click here to support hyper-local journalism. Thank you!)

24 Comments

Posted in Local business, Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , , , , ,

New Clubhouse Comes To The Fore

Posted on July 3, 2023 | 41 comments

Westport is awash in restaurants and retail.

We’re blessed with outdoor amenities like Compo Beach and Longshore.

But when it comes to indoor fun — family activities, evenings with friends, date nights — not so much.

No movies or bowling, like Norwalk. No golf simulators, like Fairfield and Stamford.

Well, not today.

But — if Emily and Tim Zobl get the approvals and permits they need — hopefully next year.

Tim and Emily Zobl.

The Westporters — she’s a 2012 Staples High School graduate and former University of Michigan field hockey player, now co-founder and president of a firm that invests in hospitality, food services, technology and multi-media publishing; he has an events planning background, and is a local realtor — go before the Planning & Zoning Commission July 10.

They’ll present a concept for The Clubhouse: a “golf simulator lounge” activity space with 6 state-of-the-art bays that have 13 interactive experiences in golf, football, soccer, hockey, dodgeball and more; private rooms for birthday parties, corporate events, karaoke and big-screen game viewings, plus a bar with craft cocktails and a pub-bites menu.

Phase 2 involves 10 homes. Two will be affordable, according to state formulas.

The site is 1608-1622 Post Road East. Redi-Cut Carpet & Rugs, with a long-term lease, will remain. The other tenants — including Pane e Bene restaurant — would move or close.

1620 Post Road East was built in 1946.

It’s a true Westport project. Emily was part of the team that saved the historic Old Mill Grocery & Deli last year, and serves on the Earthplace board. Both are experienced in the hospitality industry, and love golf.

Their goals are to offer fun, new activities that Westport lacks; improve a 1940s-era building, and add landscaping and screening; provide a bit of affordable housing — and save the property from a much larger 8-30g project, which has been proposed in the past.

The Zobls are now in the due diligence phase. The P&Z hearing next week includes a text and map amendment, and review of a general development plan.

If approved, the couple will continue with engineering and architecture plans, an application to the Architectural Review Board and more.

The Clubhouse will include not just golf simulators …

The Clubhouse would be part of a renaissance of the Post Road between Maple Avenue and Stop & Shop. Delamar has torn down the Westport Inn. It will be replaced by a boutique hotel.

Rick Redniss of the Redniss & Mead land use and engineering firm is working on both Delamar Westport, and The Clubhouse.

Just east of the Zobls’ project — at the former AJ’s Farm Stand — work proceeds on Tacombi, the first Connecticut location for the popular New York-based taqueria.

… but adaptations for football, baseball, soccer, hockey dodgeball and other sports. Participants will feel like they’re part of the action.

The acre of land behind The Clubhouse — Phase 2 of the Zobls’ project — has been zoned residential for decades.

The Lansdowne condominiums were built next door 4 decades ago, on the site of a former miniature golf course and driving range. The range became an unofficial dump. Though several proposals were made for the property behind the carpet store — including an intensive 8-30g project — nothing was ever built.

The Zobls have held several meetings with neighbors on George Street — behind the land — and nearby High Gate Road, along with the adjacent Lansdowne condos.

“We’re very sensitive to them,” Emily says. “We want to be an asset. We’re working with them to make this a success for everyone.

“We’re not developers from New York. This is our town. Tim will be on site, running the daily operation.

“He’ll oversee the simulators, the lounge, private events, karaoke — everything. This is a true local business.”

The architect is local too: Rick Hoag.

Though the couple is excited about the possibilities — for family fun, night life, and of course the housing component — they are not rushing things.

“We want to do this right,” Tim says.

It’s their Clubhouse. They look forward to welcoming the entire town to it.

PS: The Zobls first looked at 950 Post Road East — the former Men’s Wearhouse — for The Clubhouse. But there were parking issues, and it was too close to neighbors.

On July 10 — the same night the P&Z hears the text and map amendment requests from the Zobls — they’ll discuss  special permit and site plan application to permit a veterinary hospital/animal clinic at 950 Post Road East.

(“06880” covers all of Westport — including, like today, local businesses and real estate. If you appreciate our work, please support us with a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)

41 Comments

Posted in Entertainment, Local business, Real estate, Sports

Tagged , , , , ,

[UPDATE] New Life For Old Nursing Home?

Posted on June 22, 2022 | 1 comment

This story has been updated to include an artists’ rendering of the proposed renovation of the Post Road West building.

It’s a jarring sight.

On one side of Post Road West, heading toward town, sits the classic-looking Kings Highway Elementary School.

A few yards away — on the other side of Burr Road — looms an industrial-type building, showing its age.

The current name is nondescript: Westport Rehabilitation Complex. So was the previous one: Westport Health Care Center. Many Westporters still call it “Mediplex.”

Connecticut Rehabilitation Complex. In the background: Kings Highway Elementary School.

It looks like a stereotypical “nursing” or “old age home.” Sure, those are outdated terms.

But so is the structure.

Next Monday (June 27, 7 p.m., Zoom), the Planning & Zoning Commission holds a public hearing on a text amendment that would substantially change the look of the building.

And adapt its use to more modern “senior care.”

Connectictu Rehabilitation Center’s current Burr Street entrance …

Rick Redniss — principal at Redniss & Mead, a surveying, civil engineering and planning firm, who has been involved in Westport projects like the renovation of Richmondville Mill and the conversion of 136 Riverside Avenue to housing for adults with special needs — hopes to expand the current standards for nursing homes to include a new medical facility specializing in Alzheimer’s, dementia and other memory impairment care.

The new proposal would gut renovate the interior, and redo the façade and roof, but essentially maintain the current footprint. Additional square footage would be added to the top 2 floors, to accommodate the new use.

The existing 120 beds would be reduced by almost half, to 68 units. Redniss notes that memory care — a growing segment of eldercare — requires a less intense use of staff than a skilled nursing home, too.

The property would be modernized and enhanced, with better landscaping and protections for nearby residents. Redniss says the height and feel of the renovation will complement the elementary school directly across the street.

… and the proposed renovation. The look and feel of the building mimic Kings Highway School, across Burr Street.

This is not the first time a new use has been proposed for the old site.

During the past few years, the landlord has submitted applications or pre-application requests to either change the use to a luxury hotel, or demolish the existing structure and construct a new assisted living facility.

Both proposals faced obstacles, and were withdrawn.

The timing now is important. Westport Rehabilitation has an option to extend their lease, and continue to operate as they have been. An agreement in place would allow this new project to proceed.

Redniss says that feedback from town departments and engineers — as well as a pre-application meeting with P&Z — has been included in this current plan.

(The June 27 public hearing will be livestreamed at 7 p.m. at westportct.gov,  Optimum Channel 79 and Frontier Channel 6020. Comments may be sent prior to the meeting to PandZ@westportct.gov. Interested parties may offer live testimony via Zoom.)

(“06880” reporting relies on reader support. Please click here to contribute.)

1 Comment

Posted in Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , , ,

New Life For Old Nursing Home?

Posted on June 22, 2022 | 2 comments

It’s a jarring sight.

On one side of Post Road West, heading toward town, sits the classic-looking Kings Highway Elementary School.

A few yards away — on the other side of Burr Road — looms an industrial-type building, showing its age.

The current name is nondescript: Westport Rehabilitation Complex. So was the previous one: Westport Health Care Center. Many Westporters still call it “Mediplex.”

Connecticut Rehabilitation Complex. In the background: Kings Highway Elementary School.

It looks like a stereotypical “nursing” or “old age home.” Sure, those are outdated terms.

But so is the structure.

Next Monday (June 27, 7 p.m., Zoom), the Planning & Zoning Commission holds a public hearing on a text amendment that would substantially change the look of the building.

And adapt its use to more modern “senior care.”

Rick Redniss — principal at Redniss & Mead, a surveying, civil engineering and planning firm, who has been involved in Westport projects like the renovation of Richmondville Mill and the conversion of 136 Riverside Avenue to housing for adults with special needs — hopes to expand the current standards for nursing homes to include a new medical facility specializing in Alzheimer’s, dementia and other memory impairment care.

The new proposal would gut renovate the interior, and redo the façade and roof, but essentially maintain the current footprint. Additional square footage would be added to the top 2 floors, to accommodate the new use.

The existing 120 beds would be reduced by almost half, to 68 units. Redniss notes that memory care — a growing segment of eldercare — requires a less intense use of staff than a skilled nursing home, too.

The property would be modernized and enhanced, with better landscaping and protections for nearby residents.

This is not the first time a new use has been proposed for the old site.

During the past few years, the landlord has submitted applications or pre-application requests to either change the use to a luxury hotel, or demolish the existing structure and construct a new assisted living facility.

Both proposals faced obstacles, and were withdrawn.

Connecticut Rehabilitation Complex;s Burr Street entrance. 

The timing now is important. Westport Rehabilitation has an option to extend their lease, and continue to operate as they have been. An agreement in place would allow this new project to proceed.

Redniss says that feedback from town departments and engineers — as well as a pre-application meeting with P&Z — has been included in this current plan.

And, he adds, the height and feel of the renovation will complement the elementary school directly across the street.

(The June 27 public hearing will be livestreamed at 7 p.m. at westportct.gov,  Optimum Channel 79 and Frontier Channel 6020. Comments may be sent prior to the meeting to PandZ@westportct.gov. Interested parties may offer live testimony via Zoom.)

(“06880” reporting relies on reader support. Please click here to contribute.)

2 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , , ,

Special Needs Housing Planned For Riverside Avenue

Posted on March 18, 2021 | 8 comments

One of the Westport’s greatest needs — supportive housing for people with special needs — is moving through the regulatory pipeline.

136 Riverside Avenue is a 12-room 1880 Colonial Victorian just north of Saugatuck Elementary School. Owned by the town, it’s used now by the Board of Education.

A few years ago it was considered for special needs housing. That opportunity has come around again.

Rick Redniss — principal at Redniss & Mead, a surveying, civil engineering and planning firm — has been exploring possibilities for “off-site affordable housing” for developments like 41 Richmondville Avenue and The Residence at Westport for several years.

That’s the process by which approval is granted for new market-rate housing at one location. In exchange, builders create affordable housing units elsewhere in town.

136 Riverside Avenue.

Redniss has met with parents of special needs individuals and Westport’s Commission on People with Disabilities to determine the best design. Based in part on a Darien model, he realized that if individual units include a private bath, kitchenette (to help with independent living) and deed-restricted lease, they count toward the town’s moratorium points (granted for showing that a municipality is actively building affordable housing).

The current plan would convert 136 Riverside to 5 apartments. Four would be for people with special needs; one would be rented to a staff member, who also would qualify under regulations for affordable housing.

Abilis — the 70-year-old nonprofit serving over 800 people with special needs — sees this as an excellent opportunity. They’ve been collaborating with the 41 Richmondville Avenue developers to make this a reality. Redniss has met with neighbors, and continues to address concerns.

The proposal — which includes remodeling that respects the original architecture, and enhanced landscaping — is going through the 8-24 (municipal improvement) and special permitting process. It’s on the agenda for the Architectural Review Board’s March 23 meeting.

If approved, 136 Riverside heads to the Planning & Zoning Commission, Board of Finance and RTM, for lease oversight.

8 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Organizations, Real estate

Tagged , , , , ,