Shopping Center

Redevelopment Proposal Emerging

By Andrew Gorosko

Redevelopment plans for the largely vacant borough shopping center that formerly housed the Grand Union supermarket were briefly discussed at a Police Commission meeting this week, as agency members considered the traffic implications of such commercial growth in the town center.

Details on the long-awaited project were few, because no representative of the developer was present at the September 4 session to discuss the Eton Center project.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe and Police Commission members, however, reviewed a draft plot plan that depicts the general features that such redevelopment may take on the 7.5-acre site.

The Police Commission serves as the local traffic authority and reviews the traffic aspects of commercial development proposals in the town and the borough. The commission, however, has yet to receive a traffic study for the project from the developer. The site has entry/exit points at both Queen Street and at Church Hill Road.

Borough Zoning Commission Chairwoman Linda Shepard said on September 5 that the borough land use agency has not yet received a redevelopment application for the site.

A site layout plan drawn by TPA Design Group of New Haven indicates that the existing 48,084-square-foot red-brick building on the site may be used for a grocery store, as well as for general retail uses. The potential exists to add 1,565 square feet of space to that structure to bring its size up to 49,649 square feet, according to the draft plan.

Under applicable land use regulations, the developer would have the option of renovating the existing commercial space, or constructing a new building that matches the dimensions of the existing building.

Additionally, a new 3,200-square-foot building would be constructed on the site adjacent to Church Hill Road to house a bank, ostensibly a Wachovia Bank branch office. That building would lie across Church Hill Road from Hawley School.

The new bank building would be located on the south side of Church Hill Road, between the building that jointly houses Newtown Convenience Store and Newtown Florist at 22 Church Hill Road, and the building now under construction at 28 Church Hill Road that will house Mannen, a Japanese restaurant/bar, on the ground level and office space on an upper level.

A Grand Union supermarket, which was the prime tenant at Eton Center, closed for business in March 2001. That decaying space has been vacant since the closure. A Brooks Pharmacy at the site closed for business in April 2006. A Wachovia Bank branch office remains in business within the west end of the 48,000-square-foot building on the site.

After it closed, the Grand Union space became the repeated target of vandals who broke into the vacant building and heavily damaged its interior. Similarly, graffiti now defaces sections of the Grand Union exterior.

Town officials have long expressed hopes that the shopping center’s owner, Brause Realty, Inc, would redevelop the site, which is a key piece of commercial real estate in the heart of the town’s central business district. The firm is in the business of owning, managing, and developing properties.

David Brause of Brause Realty in New York City could not be reached for comment.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said of the apparent progress being made in the redevelopment project: “I think it’s very positive. We’ve been pushing for years to get something going there. It’s a prime spot, a commercial location in the center of town that we’ve wanted to see rehabilitated.”

Mr Rosenthal said that redeveloping the site would be beneficial to the town at large.

Various legal matters apparently have prevented the redevelopment of the site until now, Mr Rosenthal said.

Recently, surveyors have taken measurements at the site. A traffic study has been conducted on nearby roads to estimate the project’s effect on nearby traffic.

The site is located in a borough Business zone, and also in the borough’s Village District overlay zone. Development or redevelopment in the Village District zone is subject to a thorough Borough Zoning Commission review of project aesthetics that is keyed to ensuring that redevelopment is visually compatible with nearby properties.

After receiving a redevelopment application for the site, the borough zoners would refer the matter to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for its review and comment.

Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker said she met with the site’s owner about six months ago to discuss the property’s development potential. Ms Stocker declined to disclose specifics about the firms which may occupy the renovated commercial space.

In applying to redevelop the site, the owner may identify the type of commercial uses that would occupy the shopping center, but not necessarily identify the specific tenants, she said.

“I think some application is going to be coming forward soon,” Ms Stocker said.

Residents are looking forward to the site’s redevelopment, she said.

Current zoning regulations affecting the site would allow the owner to apply to construct a cluster of relatively small commercial buildings there. The zoning regulations would limit an individual commercial building’s size to 6,500 square feet.

Ms Stocker said she expects that a redeveloped shopping center would entail more intensive use of the site than its previous uses.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said the Police Commission likely will discuss the traffic aspects of the redevelopment project when it meets on October 2.

Chief Kehoe said the commission will consider the overall traffic impact of the project on the surrounding area. The review will address traffic safety, traffic flow, and congestion, he said.

Traffic Engineer Michael Galante of Frederick P. Clark Associates, Inc, is representing the developer for the project’s traffic study. Mr Galante declined to comment on the project.