Amid unseasonably mild weather, work is progressing on The Village at Lexington Gardens, a multibuilding commercial complex under construction in the borough at 30 Church Hill Road.

The project, which is being built by Mesa General Contractors, Inc, of New Milford, is the largest commercial redevelopment in the borough since the redevelopment of Newtown Shopping Village at 6 Queen Street, which was approved by borough land use officials in January 1996.

In September 2012, the Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) approved The Village at Lexington Gardens for a 6.3-acre site. That property is on the south side of Church Hill Road, across Church Hill Road from The Boulevard.

To make way for the project, the former Lexington Gardens plant nursery and gift shop was demolished.

Plans call for adding 60,500 square feet of new commercial space in the form of four two-story buildings — one 28,000-square-foot structure, two 13,000-square-foot buildings, and one 6,500-square-foot structure. Each building would have retail space at ground level and office space on the second story. The complex will have elevators.

Newtown Savings Bank plans to occupy a 6,500-square-foot building now under construction near the street.

Also, an existing flat-roofed, two-story, red-brick 16,000-square-foot commercial building, sometimes known as the “Morganti Building,” would receive a variety of external improvements to enhance its appearance, making it visually complementary to the new construction.

Gable-ended roofing and other features would be added to improve the building’s appearance. The structure holds retail space at the ground level and office space on the second story.

Thus, the overall project will include 76,500 square feet of new and refurbished commercial space.

A key component of The Village at Lexington Gardens is the planned installation of a four-way traffic signal on Church Hill Road at its intersection with The Boulevard and the driveway for the new commercial complex.

Spring Openings

Doug Rose, the real estate broker representing Mesa, said December 18 that the vault for the planned bank is being shipped for installation in the bank’s basement.

Mr Rose said that more than 14,000 square feet of floor space in the southernmost building at the 30 Church Hill Road site will be occupied by Dental Associates of Connecticut, a dentistry firm which is now located at 11 Church Hill Road. The firm will occupy all of the building’s second story and some space at ground level.

Mr Rose said he expects initial occupancy in the newly constructed buildings to occur in April. A coordinated opening of multiple businesses is expected in May, he said.

The project will include two ground-level commercial spaces designated for restaurant use, he said. Each restaurant location would have seating space for 100 customers.

The complex will include 310 new parking spaces. Workers will park in spaces to the rear of buildings, with customers parking in the area in front of buildings.

Mr Rose declined to name the specific businesses that may locate in the complex, but listed an organic food market, a dress shop, a women’s spa, and a jewelry store as the types of firms likely to locate in the new space.

When fully occupied, the complex would hold from 8 to 12 retail businesses and from 12 to 16 professional offices, he said.

Mr Rose said that having a traffic signal at the Church Hill Road entrance to the complex will be beneficial in regulating the traffic flow on the congested Church Hill Road.

Besides Church Hill Road, motorists will have access to the site via a broad driveway that connects the complex to the adjacent shopping center at 5 Queen Street that holds Caraluzzi’s Market.

Mr Rose said that the businesses being sought for The Village at Lexington Gardens are small family-owned businesses, not major chain stores.

Architectural firm Bennett Sullivan Associates of Southbury designed the project.

The project was designed under the terms of the BZC’s Village District zoning regulations.