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Map of new plan from Baywater Corbin dec four seventeen

Corbin/Post Road Project Revisions: Measuring How It Shrunk, Reducing the Risk of Technology Changes

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On Tuesday night, David Genovese offered the Planning and Zoning Commission more details than he previously made public about why his plans for the Corbin/Post Road downtown redevelopment project have changed. The public meeting before the full board follows by about a month the developer’s meeting with two members of the commission and officials in the Planning and Zoning Department. In his presentation, he offered some tentative numbers showing how much the square footage of retail, office and residential uses would shrink in the new proposal as compared with the old one, which had been approved (after being amended) by the commission a bit less than a year ago. One of the chief reasons for the change, he said, was the discovery that the site was more difficult and expensive to excavate than had been expected. Test borings found it was rockier than had been known, and it was wet down there.

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Corbin Drive Baywater Corbin proposal Dec four seventeen

Genovese’s Own Explanation of Changes to Corbin/Post Project: An Open Letter

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David Genovese, the lead partner in the massive Baywater Corbin project between the Post Road, Corbin Drive and I-95, released this statement explaining why he’s proposing a much changed development after going back to the drawing board:

An Open Letter from David Genovese Regarding the Redesign of Baywater’s Downtown Darien Project

On Oct. 17, we filed a minor modification to the text amendment required to allow our revised project for downtown Darien to proceed. Our plan is to file our Site Plan Application to Darien’s Planning & Zoning Commission in early 2018. These are our first visible actions on our project since we received an approval earlier this year for the text amendment we had proposed in 2016. Given the significant public interest shown in our project over the last two years, and the incredible support we have received over this period, I thought it would be helpful to provide you a summary of where we have been, and where we hope to be going, after an extended period of quiet but intense work.

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Post Road and Corbin Redevelopment Dec five seventeen

New Plan for Corbin/Post Project: Less High, Less Deep, Less Large, Yet With Bigger Footprint

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The big downtown redevelopment proposal for Corbin Drive and the Post Road, with its huge underground parking garage, some high buildings and a showcase “Village Green” park in the center of town, is being scrapped by the developer. The new proposal, being presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday night: Much more above-ground parking — made more discreet behind buildings and along the highway — one building near the highway that’s four stories high, and a winding, green public space that snakes into the project to take the place of the larger “Village Green” idea. The project is smaller, too, with less indoor space, and three commercial property owners on the east side of Corbin Drive have been invited to rebuild on their parcels to extend the redevelopment. Editor’s note, several additional images have been added to the article in the hour after it was first published. A table with square-feet data may be added to the article later.

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Current Meeting House rendering CP 01-11-17

New Corbin/Post Redevelopment Proposal Less High, with 749 Parking Spaces

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Heights for the tallest building in the Corbin/Post Road redevelopment proposal is now lower (at 71 feet), as are the four buildings along the Post Road, but to make up for the lost space, some buildings farther from the Post Road would get extra stories. Those were some of the changes detailed at a Planning & Zoning Commission public hearing Tuesday night by Baywater Corbin LLC, the partnership led by David Genovese that wants to redevelop the large downtown site on the triangular block formed by the Post Road, Corbin Drive and Interstate 95. _______________

THIS ARTICLE describes the many new elements of the proposal and focuses on building height, the most controversial element. AN ADDITIONAL ARTICLE will describe what was said at the public hearing. _______________

Other changes in the proposal, as detailed Tuesday night:
The tallest point: a copula/clock tower at the top of the “Meeting House” building facing Market Square: 74 feet high (just a bit higher than the 71-foot Market Street apartment building).

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Market Lane 6-1-16

Genovese: P&Z Limit on Corbin/Post Building Heights May Make Project ‘Impossible’

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UPDATE: 4:36 p.m., Wednesday, modified at 10:48 p.m.:

The intention of Planning & Zoning Commission members to limit building heights for the proposed Corbin/Post Road redevelopment “would render it impossible for us to finance the project,” according to a post on the developer’s Facebook page. David Genovese, a partner with Penny Glassmeyer in the Baywater Corbin LLC redevelopment proposal to redevelop the block between Corbin Drive, the Post Road and Interstate 95, confirmed that the statement is on Facebook (it’s been reported by the Darien Times, but Darienite.com can’t find it there). Here’s part of the statement posted Sept. 2 on the Your Downtown Darien Facebook page:
[T]he P&Z Commission appears to be moving in the direction of approving our request for a text amendment with modifications which would render it impossible for us to finance the project. We have explained this to the P&Z Commission. […]

Some of the commissioners appear to be especially focused upon the taller portion of the apartment building at the rear of the site, along I-95.

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Existing

Business Owners Give Support for Downtown Redevelopment Plan, Say Darien Needs to Compete

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Some of the support for the massive downtown Darien redevelopment proposal between Corbin Drive, the Post Road and the highway is coming from businesspeople who worry that the downtown businesses district, for whatever reason, may be losing its competitive edge. Whether it’s retail shopping now going on over the Internet or business going to downtown shops in other towns, some business owners told the Planning & Zoning Commission that they’re worried. The P&Z held a public hearing Tuesday on the zoning changes wanted by Baywater Corbin LLC, a partnership of the owners of Baywater Properties and RG Properties. Although the hearing was specifically about particular zoning changes being proposed for the site, the P&Z after a while seemed to give up on the idea of holding speakers to the topic at hand and let them speak in more general terms about their support for the proposed redevelopment. Baywater Corbin launched an effort to get supporters of its proposal to the P&Z hearing, with advertising and emails, and interns from Baywater Properties even handed out blue baseball caps with the logo from the Baywater website, YourDowntownDarien.com, for attendees to show their support.