Genovese 10-15-15

Corbin/Post Rd Redevelopment Idea Looks a Bit Less Radical in Latest Presentation

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Commercial Real Estate Developer David Genovese gave a presentation to the public at Town Hall (and on TV79) Thursday evening, providing some updates on his proposal to redevelop the triangle between Corbin Drive, the Post Road and Interstate 95. The proposal doesn’t add that much more retail space to the downtown about another 20,000-square feet, Genovese said. And a new street that would run parallel to the Post Road (and that might be extended to Center Street) is something that previous government studies have suggested, he said. Genovese addressed concerns about underground parking, the addition of a five-story building to downtown, the impact on traffic, and whether the new apartments would increase the school-age population. He mentioned some small changes in the proposal and some other ways the idea might be changed before a formal proposal is presented to town land-use boards.

Public Meeting Thursday on Downtown Redevelopment Proposal

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Darien Board of Realtors has joined with David Genovese of Baywater Properties to present a public forum about the proposed downtown redevelopment between Corbin Drive, the Post Road and Interstate 95. Titled  “A New Vision for Downtown Darien,” the informational meeting takes place from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday in Darien Town Hall, 2 Renshaw Road, according to a post on the Darien Board of Realtors Facebook timeline. The post continues: “You won’t want to miss this exciting presentation! RSVP today to: darienmls@optonline.net”

For more information on the proposal, click on the “tags” (words in short blue bands) at the bottom of this article, under “Filed Under.”

1090 Post Rd 8-20-15

Downtown Post Road Property Goes for $2.85 Million

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The building and land at 1090 Post Road, in the middle of a proposed downtown redevelopment project now in its early stages, has been sold to an entity connected to Baywater Properties, one of the businesses proposing the project. The Double Exposure store is now on the site of the property, sold by Paulson Properties of 146 West Rocks Road, Norwalk to Baywater 1090 BPR, LLC. The sale occurred on Aug. 12 and was filed on Aug. 13 in the Darien Town Clerk’s Office, according to that office.

Looking East Post Road Rendering

Proposers of Corbin Dr/Post Rd Project Describe It on New Website

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The partnership proposing to replace the commercial block between the Post Road, Corbin Drive and Interstate 95 say on their new website that it should help, not hurt traffic and parking downtown. David Genovese, president of Baywater Properties (which owns the land, together with developer Penny Glassmeyer’s PG Properties), recently sent a letter to news organizations announcing the new website, www.yourdowntowndarien.com. “We hope that this site will help residents of Darien get information about our proposal with ease,” Genovese wrote in the letter. “On the site, residents can download our P&Z presentation video, as well as the presentation itself, and many videos and documents which are important to consider as it relates to parking, public space, and pedestrian flows downtown.” One part of the website has a FAQs (“frequently asked questions”) format discussing concerns about the proposal, such as traffic, parking and other issues.

Proposed Noroton Shopping Center Replacement Project: Maps & Renderings

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The presentation on July 21 from the Palmer family’s proposed redevelopment of the west side of the Noroton business district is now available online at the Darien town government website. Darienite.com has posted the 18-page document here:

(All renderings are copyrighted by Newman Architects, PC, whether or not that shows in the screen grabs of individual pages shown here. Click on a picture for an enlarged version, or for an even bigger version, go to the town government website.)

Palmer TV79 Redevelopment Meeting

VIDEO: Watch the Full Presentations of the Downtown, Noroton Heights Redevelopment Proposals

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You can now watch the presentations on the redevelopment proposals for large parts of downtown Darien and the Noroton Heights shopping district on TV79 online and on cable television. TV79 announced the availability of the videos Thursday morning. The on-demand Vimeo version is on this Web page. The video shows the full special meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission, which met jointly with the Architectural Review Board. The meeting lasted just over 2 1/2 hours.

Statement by David Genovese on His Post Rd/Corbin Dr Redevelopment Project

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This is the statement David Genovese, CEO of Baywater Properties, gave before the Planning & Zoning Commission and Architectural Review Board on Tuesday before describing his development proposal (main article here) for the area bounded by the Post Road, Corbin Drive and Interstate 95. Eight highlights from his remarks:

“Our goal for tonight, however, is a simple one.  We want to start a dialogue with you and the people of Darien, and we want to get your feedback on our ideas for what we believe is a catalyst for taking downtown Darien to the next level.” “When I started working with a group of volunteers on the Darien Revitalization effort in 2003 with the objective improving downtown, we would hear often from residential brokers in Darien about how they would avoid driving through downtown when touring homes with potential homebuyers who were considering Darien as well as New Canaan.” “We will be looking at creating affordable units for sale and/or for rent, and we are also researching the possibility of creating a building which could provide supportive housing for adults with special needs.” “The demographic trends in Darien are incredible, but unsustainable.  Between 1990 and 2010, the population of the town increased by something like 5 percent, while the school age population increased by 80 percent.”

Brewer Genovese July 21 2015

Two BIG Proposed Projects Would Change the Face of Downtown, Noroton Heights

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Downtown Darien and the business district of Noroton Heights would be massively changed with proposed redevelopment projects of a type not seen since the highway was built through town, according to descriptions presented Tuesday by the owners. David Genovese, principal with Baywater Properties, which already owns a large part of downtown, and his architects described how the block between Corbin Drive, the Post Road and Interstate 95 would be torn down and replaced with somewhat more retail space, new apartment buildings and a five-floor office building. _____________________________________

See also:

TV79 video of the entire meeting
David Genovese’s entire statement to the Planning & Zoning Commission and Architectural Review Board
Picture galleries for each proposal presented below. _____________________________________

Greg Palmer, an owner of Palmer’s Market and the Noroton Heights Shopping Center, described how the present shopping center (at the west end of the commercial district) would be replaced with multi-story buildings containing stores on the ground floors, more apartments above and some underground parking. Teams for both property owners gave the first description of their development ideas at a special joint meeting of the town Planning & Zoning Commission and the Architectural Review Board on Tuesday in a jam-packed Town Hall room.