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GREENWICH — Developers looking to build housing at a corporate campus in the north end of Greenwich have scaled back the number of units and the size of the proposed buildings after planning officials said they were worried about the project’s density.
The development group associated with the Tishman Speyer corporation now calls for 198 units at the Greenwich American Center off upper King Street, down from an earlier proposal for 248 units.
In addition, according to Thomas Heagney, the attorney representing the proposal, the developers are eliminating 12-unit structures and four-unit structures from the plan. The proposal now calls for “single-family attached townhomes in two- and three-unit buildings,” he stated in a submission filed with the town planning department earlier this month. The removal of the larger structures will also scale back the “floor area ratio” at the site, or the measurement of the buildings’ floor area in relation to the size of the 154-acre parcel.
“We made some significant changes to the site plan,” Heagney told the Planning & Zoning Commission at its meeting Tuesday.
Paimaan Lodhi, the senior director at Tishman Speyer, told the commission, “We’re envisioning a beautiful, multi-generational residential community of single family townhomes that will be centered around a community center located in the historic town stone house. We believe these homes will have great appeal to young families, empty nesters and seniors.” He added the latest and most advanced energy-saving and energy-efficient technology and construction practices would be used at the site.
Commissioners said they liked the lowered density, compared with earlier versions.
Commissioner Dennis Yeskey said, “Not in love with it, but I could live with it, if the zoning works out.” The developers are seeking a zoning change to allow housing in a business-executive office zone, along with site-plan approval.
Commissioner Mary Jenkins said, “I appreciate the reduction of the larger units. The profile of the smaller houses is beneficial, so I’m more satisfied.”
Commissioner Nick Macri said he liked the lowered density.
“I’m more comfortable with this, but the devil is in the details,” he said.
The developers were in talks with the town’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund over paying into a fund for affordable housing in Greenwich. The developers had agreed to pay $12.4 million to the fund in return for building no affordable housing at the King Street site under the previous proposal. The commissioners said they wanted additional legal scrutiny and legal advice from the town law department to ensure there were no questions about the legality of the payments into the fund.
The developers were looking to submit formal plans with the 198-unit model in the next several weeks.
Earlier versions of the plan, which have been in consideration for nearly two years, called for 456 units. The site, where Tishman Speyer is located, was built when the American Can Co. moved to the location off King Street in 1970.
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