Change Of Use Approved In Darien Retail Space Amid Ongoing Lease Dispute With Current Tenant

DARIEN, CT — The Darien Planning & Zoning Commission this week approved a change of use to allow Magnolia Bakery, the renowned New York City staple known for its banana pudding, cakes and cupcakes, to open in Darien at 1020 Boston Post Road, the space currently occupied by Gofer Ice Cream.

The approval comes, however, as Gofer Ice Cream and Corbin District developer Baywater Properties remain engaged in a legal dispute over whether Gofer has the right to remain in the space beyond July 2026.

Jordan and Dina Savitt, the operators of the Darien Gofer location, filed a lawsuit in Stamford Superior Court on March 31 against Baywater Post Road Associates II LLC, claiming unfair trade practices, breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment.

At the center of the lawsuit is a dispute over whether Gofer's lease was extended past July 31, 2026, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lawsuit claims Baywater's actions "reflect a deliberate strategy to evade its contractual obligations and the bargain it struck to delay and obstruct Plaintiff’s exercise of its rights under the Lease and Amendment so that Defendant can leverage a better deal or take advantage of a lease to another retailer that it perceives to be more lucrative."

Notably, the lawsuit claims Genovese encouraged Gofer to remain at the property during the pandemic by proposing a two-year lease extension via an email in June 2020, and promising future benefits from the Corbin District development.

Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Genovese assured the business that no other ice cream retailer would be brought in.

Email communications in September 2021 "confirmed and ratified" the lease renewal and the promise of ice cream exclusivity, the lawsuit claims.

Repeated attempts from September 2025 to January 2026 to contact Genovese to discuss the lease extension were "ignored or otherwise dismissed," the lawsuit claims

The Savitts claim they were ultimately told in February that Baywater would not renew the lease, and that no such lease agreement extension existed, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also claims that Genovese advised the Savitts in February that he had committed to signing a lease with another ice cream and frozen yogurt store on Corbin Drive.

The Savitts claimed they discovered news articles as early as May 2024 that mentioned a different ice cream retailer would open in the development at some point.

Gofer is asking the court to award damages and attorney's fees, declare that its lease remains valid, and issue an injunction preventing its eviction or the occupation of space in the Corbin District by another ice cream retailer while the case is pending.

The Savitts issued a statement during the June 9 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.

"Gofer Ice Cream intends to remain a part of the Darien community, and any presumption that Magnolia will be moving into Gofer's space is premature and remains the subject of an active legal dispute," Dina Savitt said.

"Baywater, and its principal, David Genovese, have refused to honor what we believe to be a valid and previously agreed-upon lease extension. This dispute has caused significant uncertainty and distress for our family, our employees and the many loyal customers who have supported Gofer Ice Cream for 20 years," she added.

Genovese also spoke during the meeting, saying, "We have evidence they tried to sell the business in the summer of last year and told the buyer the lease expired this summer."

Noting he was not going to listen to advice from his legal counsel, Genovese shared he's had complaints about Gofer's cleanliness for "many years," and that it was a factor in not renewing the lease.

"You can look for yourselves at the publicly available health inspection reports. They significantly fail inspections often - every time," Genovese told the Commission.

"They're not operating at the quality level of cleanliness that we expect from our tenants, and it's our right to lease our property to whomever we wish. We'll settle the dispute, and we think that Magnolia would be a great new tenant in town. There's a lot of enthusiasm around it."

When asked to comment on the reason for not renewing the lease, David Slossberg, an attorney representing the Savitts, told Patch: "Our complaint lays out the facts as we believe them to be, and we are going to move forward with that case aggressively."

As part of the change-of-use request, Magnolia Bakery had asked to expand the basement's use from storage only to include a new food preparation area.

Darien Planning & Zoning Commission Chair Adam Balgach said the commission's purview "isn't to litigate or have anything to do with a lawsuit."

"I would argue that this even minor change in use from complete storage to minimal prep in a basement is still under staff's review, and shouldn't have even bothered our time with," he said.

Without discussion, the commission voted unanimously to approve the change of use.

According to the approval, no ovens or baking/cooking have been proposed or approved for the basement.

Magnolia Bakery can now file for zoning/building permits for the fit-out of the space.

You can watch the June 9 Darien Planning & Zoning Commission meeting on demand on DarienTV.