Proposed Project Would Turn Former Darien Bank Into 3-Story Apartment Building

DARIEN, CT — According to application materials submitted to the Darien Planning and Zoning Commission in February, a proposed project would raze the vacant building at 7 Sedgwick Ave. — the site of a former bank branch — and construct a new three-story, 12,889 square foot apartment building with 40 surface level parking spaces under the building, and two floors of apartments above.

The Darien Times reported that the commission is expected to review the application at its May 10 meeting.

Each level of the new building would contain four one-bedroom apartments and seven two-bedroom apartments, according to the application.

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The project calls for a leasing office on the first level and a gym on the second. The new building would also include a private rooftop garden and open space area for residents, with access provided by an elevator and two stairways.

The proposed apartment floor areas vary from 794 to 1,324 square feet for the one bedroom units, and 1,125 to 1,918 square feet for the two-bedroom units, the application stated.

The applicant, 7 Sedgwick Avenue LLC, is looking to amend zoning regulations to increase the maximum floor area of dwelling units in the Central Business District from 1,000 square feet to 2,000 square feet.

This would "allow larger apartments to meet modern day needs of tenants," the application said.

In accordance with Section 580 of the Inclusionary Zoning Regulations, two of the one-bedroom apartments and two of the two-bedroom apartments would be designated as affordable.

The existing 2,452 square foot building was constructed in 1973, and was used as a retail bank branch until the branch closed a few years ago, according to the application. It's located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Sedgwick Avenue and Old Kings Highway North.

The intersection is a traffic circle. A traffic study conducted by SLR submitted with the application said there were two crashes there from January 2019 to January 2022.

A stop sign and stop bar are recommended at the southbound approach of Old Kings Highway North at Sedgwick Avenue, which would turn the intersection into a full all-way stop.

SLR said the proposed residential development "is expected to generate fewer trips during the peak hours than the prior bank use."