New Restaurant, Retail Space Proposed For Greenwich Plaza

GREENWICH, CT — Plans for a major revitalization project at Greenwich Plaza were abandoned in 2019, but now a new proposal has been submitted to the Planning & Zoning Commission, according to documents filed with the town.

The town of Greenwich and The Ashforth Company, who owns Greenwich Plaza on Railroad Avenue, have held a public-private partnership for over 50 years, ever since the train station, commuter lot and plaza office buildings were built in the 1960’s.

As part of a project to redevelop the plaza in 2019, the town would have sold the air rights over the Greenwich Plaza office buildings at 2 Steamboat Road to Ashforth, but a deal was never struck and the plans fell apart.

While less extensive than the 2019 project, the current proposal "still provides many of the same benefits that were proposed" three years ago, according to Bruce Cohen, attorney for the applicant.

The existing 16,349-square-foot movie theater building at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Steamboat Road would be demolished, Cohen said. In its place, a new 7,879-square-foot mixed-used building would be built.

Since 2019, the movie theater, which had already been in financial trouble, closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The building's physical deficiencies have only worsened over the years, Cohen said.

The new mixed-used addition would include a 5,000-square-foot restaurant at the corner of Steamboat Road and Railroad Plaza, with a pedestrian plaza, green space and outdoor seating, documents state.

Access to the train station platform would be redesigned to provide improved pedestrian access and egress.

A 2,000-square-foot retail space is envisioned to the west of the restaurant, Cohen said.

Going westerly along Railroad Avenue, the existing commercial spaces located to the east of the train station would be renovated "to provide new retail storefronts and tenant spaces, connecting the active retail streetscape of Greenwich Avenue to the Greenwich Train Station," Cohen said.

The train station itself wold be refaced and renovated, documents state.

"Use of new materials, upgraded lighting and modern signage will refresh the station's exterior facade, giving it a more distinguished presence on Railroad Avenue," Cohen said, noting that the interior would feel less confined and more open.

Access to the train on the second floor would be streamlined to reflect Metro-North's new electronic ticketing process, with tickets purchased either online, on the Metro-North app, or via a ticket kiosk.

The removal of the existing ticket booth would "allow for an enlarged and more open waiting area and lobby space," Cohen said.

West of the train station, the existing building footprint will remain a mix of commercial spaces.

The existing 36-space surface parking lot would remain, as well as the existing 32 parking spaces provided along Railroad Avenue. New sidewalks and plantings are planned.

This proposal went before the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission as a non-binding, pre-application review on Feb. 1 of this year.

The pre-application process allows for a non-binding discussion with the commission about the pros and cons of a proposal before a substantial investment is made in developing plans, reports, and studies.

According to the meeting transcript, commissioners had concerns about parking.

This item has not yet been scheduled to go before the commission.