Plans Revealed For $45 Million Redevelopment Of Greenwich Station

GREENWICH, CT — As commuters rushed to board their trains Tuesday morning, First Selectman Peter Tesei and a group of town, state and transportation officials gathered on the second floor of the town's train station to unveil plans for a large-scale redevelopment of the Greenwich Transportation Center. The $45 million project will be launched through a public-private partnership between the town and Greenwich Plaza, which is owned by the Ashforth Company.

Plans call for the development of an entirely new train station to replace the existing station on the north side of the tracks, as well as a new train station on the south side of the track. Also included will be a number of amenities, including new retail spaces and a luxury multiplex movie theater.

"This is an exciting day for the town of Greenwich, for the Ashforth Company and for the residents, citizens and visitors to our town who pass through these doors on a daily basis," Tesei said during the announcement event. "This is the hub, and we're looking forward to sharing with you today what the future holds for it."

Ashforth Company Co-CEO Darrell Harvey, along with a number of his family members, was on hand for the presentation and spoke about the "tremendous opportunity" to revitalize something built over 50 years ago through a partnership between the company and the town of Greenwich.

"When we developed [the current station], it was viewed as a tremendous improvement over the previous station," Harvey said, "and it was, but it was outlasted."

Harvey noted a number of aspects of Greenwich that have changed in the past 50 years, such as an increase in travel between Connecticut and New York and the ways people are getting to and from the station, which plans for the new station have taken into consideration.

"You have a lot more people coming [to the station] with Uber or Lyft, you have shuttles coming from buildings, you have more people riding bikes, and in the future we're going to have driverless cars," Harvey said. "You've got more people living downtown now, more pedestrians, so we need to make this [station] more pedestrian-friendly."

The plans presented call for expanded and improved drop-off and pick-up areas for both stations, as well as new pedestrian and commuter pathways.

Harvey said they have been in "direct consultation" with town officials for the last four or five years, and have also consulted and planned with Metro-North Railroad. He also said they have received "tremendous support" from the state, including Governor Ned Lamont.

Harvey said the movie theater will have "reserved luxury seating," something theaters in nearby communities such as Norwalk and Danbury currently offer. A new privately-owned public park on the corner of Greenwich Avenue and Railroad Avenue, where the movie theater currently sits, is also part of the plans.

The architectural firm of Beyer Blinder Belle, the lead designer of the restoration of Grand Central Terminal in New York City, is designing the project. Architect Frank Prial, Jr. said the firm sees the planned center as a place to gather and celebrate Greenwich.

"We see it as a portal," Prial said. "The original architect of Grand Central saw that building as a gateway to New York City. We see that similar opportunity here in Greenwich as well. It will be a generous space, it will be tall, it will be a place of honor and civic grandeur, but it will also be a very functional place where one can very comfortably and easily access trains."

Tesei said the proposal will go before the Board of Selectmen for additional presentation on Thursday, then go before Planning and Zoning on July 30. Presentations will also be coordinated with the Board of Estimate & Taxation and the Representative Town Meeting, with a targeted start for construction in mid-2020.

According to a statement from the town, funding for the project will be provided by the Ashforth Company. The town will be contributing toward the public benefit improvements portion of the redevelopment by transferring to Greenwich Plaza, upon the successful conclusion of the project, the air rights currently owned by the Town and leased to Greenwich Plaza on the south side of the tracks.

As part of this transfer, the town will also receive a perpetual easement for the use of all of the A-level commuter lot, including the portion owned by Greenwich Plaza, replacing the license currently held by the town that expires at the end of the air rights lease.

"Our initial partnership created in 1967, when Greenwich Plaza was first developed, was a complex yet mutually beneficial arrangement," Tesei said in a statement. "It involved the selling and sharing of land parcels, air rights and the shared ownership of a parking structure. This was one of the first public-private partnerships formed at the time...We are now working together to
restructure the partnership, in order to create a modern transportation center."

State Sen. Alex Bergstein (D-36th) expressed excitement for the project and what it means for both Greenwich and the state.

"Greenwich really is the gateway to Connecticut," Bergstein said. "We need a beautiful, fresh, modern face to show the rest of the state, the east coast and the region that we are a thriving community and we are a thriving state."

Tesei encouraged residents to take the time to learn more about the project, to reach out to town officials with any questions and to participate in the approval process by attending meetings regarding the project.

"I'm excited about this opportunity today, and I call out to all my fellow officials and say remember this day as you go forward," Tesei said, "because 50 years from now, people will be looking back and reading about this and saying that the leaders of 2019 had the foresight to engage in a partnership to foster and carry Greenwich into the 21st century, and that's why it's thriving in 2050 or 2075."