Major Medical Building Approved For South County Trail

Developer Jack Keigwin, who built Greenwich Medical Center, a medical complex just south of Division Street on the west side of South County Trail, is now putting up a 45,000-square-foot medical building on just over 4 acres of land right across the road on the east side of the highway.

Keigwin told the Planning Board Wednesday night that he couldn’t give them the name of the building’s occupant at this time, but that it would be announced soon and would be a name everyone would recognize.

Keigwin said the medical center would bring with it some 50 jobs and offer every medical service available. The tenant will have a 10-year lease with an option for another 20.

After listening to an engineer, architect, landscape architect and highway traffic engineer, the Planning Board gave unanimous approval to the combined preliminary and final site plan.

Steven Cabral, president of Crossman Engineering in Warwick, outlined for the board how the project will meet local and state regulations. The plans include options for details such as using solar powered parking lot lights. That could involve an array of solar panels, or individual panels built into each pole.   Cabral suggested, and the board made it part of the requirements, that the project share combined driveways with adjacent properties if possible.

Keigwin’s highway traffic engineer , Jim Cronan, said the site would see around 1,500 cars a day, and would not have a detrimental impact on South County Trail traffic, which sees some 1,200 cars an hour during peak morning periods and just over 1,400 cars an hour during peak times in the afternoon.

Architect Larry Trim told the board a proposed two-story building is still in design and Keigwin said getting the project completed by the end of the year will be a challenge.

What was expected to be the Planning Board’s major agenda item, , has been postponed until the May 2 meeting, giving the applicant and town Department of Public Works time to work out some issues on the project. Greenwich Boulevard, which contains 41 housing units and some retail development, is proposed for land behind the American Legion Post on Main Street.