Developer wants to turn former Darien bank into 22 apartments
DARIEN — A developer is seeking to build a threestory, 22-unit apartment building in a vacant bank in Darien’s busiest downtown district.
An application filed in early February to redevelop a vacant building on Sedgwick Avenue will be heard by the Planning and Zoning Commission at its next meeting on May 10, according to Planning and Zoning director Jeremy Ginsberg. Meetings start at 7:30 p.m.
The applicant, listed as 7 Sedgewick Avenue LLC in project documents filed with the commission, wants to raze the existing bank to build an apartment complex with 22 single- and two-bedroom apartments over two stories. Four of those apartments will be marked as affordable.
The third story will be a surface-level parking garage with 40 spaces, according to project documents.
A gym, leasing office and private rooftop garden will also be included.
The company 7 Sedgewick Avenue is owned by Harold Platz, a longtime home builder in the area who has worked on several
Greenwich and Fairfield-area projects.
For the project, the developer wants to change the maximum square footage allowed for apartment units in the Central Business District, which encompasses part of Darien’s highestdensity streets and downtown proper. In order to do that, the commission would need to change current zoning regulations to allow units up to 2,000 square feet.
“The proposed increase in maximum floor area will allow larger apartments to meet modern day needs of tenants,” the application reads.
Built in 1973 and occupied by a Bank of America branch until a few years ago, the building — with an ATM — still exists on the site, which encompasses slightly less than a half acre. The proposed building will be 12,889 square feet.
Sedgwick Avenue serves as a through-road between the bustling Post Road and Old King Highway North. Two crashes were reported in a three-year period between January 2019 and January 2022, according to a traffic study submitted with the project.
“The proposed residential development is expected to generate fewer trips during the peak hours than the prior bank use,” the study reads.
The project comes on the heels of several other major developments in town. The nearby Corbin District revamp is underway, while the redevelopment projects at Noroton Heights Shopping Center and 3 Parklands Drive were recently approved by the commission.