Perkins Farm project in Mystic continues to advance

Mystic — Within two weeks all three phases of the proposed development for Perkins Farm are expected to either be under construction or in the approval process.

Developer David Lattizori of Groton said Saturday that he plans to file a site plan application for approval of phase 2, which calls for 50 town homes, within the next two weeks.

Last week, Lattizori filed a site plan application for phase 3, the construction of a three-story, $24 million medical building for Hartford Healthcare. The 47,000-square-foot facility would include primary care, cardiology, imaging, rehabilitation, infusion services, a headache center, a movement disorders center, other neuroscience and specialty services, community education facilities and space for additional offerings.

Lattizori said his goal is to have the applications for both the medical office building and the town homes go before the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission, which will hold public hearings, in January.

Construction is underway on Phase I, a $16.3 million project that calls for 121 upscale apartments and infrastructure improvements. The Planning and Zoning Commission has already approved Lattizori’s master plan for all three phases.

In all, the project could become the most valuable in the town’s history with Phase 3 expected to create hundreds of permanent jobs.

Lattizori’s family has tried for almost 20 years to develop the 71 acres off Jerry Browne Road for mix of commercial and residential use but those projects, one of which included an indoor water park and hotel, were successfully opposed by residents. In 2011, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a 36-lot subdivision of single-family homes for the site.

Lattizori said he was a week away from selling the site and its approval in 2015. He said that project would have created no permanent jobs and a net loss of tax revenue a year of $260,000, primarily because of the cost to educate children who would have lived there.

It was then that Lattizori said a retired doctor, who lives at StoneRidge retirement community across the street, suggested the idea of a project with a geriatric health component. Lattizori then began meeting with a committee of StoneRidge residents to discuss the project with them and gain their support.

Lattizori then put together plans for the current project which has met with widespread support from the community in part because it preserves more than half the site for open space.

Earlier this year, residents approved $1.3 million in tax breaks over seven years for phase one, which Lattizori said would help offset some of the large infrastructure and other upfront costs he has expended over the past several years and pave the way for the second and third phases.