The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
PZC OKs permit change for Brainerd Place project
PORTLAND — The Planning and Zoning Commission this week approved a modification to the permit for the Brainerd Place mixed-use development that developer Daniel Bertram said he hopes can “get the bat on the ball” and finally begin construction of the long-delayed project.
Bertram came before the commission asking to alter the retail/ commercial portion of the proposed $40 million project, which calls for the construction of 241 rental units and 116,000 square feet of commercial space.
Having received unanimous approval from the commission Thursday, Bertram now will revise the order in which the two phases of the project will occur and increase the potential for more office space rather than strictly retail space.
More than a dozen residents and town officials were present for the virtual Zoom meeting.
While all commission members voted in favor of the proposal, three expressed varying degrees of
disappointment about the potential loss of brick-andmortar commercial space in the property, the former site of Elmcrest Hospital.
Both Bertram and Economic Development Planner Mary D. Dickerson sought to allay those concerns, saying commercial does include office space.
Dickerson said she anticipated
doctor and dentist offices could be lured to the site, rather than more stereotypical business offices.
Bertram, who has reached agreement for a Starbucks to be located on the site, said the changes he sought were brought about both by his lender and by changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, including changes in how consumers shop.