New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Zoning change sought at mall to allow ‘luxury’ units
A proposed zoning regulation change to allow for a 300-apartment “luxury residential community” at the Connecticut Post Mall will come before the Planning and Zoning Board with a 7 p.m. public hearing Tuesday.
Dallas-based mall owner Centennial Real Estate proposes constructing the apartment building at the former Sears Auto Center on East Town Road, near Interstate 95. The rectangular building with an interior courtyard would have 135 one-bedroom units, 135 two-bedroom units and 30 three-bedroom units.
The application filed by attorney John Knuff is only for the regulation change. There is no site plan to accompany the regulation change, only a conceptual map with a drawing of the building.
“Additional components of the mall will also be redeveloped in the future to transform the mall into a modern, mixed-use property,” according to application from Centennial.
Centennial Real Estate purchased the mall from Westfield Corp. in 2015. The property is 74.9 acres with 1.75 million square feet of retail space.
In the application, Centennial said the mall has experienced a 20 percent drop in visitors over the past five years. Since 2017, more than 25 tenants have left the mall. The company also noted that many retailers filed for bankruptcy in 2020.
According to Centennial, the mall’s assessed value dropped from $176 million in 2010 to $149 million in 2019. Adjusted for inflation, the 2010 value is equal to $207 million.
The company estimated the mall will depreciate by an additional $58 million over the next 10 years, resulting in an annual tax revenue loss to the city of $160,000. It noted that the mall is Milford’s largest taxpayer and generated $3.8 million in taxes in 2019.
Centennial projected this depreciation will accelerate due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The application offers the rationale that the apartment project is needed due to changes in shopping habits that are leading to the closure of department and retail stories, resulting in the
shutdown of malls. According to the company, an estimated one-quarter of malls across the country will close in the next three to five years.
Explaining the reasoning for the apartments, the company noted there is not demand for other types of uses in Milford as there already is sufficient space available in the city for general offices, medical offices, hotels, and commercial/industrial flex space. Other options it does not see as economically feasible include recreation options such as a trampoline park, incubator space or co-working space.
Regulations Change Proposed
The Connecticut Post Limited Partnership is requesting changes to the regulations for the Shopping Center Design District to allow the project to be built. With changes to the zoning regulations, the board is acting in a legislative capacity, giving it full discretion to make a decision.
This zone change would affect the three properties in the district: the mall, the 47.5-acre Milford Crossing property at 1357 Boston Post Road and the 10-acre Stop & Shop property at 1360 East Town Road.
The proposal calls removing the requirement that mixed uses in this zone conform to the limitations of Section 3.3 medium density multi-family residential districts (RMF-16).
The proposal adds a section under 3.9.3 Accessory Uses, section 3.9.3.7 “Recreational buildings and uses accessory to Multi-Family Dwelling Units, including swimming pool, clubhouse and exercise facilities.”
Under Section 3.9.4, Lot and Building Requirements, 3.9.4.1, Minimum Lot Requirements, the Lot Area with dwelling units is proposed to change from 20 acres to four.
Under Section 3.9.4.3, Building Requirements, paragraph (3) Height, the proposal is to remove the requirement “that multifamily dwellings shall comply with the applicable height provisions for
RMF-16 Residential Districts”, which limits buildings to 35 feet in height, and change this to state “multifamily dwellings units shall not exceed 5 stories or 85 feet in height.”
Under this same section in paragraph (4) Spacing, the wording would change from “the minimum distance between principal and/or accessory buildings shall be equal to or greater than one third the sum of the heights of the affected buildings” to “shall be equal to or greater than one third of the heights of the affected taller buildings.”
In this same section the proposal drops paragraph (7) Dwelling Units/Business Floor Area, which requires that a maximum of 40 percent of aggregate floor area be used for dwellings and a minimum of 50 percent of floor area be used for business and/or office uses.
The proposal substantially changes the wording of Paragraph (8) Dwelling Units, which becomes paragraph
(7) with the deletion of the existing paragraph (7). The existing regulation covers multi-family housing that is not part of a mixed-use development, limiting density to 16 to 24 bedrooms per acre with a maximum building height of 35 feet. The new wording would be “The maximum number of units within the zone shall be 300.”
The application change was accompanied by a 53page document entitled “Connecticut Post Regulation Change Application.” This document explained that the RMF-16 regulations “are consistent with a garden or townhouse style development within a more residential zone.”
The proposal states, “In the mixed-use context of the Post property, residential designs need to be compatible with the surrounding larger commercial structures and wide variety of uses from restaurants to a theater.”
Along the same lines, it states the higher height limitation is needed because “the existing height limitation is impractical for this context given the existing development” and that the higher limits remain well below the overall height limit and is consistent with the rest of the mall property.
The document explained, “The reduction in minimum acreage is designed to facilitate the residential development,” which may need to exist as a separate parcel for “financing, tax, and other needs.”
Other changes are explained as clarifying the regulations with regard to building spacing, and specifically stating the maximum number of units, rather than using the existing formula, which could result in more than 300 units.
The proposal also calls for modifying the minimum parking requirements from two spaces for an efficiency or one-bedroom unit and three spaces for a two- or three-bedroom unit, to 1.5 minimum spaces for any unit from an efficiency unit up to a three-bedroom apartment.
“This regulation ensures adequate parking for the community, but without minimums that exceed demand and cause unneeded impervious surface, particularly in light of the readily available parking on the Post property,” is the given explanation for the change in parking requirements.
The regulation also seeks to change the mall’s parking requirements from one space for each 250 square feet of gross buildable area to three spaces for each 1,000 square feet of leasable area. The proposal explains that the mall’s parking use typically peaks at 60 percent of available spaces with a peak of 69 percent use during the holidays.
The meeting will take place on Zoom. The agenda with the meeting link and links to all proposals for the meeting are available at https://www.ci.milford.ct.us /planning-and-zoning-board
Fiscal Impact Discussed
The fiscal impact report was prepared by Donald J. Poland, Ph.D, senior vice president and managing director, urban planning, for Goman + York, Planning and Design of East Hartford.
Poland estimated the project would annually generate $642,974 in net positive tax revenue. This includes the cost to educate the estimated 72 school-age students who would live in the apartments.
Poland also estimated the 300 apartments would create or sustain 372 constructionrelated jobs in the first year and an additional 117 permanent jobs in the second and following years. He estimated the community would generate a $1.2 million increase in local consumer spending.
Other Public Hearings
The board will conduct two additional public hearings. The owners of the 8-30g 12-unit affordable housing project at 328 Meadowside Road are seeking approval to modify the original special permit and site plan review to convert four of the 12 units from one-bedroom to twobedroom. The owner is 328 Meadowside LLC, which lists Warren K. Field and Christopher F. Field of Milford as managers.
Lexmar Realty LLC, which lists Carter Mario as a member, is seeking approval for an amendment to the special permit and site plan review for the mixed-use parcel at 100 Plains Road.
In an Aug. 27 memo to the board, City Planner David B. Sulkis commented that the original plans called for 1,059 plants with 31 varieties to be planted, but only 345 plants with 18 varieties actually were planted. Sulkis also noted that the tree sizes “do not appear to be zoning compliant in all cases.”