Developer plans 147-unit apartment complex in Groton

Groton — The company approved last week as the preferred developer to build a large-scale condominium project in New London also plans to build a 147-unit housing complex off Route 12 in Groton.

Pennsylvania-based A.R. Building Co. received special permit and site plan approval this summer to build on the 12.4-acre site at the intersection of Route 12, Gungywamp Road and Pleasant Valley Road North. A previous multifamily residential project was approved for the site but never built.

The company would build three identical multistory buildings with 49 units in each and a mixture of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The development would target “single, upwardly mobile people who want to live in Groton,” planning documents said. The development would include a clubhouse but no retail space. Construction would begin in 2017.

The development would be the largest apartment complex built in Groton in at least 10 years, said Deborah Jones, assistant director of planning. More construction may follow, she said.

“It’s not just this new apartment complex,” she said. “We’ve seen an interest in converting smaller buildings along Route 1 into apartments, and it seems to be driven by the hiring at Electric Boat.”

Gabrieles Karate Kickbox, which had added a second floor initially for storage, converted the space into apartments within the last year, she said. Long Meadow Landings, an apartment complex with six buildings on South Road, just broke ground on a new building to add 22 units.

“Certainly the expansion at (Electric Boat) and the number of workers at EB is a major factor in A.R.’s decision to invest in this area. We think there’s a demand because of that growth,” said land-use attorney William Sweeney, representing A.R. Building.

A.R. Building also is constructing a $14 million, 104-unit apartment complex on Mansfield Road in New London, and was chosen Sept. 19 as the preferred developer to create a

$12.5 million mixed-use development on a long-vacant property at the corner of Bank and Howard streets.

On the Groton project, A.R. Building still needs approval from the Office of the State Traffic Administration, but expects to hear about this shortly, Sweeney said. The plan calls for 239 parking spaces and would create access to the proposed complex from Pleasant Valley Road North.

A new sidewalk would be built along the west side of Pleasant Valley Road North and on Gungywamp Road, and then connect to the existing sidewalk at Route 12 and Gungywamp Road.