Historic Norwich building to be renovated
Coit House,built in 1830 on Main Street,will have 6 apartments, storefront
— A local developer received Norwich approval Tuesday to renovate a historic four-story building on Main Street into six apartments with storefront space at street level.
Stephan Nousiopoulos of Norwich presented the proposal to the Commission on the City Plan Tuesday for the yellow brick building at 102-110 Main St., owned by New Jersey-based CPH 2 LLC.
The 1830 building, called the Coit House, is one of the earliest buildings in downtown Norwich and is a contributing building to the National Historic District, city Historian Dale Plummer said.
Plummer said historic records show the house in 1838 was owned by Erastmus Coit and housed two tenements, five stores, including Coit’s store, and an office. Coit was a merchant and ship owner.
Plummer said a book in the local history section of Otis Library on Coit family history described Coit, who was born in 1784 and died in 1841, as “a successful merchant with a benovelent spirit.”
The building renovation plan calls for creating six apartments on the upper floors and leaving the storefront space alone for now until a tenant is found. Nousiopoulos said the space would be renovated to fit the commercial tenant’s needs.
The vacant building now has two apartments on the second floor and two large two-story units on the third and fourth floors. The new plan will create two one-bedroom units on the third floor and two more on the fourth floor. Nousiopoulos said there is little demand for three-bedroom units in the urban downtown.
The development will raise the roof slightly in the rear, which faces Church Street, to allow for higher ceilings for the fourth-floor units. Interior and exterior stairways will be extended for the fourth-floor units. A second emergency egress in the rear will take tenants onto a pathway shared by an adjacent building to Church Street.
No changes to the brick façade are planned.
Discussion by commission members and city planning staff also focused on a growing problem in the Norwich urban center — what to do with the large trash and recycling barrels when it’s not collection day.
Seeking a solution to trash
Finding a solution to trash collection is one of the final unresolved issues delaying the occupancy of a large apartment complex directly across from 102-110 Main St. The Lofts on Water Street will have 42 apartments in a two-building complex that fronts both Main and Water streets.
Director of Planning and Neighborhood Services Deanna Rhodes said the barrels can be seen throughout downtown, tucked into doorways and some just left on the sidewalks all week. City staff are working with building owners to try to reduce the problem.
Kevin Brown, president of the Norwich Community Development Corp., said Wednesday that the Lofts owner has leased the first six tenants for the project but has put leasing on hold until the trash issue is resolved. The owner plans to install a trash compactor to resolve the problem permanently and is working on a temporary proposed solution to allow the first tenants to move in, Brown said.
The commission on Tuesday approved Nousiopoulos’ plan with a condition that a plan for placement of trash collection bins be approved by the planning staff before a final zoning permit is issued.
Suggestions discussed Tuesday included creating a small interior storage area in the commercial storefront for the bins. Nousiopoulos said the fire code regulation that indoor trash storage requires sprinklers is not a problem, because the building already has a sprinkler system.
Another idea would allow the bins to be stored out of sight outdoors in the rear, which would require tenants to haul the bins to Church Street on collection days.
Rhodes said typically, trash collection logistics is one of the last things developers need to address in the permitting process. But with a growing number of apartment buildings open or under construction downtown now, “We’re making trash be the first thing you think of,” she said.