‘It’s been many years coming’
Brookfield Village builders, town looking ahead to development that will change the face of Four Corners
BROOKFIELD — Construction on the second phase of Brookfield Village is moving ahead at the town’s Four Corners.
The project’s second phase is expected to reach completion by the end of next year, according to George Walker, a marketing representative who works for Advantage Commercial Realty. The first two phases include 88 apartments and between 24,000 to 25,000 square feet for commercial use, project manager Allan Rothman said.
“It’s going to be a very nice amenity for people who want to just stroll around our growing, expanding downtown area,” said Greg Dembowski, the town’s economic development manager. “Provides them dining opportunities, leisure opportunities, you know, that kind of thing.”
As Dembowski noted, “it’s been many years coming.” The first couple of buildings followed a similar time frame as the streetscape project’s initial phase, which was close to completion in December 2017. First Selectman Steve Dunn said the project’s work “finalizes that section of our downtown.”
“It really did look like a mess,” Dunn said. “And then we took down the old buildings that were there, they took down the old buildings that
were there. But still, it was like an open, unfinished field. And so it’s really gonna add a lot of character to our downtown.”
The project’s first phase buildings are “100 percent leased up,” and advance leasing is underway for the second phase, Walker said. They’ve already locked down a restaurant with an Asian theme and “a real nice cafe,” he added.
“I’m working on other prospective leases with other prospective tenants that we’re looking for additional restaurants, and spa-type, personal services-type, tenants that would potentially go in there, such as hairdressers, spa, and so forth,” Walker said.
In addition to a plaza and patio space near the phase two buildings, a “connecting bridge” of sorts is planned between the two structures, Walker said.
“So, you have this connection between the two buildings in the air and people can walk under it, and it really adds a lot of dimension to the area,” Rothman said. “And of course, we put some apartments in that bridge too, so, we get something out of it too, but I think it really looks nice.”
Project leadership is gearing up for a third phase with about “six or eight months of approvals” ahead for that, Rothman said, but what they’re expecting is to have two more buildings — one residential, and one mixed-use space.
Should phase three proceed according to plan, they’d need to tear down another building, one that’s been used for “some land moving equipment,” and was a post office a few years back, Rothman said.
“It’s not a big building,” he said. “It’s ugly.”
Moving ahead with phase two construction required what once was Subway and Mother Earth to be demolished. That put a bit of a strain on the town and Brookfield Village developers after the latter group hadn’t completed the task in the expected timeframe, prompting the two entities to strike a deal regarding how they’d proceed.
The pandemic had posed “a little bit of a setback for a couple of months” on the project’s progress, Walker said. But they’re forging ahead.
“We’re looking forward, not backwards,” he said.