The house at 509 Main Street, on the corner of Gilbert Street, has long been in a state of mild disrepair. Some folks may view its purchase by three local investors as an opportunity for renovation and improved upkeep. The buyers say they may take it down altogether and redevelop the site. —Macklin Reid
The rundown multifamily house on the corner of Main and Gilbert streets was sold for more than $1 million to three local investors planning to redevelop the site — perhaps as a small, high-end condominium project.
“I’m not interested in loading up such a prominent piece of property with that many units,” said Michael Eppoliti, one of three investors who bought the property at 509 Main Street. “I think it’s better to do something smaller and a lot more exclusive. I think it’s much better for the town. That’s the way we’re leaning right now.”
The property of a little less than an acre, with a three-family house and a garage building, was purchased March 3 for $1,211,400 by 509 Main Street LLC, an investment group that includes Mr. Eppoliti, Stefano Zandri and William Harford, all Ridgefielders.
The sellers were Rocco and Candida Valeri of Roxbury. Mr. Valeri owned DJ’s Barber Shop in the village for many years.
Years ago Mr. Valeri had obtained one of the town’s first affordable housing approvals for the property, allowing 14 units in an expanded main house and barn. But it was never built, and after a couple of extensions the permit expired.
“Rocky got 14 units approved for that property. We’re not interested in pursuing that,” Mr. Eppoliti said. “Our development proposal is most likely going to be substantially less dense than that. What we’re looking at, it’s most likely around five units.”
Mr. Valeri’s 14-unit plan was well executed by an architect, but wasn’t right for the town, the location, Mr. Eppoliti said.
“The plans, although they were nice, they weren’t financially feasible to build,” he said.
“You have to build to the market.”
Town Planner Betty Brosius said any attempt to revive the previous permit — or otherwise develop the property under the state’s 8-30g affordable housing law — would have to wait until the end of the state-granted moratorium from 8-30g applications.
“The 14-unit 8-30g approval for 509 Main Street expired in July of 2013,” Ms. Brosius said. “There is no ‘automatic renewal.’ They would have to submit a completely new application, and we have a moratorium through October 2018, so that could not be done until after the moratorium expires.”
But that’s not what the group that purchased the property wants to do anyway, according to Mr. Eppoliti.
“We don’t have any immediate plans for it,” Mr. Eppoliti said. “We’re considering a development proposal option there that would utilize the town’s new MSDD zone.”
The Elms zone
The MSDD zone Mr. Eppoliti referred to is the town’s Main Street Design District, adopted in October 2013 to allow the multifamily redevelopment of the former Elms Inn site, directly across the street from the 509 property that just sold.
Mr. Eppoliti said the current house at 509 Main Street, believed to have been built in 1910 but substantially renovated and expanded, would probably be demolished.
“We haven’t determined exactly what we intend to do, but most likely the building will come down,” he said.
His view was that if the building had ever been an architecturally significant structure, that value had been lost as a result of the renovations and expansions.
“It’s unrecognizable from what it used to be,” he said.
The MSDD is a “floating zone” that can be applied to individual properties within a designated area — on Main Street, between Pound Street and Prospect Street.
It was created to facilitate the Elms redevelopment through a lengthy and at times contentious back-and-forth between the Scala family, owners of the Elms site, and their attorney, Robert Jewell, on one side, and the Planning and Zoning Commission and Town Planner Betty Brosius on the other.
The maximum density the zone allows is six units per acre if all the units are market rate, and up to eight units an acre if 15% of the units meet “affordable housing” guidelines.
The regulation’s “intent and purpose” section says:
“The MSDD is intended to:
“(a) provide higher density residential housing within close proximity of the Town center commercial area to support economic, cultural, and social vitality;
“(b) maintain the residential character of Main Street;
“(c) conform to the goals and objectives of the 2002 North Main Street Plan and the 2010 Town Plan of Conservation and Development;
“(d) preserve natural, historic, and aesthetic qualities of Main Street; and
“(e) preserve existing structures of historic or architectural interest.”
To be developed under this zone, properties have to be within the designated area and have to be approved by the commission for use of the MSDD regulations.
Ms. Brosius, the town planner, said the MSDD process does give the commission an opportunity to require that the older structures be maintained and re-used, rather than torn down.
“Yes, the town could require the preservation and re-use of existing buildings as a condition of applying the MSDD zone to a property,” she said. “That is why the owners of The Elms are going to great lengths to preserve the original Elms restaurant building — it was part of the commission’s consideration in reviewing the request for the zone change.”
Whether the commission would try to insist on preserving the house at 509 Main Street is another question.
Between the additions that have hidden its original shape and years of neglected maintenance, Mr. Eppoliti said he thought the building seemed an unlikely candidate for preservation under the regulation’s re-use clauses.
“There is an adaptive re-use section for historic buildings, but — just my own perspective — there’s no historic value to that building,” Mr. Eppoliti said.
“It’s been so severely neglected, I don’t think it’s worth saving.”
Mr. Eppoliti said, however, that he had been interested in it for a long time because of a different, very attractive, attribute — its location on Main Street, just north of Ballard Park, in easy walking distance from the village shops and restaurants.
“I was discussing it with Rocky for what I’m guessing is about 10 years, believe it or not,” he said.
“It’s a great location. People want to live close to town.”
The property’s high visibility, and neglected condition, seem an invitation to redevelopment, Mr. Eppoliti suggested.
“If you drive down Main Street and you’re from Ridgefield for a long time, then that building just becomes part of the scenery. But if you’re coming here from someplace else, you see that building and it’s not a pretty sight,” he said.
“We just want to do something nice there.”