The newly proposed plan for the houses to be built on the Roger Sherman Inn land has one fewer than previously proposed, with the lot at top left to now be open space.—Rendering courtesy of Andy Glazer.
Andy Glazer, the Norwalk developer who is set to buy the Roger Sherman Inn property at 195 Oenoke Ridge, with the plan of building houses on the site, told the Advertiser on Monday, Oct. 10 in an exclusive interview that after an informal meeting with New Canaan Town Planner Steve Kleppin he has decided to cut the number of proposed houses from eight to seven.
Glazer has already submitted a request to P&Z for three major changes to town zoning regulations in order to make the project feasible. He added the change in the number of houses on Tuesday, Oct. 11. P&Z will begin to consider the application at its next regular meeting on Oct. 25.
But in the meantime, Kleppin and Glazer met informally to talk about the project.
“What I heard from Steve [Kleppin] is that some of the [P&Z] commission members were concerned that one of the houses is in front of the Roger Sherman,” explained Glazer. “Before we had one more house. We’re reducing the number of houses by one. So instead of having seven house plus the old inn [which will also be a house] it’s now six houses plus the old inn.”
Glazer, who also bought and is currently renovating the Silvermine Inn and restaurant in Norwalk bordering New Canaan, said Kleppin recommended adding the eighth house in the back of the Roger Sherman 1.8-acre property.
“He said ‘I’m telling you the feedback I’m getting,’ ” said Glazer. “I thought, ‘should I go in there and battle, can I live with one less house, is it financially feasible?’ I decided on seven houses. My attitude is I’d rather build seven good houses than eight crammed-in houses.
“The commissioners want the Roger Sherman house to be the main focus. I could have squeezed the [eighth] house in the back but decided not to. So now the back quarter of the property is green space and the front quarter is all green. The houses will be in the middle. I want to get this project approved, and if that’s one way to do it I can live with.”
Houses in demand
Glazer cautioned that he did not want to get ahead of himself, because the P&Z has not approved his plans, but if and when that takes place he is confident the houses will sell. They are to be priced in the $2 million range.
“I have a broker representing me; we’ve gotten calls and calls and calls,” he said. “There are only seven houses, and five or six of the people calling would sign in a second, because there aren’t enough of these empty-nester houses. But I don’t want to be presumptuous that they will be approved.
“We have 22 people on a list interested in buying them, 90% from New Canaan. There is a huge demand for this kind of housing, for quality empty nest housing. “I’m fulfilling a demand for what people need, and the demand is getting bigger and bigger.”
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