Andy Glazer in his home office next door to the Silvermine Inn.—Michael Catarevas photo
Seated behind a desk in his multi-windowed office of the house he constructed next to Norwalk’s Silvermine Tavern and Inn, builder/developer Andy Glazer leans back and smiles. Life is good.
It’s always been good, from 40 some odd years ago when, as a Colorado music entrepreneur, he booked early tours by The Police, John Mellencamp and other rock stars, to the present — buying, renovating and redeveloping local iconic landmarks. First was the Maples Inn, then came the Silvermine Inn & Tavern, and next will be the Roger Sherman Inn.
And he was thisclose to overseeing what has become the latest renowned New Canaan real estate. More on that later.
The son of Harold Glazer, a successful New Canaan builder and developer, Andy, now 63, is putting the finishing touches on Silvermine while readying to hopefully begin the Roger Sherman project next spring. On Oct. 25 he had the first of what could be several public meetings with the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission, seeking a permit that would allow him to build seven houses on the 1.7-acre property in a one-acre zone. He went through similar processes for the Maples Inn in New Canaan and Silvermine in Norwalk, both successfully.
His Roger Sherman vision of building seven houses there meshes with what he feels New Canaan needs.
“There’s a huge demand for this type of housing, quality empty-nester housing,” he told the Advertiser in a rare interview. “I think what I’m doing, as I’ve done in the past, is fulfilling a demand for housing people need. Not just want, but need. I built the Maples and Silvermine and now this, and they are the kind of houses people in this area want to downsize to.
“I know some will decry the changes [losing the Roger Sherman], especially in an iconic town like New Canaan. But there clearly is a need for senior rentals and young rentals. The price of New Canaan real estate is expensive, and not everybody can buy a house, but people want to live there. Those are needs that are hopefully being met.”
Aware of action
Glazer, like most residents, is keeping a watchful eye on what’s happening with Merritt Village, as well as other New Canaan building projects, some of which also seek allowances from P&Z.
He doesn’t feel the commission is overburdened.
“I think P&Z is smart enough to evaluate each plan as it comes,” he said.
Glazer of course understands that longtime residents especially dislike seeing properties like Silvermine and the Roger Sherman Inn cease to be what they once were. He was able to renovate and revive Silvermine, but not so with the Roger Sherman.
“Part of my [Roger Sherman P&Z] presentation is that there are two issues,” he said. “One is losing the Inn. A number of things have happened with the Inn that I’ve seen in Silvermine too. The buildings get older, the owners don’t have the money to put into them, and it’s very difficult to run these businesses at the level that they have to. Their clientele has gotten older, and there are many more restaurants in town. Back when, it was one thing. Now there is much more competition now.”
Many people were skeptical when Glazer bought the dilapidated Silvermine Inn & Tavern several years ago. He said at the time that his plan was to build four $2 million houses on what was the old parking lot, then use the profits to bring the Inn and Tavern back to life.
He was true to his word, and the Inn and restaurant are scheduled to reopen this spring. He and his family with operate the Inn, and the restaurant will be contracted out to an experienced hospitality industry group.
The Roger Sherman will no longer be an inn or restaurant.
“The property had been on the market for four years,” explained Glazer. “A lot of people looked at it and tried to buy it. I’m just the guy that was around and figured out what would probably work. People might say, ‘You’re doing the [Silvermine] Tavern, why can’t you do that here?’
“My answer to that is twofold. One, the Tavern is twice as much land for half the price and has a different location, right on the river. It’s a whole different thing. We did look at keeping the Roger Sherman as an inn, but the infrastructure is not conducive to that.
“The difference with Silvermine is I built the houses, sold them and took the money to renovate the Inn. And the price of the Silvermine Inn was much, much less than the Roger Sherman.”
Unlike the proposed Merritt Village project, which has generated a considerable amount of anguish from residents over a variety of issues, Glazer noted that his Roger Sherman plans are win-win-win-win.
“First, and this is a big one, I’ve met with all the abutting neighbors,” he said. “Three have issues with the Inn being there because of the noise, traffic, and sometimes late nights. They’re glad there’s going to be residential houses, and that I’m doing them. The Presbyterian Church is also supportive of the plan.
“Next, the amount of property taxes New Canaan will collect is going to rise dramatically. They will probably go up three times from what the Roger Sherman pays now because of the value of the houses. Then, these will be empty nesters. They don’t have kids going to the public schools. So downsizing New Canaan residents will get to stay in town.
“Finally we’re lowering the density dramatically. We’re putting seven houses where there is a 135-seat restaurant and 17-room Inn. So traffic and the number of people there at all times of day will be reduced dramatically.”
Norwalk bred
Glazer grew up in Norwalk. Right about when he went to college at the University of Colorado his parents moved to New Canaan. His mother still lives here.
“We built the condos at Mead Common,” he said of his family. “My dad was involved in New Canaan politics… even though he was a Democrat.”
Glazer stayed in Boulder, Colo., after college, becoming a success in the music and hospitality industries.
“I owned nightclubs, promoted concerts and managed bands,” he said. “I remember we had a club, and record companies would say, ‘Hey, we got this band, The Police, pay ’em a couple of hundred bucks, will ya?’ Or this guy Johnny Cougar [John Mellencamp]. We were a showcase club, and these bands were on their first tours. I did that for 10 years. It was fun. I was young and had a good time. Dad was a builder/developer. My brother was an architect. My dad told us we could come back and get into his business anytime, and we did. My brother built a lot of houses and raised his family here. He lives in Nantucket now. I have an older sister too, who lives in Minnesota.”
Glazer has a daughter, Nicole, who works with him in the business. With a son he owns boxing gyms in New York. “Like SoulCycle for boxing,” he said. His son has two children, so Andy is a grandpa.
Personable and friendly when he lets his guard down, Glazer is careful about what he does or says publicly, preferring to fly under the radar and let his work speak for itself.
“I don’t publicize myself, or try to get awards,” he said. “I’m focused on my work. This [Silvermine] is a dream project. People stop here every day and say thank you for doing it. That’s a rare thing for builders.”
The dynamic developer has many other splendid works in his portfolio [see them at glazergroup.net], including single-family houses, upscale condo complexes and more.
Maples Inn issue
Glazer’s reluctance to interact much with the media traces in great part to what happened when his renovation / condominium conversion of the Maples Inn in 2010 hit a rough spot. During the vulnerable period when the Maples had been taken apart and was being put back together, the framework of the building collapsed during high winds. While no one was injured, and the project was successfully completed, Glazer was excoriated by a high-ranking New Canaan official in comments to the New York Times.
“Part of the problem with the Maples was that when it [the skeletal framework] blew down, people assumed the worst,” said Glazer. “That I huffed and puffed. We were trying to reframe it and fix it up as we went along. Unfortunately we hit a very windy day. No one got hurt, but I got hit hard, especially by the [New York] Times, I will not talk to that reporter now. She called me about Silvermine, and I said ‘I’m not talking to you because you were not fair to me, you didn’t get both sides of the story.’”
Glazer is used to taking some heat; it comes with a buying-and-building career. He doesn’t feel the need to explain that his approach is usually far more agreeable than most alternatives.
“I’m a less-is-more guy,” he said. “There are a number of people who wanted to buy the Roger Sherman property and do 16 [housing] units, or 24 units. There were large buildings proposed. People would have gone crazy. What’s important about my plan is that the design of the houses is consistent with the area, the green spaces are dramatic and the neighbors want it.”
What’s next for Glazer? He’s too busy to have that answer, but he did share about how, if things had broken differently, he might have developed another major piece of the New Canaan landscape — Grace Farms.
“My dad bought it [the 70-acre Lukes Wood Road property] for half a million dollars, obviously a while ago, I think in the 1970s,” he said. “He was going to develop it, and we were going to move into the big house there. My mom was looking forward to decorating it. But somebody made my dad an offer to buy it, like a million dollars, or a million and a half, so he sold it. It was beautiful property, an estate. My dad owned it for like six months, and then flipped it.”
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