Greenwich Planning & Zoning has a new application submitted under the state affordable housing statute 8-30g to turn Greenwich Woods nursing home into a four-story apartment building.
Earlier this month, the former RegalCare nursing facility at 1188 King Street was approved by the P&Z commission to become “Laurelton Residences,” with 17 apartments in an ‘adaptive reuse’ of the facility. The state legislature recently approved CGS Section 8-2r to enable the adaptive reuse of vacant nursing homes as multi-family housing, as long as the facility is not increased in size or demolished to build anew.
Greenwich Woods nursing home has 217 beds. It was approved by the P&Z commission in 1986 for 150 beds. In 1990 an addition was approved, bringing the total to 210. In 1997, P&Z approved 7 additional beds.
The new proposal is to demolish the nursing home at 1165 King Street create 170 apartments ranging from one to three bedroom units, of which 30% (51 units) would be affordable per 8-30g.
The property is almost 16 acres and there are 119 parking spaces, which is proposed to be increased to 294.
Greenwich Woods at 1165 King Street in Greenwich. June 27, 2025
Greenwich Woods at 1165 King Street in Greenwich. June 27, 2025
Previous iterations
In 2023 the commission had concerns the location might not be ideal for affordable housing because it lacks convenient access to transportation. There is a bus stop across front the entrance on King Street, but the route goes from White Plains to Armonk, so travel to jobs in Greenwich by public transportation would not be simple.
The commission did give preliminary approval in 2023 for the development of a 5-story building with 215 units under 8-30g, but they conditioned the approval on the applicant resolving sewer issues with Westchester County.
The facility is connected to Westchester’s sewer system in a unique agreement. Westchester County calculated that the proposed 2023 development would exceed the agreed of 50,000 gallons per day.
(The agreement permits the property to discharge up to 50,000 gallons of sewage per day through December 31, 2065.)
Under 8-30g, developers are exempt from local zoning, except in rare cases of health and safety that would clearly outweigh the need for affordable housing in Greenwich.
The commission noted that issues with waste water management and the sewer discharge agreement with Westchester might rise to that health and safety threshold.
Specifically, they said sewerage was a matter of public health, and without a 40-year sewer plan – to meet the 40 years the 8-30g affordable units would be deed restricted – the proposal did not appear to meet State Statutes.
Also, the commissioners also said the applicant lacked details for a contingency plan for a septic system if Westchester were to terminate service prior to 2064.
The applicant’s new application narrative says that despite numerous conversations with Westchester County, an extension of the existing agreement or an increase in the number of gallons per day was not reached.
They said that by reducing the number of apartments to 170 units – down from the 215 units proposed in 2023 – the project will be able to stay within the 50,000 gallon per day limit.
Further, the applicant’s engineer, S.E. Minor & Company, developed an alternative private sanitary treatment system that would comply with Connecticut’s requirements for an on-site sewage treatment facility.
Lastly, the narrative said that Greenwich’s Affordable housing Trust Fund Loan approved a loan of $100,000.
See also:
Grandfathered 2-Family on Arcadia in OG Proposed to be Recongifured, Expanded
Previous Greenwich Woods articles:
Dec 17, 2023
P&Z Watch: New Pre-Application for 8-30g North of Merritt on King Street
Nov 24, 2022