NORWALK, Conn. — The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a proposal from Wall Street developer Jason Milligan to slightly reduce the number of units at a planned multi-family development on Isaacs Street Wednesday.
Approved in 2024 for a total of 224 units, including 119 extended stay hotel rooms, the commission Wednesday agreed to the proposal from Milligan’s Wall Street Opportunity Fund for 101 extended stay hotel rooms and 106 apartments for the development at 21 and 23 Isaacs St.
The property is currently a parking lot next to The Phoenix, a mid-rise condominium development, and across the street from Wall Street Place apartment complex.
In addition to the number of units, the proposal also included several aesthetic tweaks to the design of the building.
The unanimous vote came a week after the commission narrowly denied a text amendment that would have paved the way to make the project all apartments.
Milligan said Thursday he was “happy in a very small way” the commission voted how it did Wednesday “but it is not the project that I want to build or that I should build,” lamenting last month’s 5-4 denial.
“It is an interim step that is better than the project I have approved,” Milligan said in an email. “Ultimately, this project should be entirely apartments. Hopefully it will be soon.”
“It is unfortunate that it is so difficult, expensive and time consuming to get sensible projects approved,” Milligan said.
His path to getting the project approved as apartments only is unclear. During Wednesday’s meeting Milligan’s attorney, Adam Blank, said the developer could sue the city over last month’s denial but that “we don’t want to have that fight today.” A pilot overlay zoning district proposed by the Wall Street Neighborhood Association could also result in relaxed parking and density requirements.
“There may be litigation over the last decision,” Blank said. “There may be changes that you decide to make for the Wall Street Neighborhood Association. We don’t know how that’s going to shake out, and so we may or may not ask you to make further changes.”
A proposal from the neighborhood association headlined “Don’t block what works” says the overlay district “centers on three narrow changes to unlock the kind of small-scale, walkable, mixed-use growth that the City has already invested $35.5 million to support.” The group has also asked supporters to sign an online petition. The proposal was on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting but was continued to Sept. 16.
If approved, multi-family unit caps, currently 1 per 500 square feet of building lot size, would be removed in the district to give developers more flexibility. Residential developments of 60 units or fewer would also be exempted from providing off-street parking, with graduated requirements for larger developments. Another change would adjust how affordable housing requirements apply to projects of 19 or fewer units, allowing developers to contribute to a housing fund rather than include deed-restricted units.
Milligan said that the overlay district would give developers freedom from onerous regulations that don’t make sense for the area.
“The people who live, work, and support the Wall Street Neighborhood like the changes that have happened here,” he said. “They want more of them.”
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