Theater, lofts slated for city's west side

DANBURY -- The city's west side is already home to condominiums and apartment projects. Building has resumed at the long-dormant Rivington project.

And if things fall into place for Greenwich developer Paul Foley, there will be a new mixed-use center -- with a two-screen movie theater, a rehearsal space, retail shops, cafes, offices and dozens of loft apartments -- on Old Ridgebury Road.

"The people who live in Rivington won't have to drive down to Mill Plain Road," Foley said Wednesday of the busy, strip-mall-line thoroughfare that is the lifeline of the west side. "They'll be able to just stop here."

On Tuesday, Foley's project moved forward when the City Council voted 17-4 to approve selling 13 acres of city-owned land off Old Ridgebury Road for $3.2 million to Foley and his company, Greenwich Development Group.

Foley said he hopes to close on the property by June, and begin construction in the spring of 2013.

Foley told the council Tuesday that the project will be a mixed-use "lifestyle center," with each use complementing the others.

"There's nothing like it in the city," he said.

Foley said Wednesday the development will have a movie theater showing independent films. One part will have about 250 seats, a second will have 300 to 400 seats.

It will also have a rehearsal/performance space that could also be used for film production. Foley said while the developers will own this space, the city will have full use of it for free.

There will also be retail space for boutiques, offices, restaurants, and loft apartments that would appeal to young adults or couples or empty-nesters, rather than families. Foley said he was not sure how many of these units there will be in the development.

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Theater, lofts slated for city's west side