Fully Open Station, New Phase 1 Plans: See Updates to the Merritt 7 Region

The area around the Merritt 7 train station in Norwalk is at the heart of the city’s development plans, with more than 1,200 units planned for the area. The new train station and platform is also officially open, better connecting commuters throughout the region. 

We previously explored this area of Norwalk as a part of our All Aboard: In and Around Train Stations series, but there’s a few updates to our original reporting.

New Phase 1 Plans

This coverage is in partnership with NancyonNorwalk.

This past week, Building and Land Technology, the developer proposing the projects around the station, presented updates to the Norwalk Planning and Zoning Commission for its Phase 1 plans.

They now call for a 12-story, mixed-use building with 266 apartments, a town square, and a dog park across from the Merritt 7 train station.

What had been two separate buildings on the master plan—1.1 and 1.2—combines them into one building in the updated proposal. The number of units has decreased slightly from 273, and the amount of retail space in this phase has also been reduced from 17,166 to 8,492.

David Waters, the attorney for the developer Building and Land Technology, said combining the buildings allowed more space for the town square and the addition of the dog park. Phase 1 now has a total of 18,000 square feet overall in the town square area.

“And in addition to that, we now have an additional green space that did not exist because it’s where building 1.2 was located. And that’s approximately 23,000 square feet of new green space,” he said.

The proposed plans were continued to the commission’s next meeting on March 6, which will also include comments from the city’s peer-review architect who is looking at the project. Members of the public can also continue to comment at that time.

Waters also updated the commission on some of the conditions of approval that came with the master plan, particularly the fact that the developer was required to apply to the state Department of Transportation to add a sidewalk that would stretch from the intersection of Glover Avenue and Grist Mill Road down to Main Avenue.

“We did, in fact, as required, make that application last July to DOT,” he said. “TMP was copied at the time that we did it and is well-aware that that application was made. DOT at this point has not given a yay or nay on whether they would allow that to be done at this time.”

Commissioners at the time had highlighted how that sidewalk could help connect residents who live around the station to services, restaurants, and activities on Main Avenue. 

Fully Open Station

While the sidewalk's future is uncertain, the Merritt 7 Train Station is fully open including a long awaited pedestrian walkway. This means that commuters and residents can now walk up and over the train tracks and immediately be connected to Main Avenue. 

This particularly benefits the Merritt 7 office buildings, located along Main Avenue. Previously, commuters would have to walk more than half a mile down and around to the station.

Check out our video highlighting the new Merritt 7 train station.