It took nearly six years and two different proposals, but it’s happening: The old Morgan School will be officially be turned into the Indian River Landing following the Planning & Zoning Commission vote to approve the application at a meeting on March 9. The next step is for the developer to officially close on the deal and begin the demolition process.

Indian River Landing is a development by Greylock Property Group that will transform the old Morgan School property into a mixed-use development. The development will consist of retail, a large grocery store, restaurants, and a hotel. The 37-acre development would also include walking trails and a park area.

The park area consists of plans for a gazebo, an open lawn area, a playground, and places for seating. A walking trail will also be available on the property near the river area in the rear.

No specific tenants have been named at press time due to confidentiality agreements.

“We will make some announcements soon,” said Greylock representative Ken Navarro.

Now that the project has PZC approval, the development will need to get approvals from the state’s Department of Transportation. Navarro said that after the state approvals are done, they will close on the land and start demolition and site work.

“The support from the town staff and residents have been extremely helpful,” Navarro said.

At a public hearing held on March 2, the public was largely in favor of the project and many of the attendees praised the applicant for the thoroughness of their presentation. At the hearing, Navarro said that the demolition process will take about 90 days once it is started.

Work on the site is projected to start this summer and the targeted opening date is fall 2021.

A Rough Start

Getting the old Morgan School property developed has been a longtime issue that has been full of setbacks. The property at the old high school was supposed to be developed and open for business by this time, but things didn’t go according to plan. In 2015, Clinton residents approved the sale of the old high school to Mill Pond, LLC, for $2.8 million. Mill Pond, LLC, had planned to turn the property into a mixed-use development similar to the current proposal. The project was supposed to break ground in late 2016; instead developer Henry Resnikoff terminated the agreement with the town in August 2017 citing issues with financing and a permit application from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

Residents had expected that the sale of the property would help offset some of the costs associated with constructing the current Morgan School, which opened in the 2016-’17 school year. After the sale to Mill Pond, LLC, fell through, the town was faced with spending additional money on maintenance and security on the property. Many residents questioned what was happening with the school and complained about a perceived lack of progress.

The town’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) spent much of 2018 soliciting and vetting new proposals for the site. After narrowing the search down to four finalists that the BOS felt had the financial backing to complete the project, the board made its decision in November 2018.

Residents approved the $2.2 million sale of the old high school to Greylock Property Group in December 2018. In the year and a half since the residents approved the project, the developer has conducted test work on the site as it prepared for the application process. That preparation included a successful petition to subdivide within the property’s zone to allow for smaller wastewater systems and an agreement with the town to split the remediation costs of discovered asbestos on the site.

Town Council member Christine Goupil was the first selectman when the potential sale to Greylock was announced and said that the developers are accomplished with a good reputation and that the town was fortunate that they are the ones working on the project..

“I’m very excited. I think they’ll bring in stores that will work well with the outlets across the street,” Goupil said.

In February 2020, the project cleared the Inland Wetlands Commission approval process. That board was responsible only for judging an application based on the potential impacts from construction on any of the wetlands on the property. That commission voted that there were no significant wetlands impacts.