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02/16/2024 03:14 PMAhead of a potential redesign of the Westbrook Outlets, town officials met on Feb. 15 to discuss the project and concerns they had.
In a pre-application meeting with the Zoning Commission on Jan. 22, attorney Ed Cassella, representing T Westbrook Center, LLC, the owners of the property the Westbrook Outlets are built on, and two representatives of the Harford-based development company Lexington Partners, LLC, made a presentation to the Westbrook Zoning Commission about a potential major development in town.
According to the presentation, the potential development, dubbed Westbrook Commons, would replace the outlets and movie theater with a mix of residential, commercial, townhomes, amenity space, and potentially a hotel and amphitheater built over two phases.
The news of the potential project intrigued and excited many in town, though the developers and town officials noted many steps before the project could become a reality.
On Feb. 15, department heads and relevant commission members had a meeting to discuss the project, according to Westbrook Town Planner Peter Gillespie.
“Many of the people had not heard all the details of the project, so the purpose was to bring everyone up to date on what the project was. People also wanted to think about any concerns or questions that people might have and want addressed,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie said the biggest item to come out of the meeting was an interest in holding a broad community meeting before the applications are filed so that the community can learn more about the project and potentially ask questions.
Other issues attendees raised were concerns about the effects more people coming to town could have on town services such as the town beach, department staffing levels and budgets, and recreational services.
Some questions at the meeting were ones Gillespie said were worth discussing; however, it was too early to give concrete answers.
“For example, there was a question about what the rent would be for the housing or how many kids would it bring in and then add to the schools; it’s a little too early to really know that,” Gillespie said.
The Plan
The proposal presented to the Zoning Commission last month calls for 30 studio apartments, 209 one-bedrooms, 306 two-bedrooms, and 50 three-bedrooms, for a total of 595 units. Patrick Kenny, the vice president of Lexington Partners, said the hotel and amphitheater are not central to the project and may not be included in the final proposal. The developers estimated the project could add 1,300 people to Westbrook. Cassella said the project would feature about 75,000 square feet of retail space, which he said is less than what is currently on the property.
Cassella also said there is a hope to get state approval to rework Exit 66 on I-95 and create a frontage road that would allow cars to access and exit the property from other locations, though Cassella added that is only a proposal and not a definite plan at this stage.
At press time, no official application has been filed with the Town of Westbrook. Last month’s meeting was an informal presentation meant to let the commission know what could be coming. At that meeting Cassella laid out the numerous next steps that will need to be followed to bring the proposal to life.
The first application filed will be to change the text of the zoning regulations so that some of the proposed features would be allowed on the property. The developers would also need to go before the town’s Inland Wetlands Commission and discuss any impacts to the wetlands near the property.
Cassella said the developers would need to file a special exemption application with the Zoning Commission, too, and that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection would need to weigh in on the project as well to review the septic plan.
Gillespie said on Feb. 16 that the application with the state to review the septic plan had been filed.
“That’s a big milestone in itself,” Gillespie said.
T Westbrook Center purchased the property in 2017 and first talked with the town about this project about a year ago. Since then, developers have been doing their due diligence on the property to see if the redesign was feasible.