In response to an inquiry from the Harbor News, the developer of the Shops at Indian River Landing confirmed the development is still on track and is optimistic about future tenants moving in.

On May 10, the Harbor News reached out to Ken Navarro, a partner at property developer Greylock Property Group, seeking an update on the project’s status.

Navarro said that stage one of the development has been completed and that the group is preparing to enter phase two of construction. While he did not specify any potential new tenants, Navarro said he was hopeful that there would be new action on the site soon.

“We have completed phase one and are happy with the way things are going. Regarding phase two, things seem to be picking up as we have received more tenant interest in the last six months or so,” Navarro wrote in an email.

In the fall of 2020, Clinton officially sold the old Morgan School property at 11 Killingworth Turnpike to be redeveloped into the Shops at Indian River Landing. After a year of construction in 2021, Big Y supermarket moved in as the first store in the development. In 2022, Big Y was joined by Starbucks and Madison Furniture Barn. However, in the nearly two years since then, there has not been much visible progress on the site. Clinton town officials have reportedly stressed the need for patience when it comes to residents’ expectations for the development timeline on the property.

When asked about a timeline for the start of phase two, Navarro said it would be “dependent of tenant lease commitments.”

Navarro said the plan is to build five more retail buildings in addition to a hotel or perhaps residential spaces.

“We will build them as we find tenants,” Navarro said.

Developing the former high school property is an endeavor that goes back nearly a decade. Following residents voting to build a new high school in 2012, voters then approved the potential sale of the old high school property to Mill Pond, LLC, for $2.8 million in 2015. Mill Pond, LLC, had planned to turn the property into a mixed-use development once the current Morgan School was opened in 2016.

Instead of breaking ground on the project, residents were shocked to find out in August 2017 that developer Henry Resnikoff had terminated the agreement with the town, citing issues with obtaining financing and a permit application from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

In 2018, the Clinton Board of Selectmen announced the potential sale of the property to Greylock Property Group, which residents also approved. After close to two years of gaining state approvals and conducting due diligence, Greylock officially purchased the property from the town for $2.2 million on Oct. 5, 2020.

The initial plan for the 38-acre property was to build multiple buildings consisting of retail, restaurants, and potentially a hotel. Navarro confirmed that is still the plan for the property when built to completion.

As an interesting wrinkle, a similar development has been proposed for the site of the nearby Westbrook outlets. Last year, Westbrook Center LLC, the owners of the Westbrook Outlets, and the Harford-based development company Lexington Partners LLC made a presentation to the Westbrook Zoning Commission about a potential plan to replace the Westbrook Outlets with a mix of residential and commercial space in addition to townhomes and potentially a hotel and amphitheater built over two phases. No official application has been filed yet.