Fairfield County Business Journal 041017

Page 1

5 | BRITISH INVASION April 10, 2017 | VOL. 53, No. 15

16 | OUR MAKEOVER

YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS

Poppin’ up

See story on page 3

westfaironline.com

Meal movers GOING THE EXTRA MILE FOR FOOD BANKS

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

T

he connection between moving companies and food banks may not seem a natural fit to some, but for three countybased movers it is just that. “We thought it was a great idea,” said Kevin Kaster, sole owner and president of Stamford’s Kaster Moving Co. Established in 1977, the company since 1995 has been an agent of Atlas Van Lines, which first brought the Asbury Park, New Jersey-based nonprofit Move For Hunger to Kaster’s attention. “Their whole concept is that people usually end up throwing food away when they move,” Kaster explained. “Maybe not if they’re staying in the same town, but if they’re moving across the state or the country or internationally, when you legally cannot take your food with you.” Under the Move For Hunger partnership, crews from relocation companies like Kaster, Shepard’s Moving and Storage of Bethel, and Crown World Mobility of

Liz Neugebauer and Cindy Sammarco of Recycled Lines take a break from folding clothes at their pop-up store in Westport. Photo by Bob Rozycki

» Meal movers, page 6

Stymied developer sees progress on downtown Darien project BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

I

t’s taken about 15 years, but Baywater Properties’ redevelopment plan for downtown Darien is finally moving forward. “It’s been totally insane,” sighed Baywater Principal David Genovese at

his office at 1019 Boston Post Road in Darien. He smiled. The last stumbling block — at least, Genovese hopes it’s the last — was altering the Planning and Zoning Commission’s maximum building height statute. Baywater had proposed buildings of up to 95 feet in 2016 and received a considerable amount of pushback.

Baywater Properties developer David Genovese points out his company’s vision for a downtown Darien area redeveloped for condos, expanded office and retail space and a new village green. Photo by Kevin Zimmerman

“Darien would allow you to build two-story buildings, no questions asked,” Genovese said. “But you could only build three stories if you included a public plaza space — so a six-story building was a particularly hard sell.” So hard, in fact, that Baywater ended up pulling its zoning regulation amendment application last September before returning with a revision in January. Approved last month was a compromise that allows four-story buildings up to 55 feet and five-story buildings of 70 feet maximum height. The redevelopment project’s focus is the area between the Bank of America building at 1120 Post Road and the Darien » Darien project, page 6


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