The renovation of the former Post Office building at Park and Pine Streets is underway—a project that’s expected to transform the single-story structure dramatically in preparation for a new office use.
Merrill Lynch is to fit out the interior of the 9,000-square-foot building for about 20 employees. Credit: Michael Dinan
Vacant since Mrs. Green’s closed in October 2016, the building at 2 Pine St. is undergoing a $250,000 renovation in order to make it ready for employees of Merrill Lynch, which will move catty-corner into the refurbished space.
The owners of the building are “very excited” to have Merrill Lynch moving in to the space, its property manager told NewCanaanite.com in an email.
The owners are in the process of renovating the exterior of the building which includes new windows, siding and a facade upgrade, the property manager said. The interior will be built out by Merrill Lynch to incorporate approximately 9,000 square feet of office space, the property manager said.
The building at 2 Pine St. will have a more modern look once the exterior improvements are made. Credit: Michael Dinan
Currently crowded into its longtime home in a smaller, two-story building at Park and Cherry Streets that lacks a lunch room or break room, Merrill Lynch and its 19 employees will expand to about 22 people following the move, officials have said.
The Planning & Zoning Commission in November voted unanimously in favor of the new use of the building, following a change to the New Canaan Zoning Regulations that re-established first-floor office use in the Business A zone.
The structure is to have a more modern look, with an increased glass line—its original single-pane 1950s-era windows all are being replaced—and style cues will be taken from the Oxygen Fitness and sudiO buildings that flank it, representatives from 2 Pine St. said during P&Z hearings in October and November.
A major renovation is underway at the former Post Office/Mrs. Green’s building at Park and Pine Streets downtown. Credit: Michael Dinan
Part of the formerly drab building exterior will be finished in a material that will give the appearance of painted wood, and the southern and west elevations will be stuccoed, officials said. In addition, a shopping cart corral that the Commission had criticized while Mrs. Green’s occupied the building has been removed, so that landscaping will be pushed up against the building along Park Street, and a cherry tree near the corner will be preserved, the representatives said. The Park Street perimeter also will be re-planted along the window line, and planters on Pine Street will be preserved, representatives said.
P&Z Chairman John Goodwin called the improvements “dramatic” during an Oct. 30 hearing and architects on the Commission including Kent Turner said the plans represented a positive change for the building.