Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

Two shop front units in the new “Heritage Square” condominium complex on Forest Street sold for a combined $2.9 million this week. The street-level commercial spaces are occupied by Embody Fitness Gourmet and Pet Valu. According to a property transfer recorded Tuesday in the Town Clerk’s office, a newly formed company called ‘Connor Rose Realty Inc.’ purchased the units from Forest Street Properties, builder Chris Gatto’s company. An Upper East Side man, Patrick Mitchell, is listed in Connecticut Secretary of the State records as principal of the new property owner. ***

New Canaan High School officials said in a bulletin for parents this week that they’re seeing a rise in the number of student smoking e-cigarettes—or “vaping”—in school.

Business

Embody Fitness Gourmet Opens for Business on Forest Street

By |

 

As builders are putting the finishing touches on Heritage Square, the new mixed retail-residential building on Forest Street, the complex’s first street-level merchant has opened its doors. Embody Fitness Gourmet welcomed its first customers last Thursday, kicking off a soft-opening “pre-launch” campaign. The Forest Street outpost is Embody owner Gillen Bryan’s third location and also the biggest, featuring plenty of seating and space where clientele can stay and enjoy the cafe’s quick-service, health-oriented cuisine. “The buildout was phenomenal,” Bryan told NewCanaanite.com. “Working with our property developer Christopher Gatto was an awesome experience and we really worked together build out a fantastic space to really enhance the customer experience.

Business

Gower Road Ranch Demolished; Embody Fitness Gourmet Plans $125,000 Interior Fit-Out on Forest

By |

The New Canaan Building Department on Monday issued a demolition permit for the new owner of a 1949 ranch on Brooks Road to raze the house. The .28-acre lot was purchased for $850,000 in September by a limited partnership out of Greenwich. It isn’t clear what will replace the home that had stood there—the town has not yet received a building permit application for the parcel. The contractor on the $30,000 demo is AC&S Excavating Contractors out of Pound Ridge, N.Y.

***

The developer of the mixed-use retail-and-residential complex ‘Heritage Square’ that’s going up on Forest Street on Tuesday put in for a $125,000 interior fit-out for the future home of Embody Fitness Gourmet. The healthy foods provider will occupy one of two retail spaces on street-level in the high-demand complex—Pet Valu will occupy the other.

News

‘Heritage Square’: New Units on Forest Street Are Selling, Bucking 2015 Trend in Condos

By |

Five of the seven new condominiums going up on Forest Street downtown are in various stages of being sold—bucking an overall trend among New Canaan condos and a nod to the strength of new construction in this buyer’s market, Realtors say. Located above what will be street-level retail in a mixed-use development near the corner of Locust Avenue that’s been named ‘Heritage Square,’ the condos include four 2- and 3-bedroom units in the 1,800- to 2,000-square-foot range, two 4-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot penthouses and a 3,500-plus-square-foot “duplex” that encompasses two floors, according to Bill Hecker of Houlihan Lawrence, sole agent representing seller/developer Chris Gatto. Just two of the smaller-sized 3-bedroom units are available—they’re listed at $1.8 million—and the condos should be move-in ready next spring, Hecker said. “This to me is a really good sign because there is not a whole lot you can see there right now,” Hecker told NewCanaanite.com. “You can see the structure but if you walked into any of the units it’s just studs—there’s no drywall in yet, so for the buyer to envision what is being delivered is a very big challenge on the part of myself and Christopher Gatto, the developer.