A developer wants to tear down the 66-unit Putnam Green complex in Byram and replace it with a six-story, 176-unit rental building.

Greenwich's Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the pre-application from Putnam Green Holdings LLC at a meeting Tuesday, Sept. 29, that stretched past 11 p.m., as reported by Greenwich Free Press. The proposal would use Connecticut's 8-30g affordable housing statute (Section 8-30g of the Connecticut General Statutes) to override local zoning limits on the 2.7-acre site at 7 and 9 Western Junior Highway.

The existing complex has four three-story buildings, 66 units and 79 parking spaces. The proposed building would stand 80 feet tall with 176 units, 216 bedrooms and roughly 200 parking spaces. Current zoning caps the site at four stories and 40 feet.

Under the 8-30g set-aside, 30% of the units, or 53, would be restricted as affordable housing.

But attorney John Tesei, representing the developer, told commissioners the 176-unit plan is a starting point. He said the developer intends to negotiate with Greenwich's Affordable Housing Trust Fund board to shrink the project.

"I think that will get materially reduced … if we can make an arrangement with the trust board there will be a reduction in the number of stories and a meaningful reduction in the number of units, probably more in the ballpark of 120 or so," Tesei said at the Sept. 29 meeting.

The financial logic works like this, according to Commissioner Mary Jenkins, who also sits on the trust fund board: a strict 8-30g application requires deeply discounted rents on affordable units, forcing the developer to add more market-rate units to cover costs. If the developer partners with the trust fund, the affordable rents are higher, though still below market. Fewer market-rate units are needed, and the building shrinks.

Commission Chair Margarita Alban suggested the oversized proposal functioned as a negotiating tactic, even if unintentional, allowing the developer to "magnanimously offer to reduce it."

Tesei said the six-story height was driven by the $20.7 million purchase price the developer paid for the property in June 2025. The property was originally built in 1976.

Commissioner Nick Macri pushed back on the project's scale. He noted the site currently has mature trees and a park-like setting, and said developing it as proposed would require clearing most of the property.

"Why does the western side of town deserve a 6-story, 176 unit building?" Macri asked.

Macri also asked that the traffic study account for two other approved but unbuilt projects nearby: the Hamill rink reconstruction in Eugene Morlot Park and Vinci Gardens, a 52-unit senior housing building at McKinney Terrace approved by P&Z in 2022.

The Byram Neighborhood Association weighed in with a letter signed by chair Liz Eckert. The association said it recognized the need for affordable housing but raised concerns about the proposal's size, density and cumulative strain on traffic, pedestrian safety, flooding and infrastructure.

Only one resident spoke during public comment. Lucy von Brachel of Byram addressed the commission after the discussion began around 11 p.m.

The developer must also obtain a permit from the Greenwich Wetlands Agency because of a pond and wetlands on the site. Sewer capacity confirmation from the town's Sewer Division and a water-service letter from Aquarion were both pending as of the Sept. 29 meeting.

State Senate candidate Jill Oberlander, a Democrat running in the 36th District, wrote in an Aug. 19 letter published by Greenwich Free Press opposing the project and calling for reform of the 8-30g law. She noted that only 31 of Connecticut's 169 municipalities meet the statute's 10% affordable housing threshold.

No vote has been taken. The application remains at the pre-application stage, with public hearings still ahead. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund board's next scheduled meeting is Wednesday, Oct. 7, according to the town's website, though no source confirms the Putnam Green project is on that agenda.