Gov. Ned Lamont wants to turn empty Fairfield County office buildings into apartments, and Greenwich already has two such projects in the pipeline.

Lamont, who won a historic third term on Tuesday, Nov. 3, said he favors converting existing buildings over constructing new high-rises, especially in densely populated areas like Fairfield County, CT Public reported.

"Right now, demand for housing is strong. People want to be in Connecticut," Lamont said, according to CT Public.

The governor pointed to an omnibus housing bill approved during a special legislative session in November 2025 as a guide for the effort. That law, House Bill 8002 (H.B. 8002), expands fair rent commissions, eliminates most off-street parking requirements for smaller developments and requires towns to create housing growth plans, according to the CT Mirror.

Lamont said the bill focused on "turning office buildings and old mills and shopping centers" that already have sewer, water and parking infrastructure into housing, according to CT Public. "That's what we're trying to turn into housing, and we're doing that with some success right now," he said.

Greenwich projects already in motion

Two Greenwich proposals fit that description. Greenwich-based developer Fareri Associates is seeking approval to convert a three-story, 73,851-square-foot office building at 1 East Weaver St. into 44 residential units, the Hartford Business Journal reported in September. The plan calls for 22 one-bedroom units, 20 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units on the 3.22-acre property.

The building formerly housed Icon International, according to CT Insider. Fareri has named the project J Lofts on East Weaver.

A second application from Greenwich Park LLC, also controlled by Fareri Associates according to state business records, would expand an existing office building at 18 Valley Drive from three to four levels and convert it into a multifamily residential building of about 87,078 square feet. The Valley Drive office building has been vacant for 3.5 years, according to the application cited by the Hartford Business Journal.

The Greenwich Sentinel reported that Greenwich's Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) continued reviewing the Valley Drive proposal as of late October. That application includes five moderate-income apartments and 78 parking spaces. A related zoning amendment would establish incentives for office conversions and permit certain contributions to the town's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Sentinel reported.

Both applications were heard by the P&Z on Sept. 15, according to the Hartford Business Journal. Their current status was not confirmed in available records.

Broader trend across lower Fairfield County

Greenwich is not alone. More than 1.8 million square feet of office space in Stamford, Norwalk, Greenwich and Westport has been removed from the market since mid-2024 because of planned adaptive reuse projects, according to a report from commercial real estate brokerage Choyce Peterson cited by the Hartford Business Journal. Greenwich's office availability rate rose from 13.7% at midyear 2025 to 20.2% at midyear 2026, the report found.

John Hannigan, principal of Choyce Peterson, told CT Insider that office availability in Greenwich's central business district has been "super-tight" since the pandemic. But he noted some companies that downsized are now asking landlords for more space because "they didn't fit out their space appropriately for the people coming back to work."

The state launched a Greyfield Revitalization Program to help finance residential conversions of offices, retail buildings and other properties with vacancies exceeding 25 percent of leasable space, CT Insider reported in July. The program started with $4 million in funding and a cap of $250,000 per project.

Housing affordability and expanding the state's homelessness response system were among Lamont's stated legislative priorities after the election, according to CT Public. Most studies estimate Connecticut lacks more than 100,000 housing units affordable and available to low-income renters, according to the CT Mirror.

Whether Greenwich officials plan to pursue state conversion incentives or how the governor's agenda might affect the pending local applications remains unclear. The P&Z's next steps on the Valley Drive and East Weaver Street proposals were not confirmed in available public records.