Summerview Sq. Rentals: Rejuvenating Norwalk's West Main St Neighborhood

On Tuesday, Nov. 26, Norwalk's newly sworn in Mayor Rilling will speak at a celebration for Summerview Square, a 63 unit rental community on West Main Street, recognized as the Best Smart Growth Community in Connecticut. 

“It’s beautiful,”  said Rilling of the completed community in a release. “The area had seen no investment interest, and now it’s thriving, and neighborhood home values have increased.”

City and state officials and neighborhood residents will gather at 15 West Main Street on Tuesday to celebrate the completion of Summerview Square, and in recognition of a promise fulfilled, Summerview Square owner developer, Richard Segal, will present ten summer camp youth scholarships to Norwalk YMCA Executive Director, Bob McDowell,.

Norwalk Planning & Zoning Director, Mike Greene, has a singular reason to be there. Over the last four years, his innovative zoning regulation and a collaboration between private developer, Summerview Square LLC, and the city of Norwalk, has turned an abandoned and deteriorating section of West Main Street into a thriving and rejuvenated neighborhood.  

“We wrote the regulation that allowed Summerview Square,” said Greene in the release. “In 2006, we rewrote the multifamily D-Zone regulation to make multi-family housing look and feel like existing neighborhood housing.”

The new zone moves multi-family 20 feet closer to the street; requires that front doors face the street, that garages are located on the side or rear; and it encourages front porches.

“I was thrilled when Summerview Development Group and Norwalk architect, Ray Sullivan, put meat on the bones of our new regulation," said Michael Greene, Norwalk P&Z Director. "Instead of unattractive “sidewinder” buildings with a blank side wall facing the street, Summerview Square townhomes are colonial and Victorian-style buildings that sit just 22 feet from the street and blend in with the neighborhood’s older two family homes, right down to their long front porches."

West Main Street Association President, Christine Abraham, has owned a home on Jefferson Street for 48 years. 

“Everyone thinks the apartments are one or two family homes," said Abraham. "They look so great, and several of us, including my husband and me, have improved our own homes.”

According to P&Z Director, Mike Greene, “When I talk with Standard & Poor, Fitch or Moody’s credit agencies about Norwalk’s bond rating, I use Summerview Square as an example of what can be done without investing city money. I tell them how a private developer took an abandoned neighborhood and rejuvenated it, increasing the value of everything around it,” said Greene in the release.

There are five floor plans available in the last 32 units of Summerview Square with 16 one bedroom units with rents of $1,600-1,800, 12 two bedroom units with rents of $1,800-2,500 and 4 three bedroom units with rents of $2,500-2,700 per month. 

There are also four designated affordable apartments. The apartment features are indistinguishable from single-family homes. Porches and private-garage entries, nine foot ceilings; hardwood flooring and custom kitchens with locally milled hardwood cabinetry; tiled baths; walk-in closets and washers and dryers are all included.

“It’s exciting to see new, quality rental housing near Main Street in Norwalk—it’s a great development for the whole neighborhood,” said State Senator Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) in the release. 

“There’s a need for energy-efficient housing like this in Norwalk and throughout Fairfield County. These Summerview Square apartments are very attractive to those considering a move to our city."