Mojitos on Atlantic

I always felt that when this place finally opened it would correspond with the end of days.

Prepare for the streets to run green in some horrible orgy or house music and underage alcohol consumption.

A Jackie Treehorn Production

Tonight is part of three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax... The Big Lebowski at the Avon Theatre as part of the weekly Cult Classic night!.

Stamford Hospital Plan Update

After some speculation, here’s a look at phase 1 or what The Stamford Hospital / Charter Oak Communities tag team intends to do with their land swaps.

Stamford Hospital has bought upwards of 35 properties surrounding their facility in recent years intent on a rather large expansion. Meanwhile, you have Charter Oak Communities, a renamed Stamford Housing Authority, looking to replace the outdated Vidal Court Housing Project next door. Both organizations are trading land to give themselves an optimal footprint. Looks like the hospital takes some of Vidal Court and the replacement housing snakes around the outside from Stillwater past Lione Park to West Broad St.

Stamford Hospital will end up with a rather impressive campus. On the east side of their property they will construct a new building said to house an expanded emergency room. All the surface parking is most likely land banking for future expansion.

Charter Oak gets to continues to work on some impressive projects aimed at replacing barrack like housing projects with mixed income, architecturally designed townhouses. In addition to the work around the hospital, I believe Charter Oak might also take over some hospital property on Palmers Hill Road owned by of Stamford Hospital and build a community similar the Fairfield Court project that’s currently in construction.

All The Rude Boys and Hooligans Know One Thing For Sure…

Tomorrow of course kicks off Stamford’s Alive at Five concert series with Smash Mouth. I know what you are thinking, what will I do afterwards now that the teens have been kicked out, who will I mull around with aimlessly on the streets until all hours of the night?

A message to you Rudie - you are skanking over to Seaside Tavern in the Cove for the Ska/ Reggae Party the Fairfield Happy Hour Club is throwing. Two fine bands – The Void Union & The Stress are booked. Details at the Happy Hour Club.

I'll Go If This Dog Shows Up

According to their site, the Stamford Dog Park officially opens next Tuesday. They are looking for volunteers on June 29th from 1p - 5p to help finish work.
The park has been completely volunteer driven – so if you are interested, check out their site to donate money or time to the effort.

Potential Replacement for Station Garage Steps Forward

I wrote a few weeks ago about the Connecticut DOT’s plan to bid the Stamford Train Station garage out for development as a mixed use project. Admittedly, the plan seems somewhat crazy on the surface, especially if the city is trying to encourage mass transit. The plan though is forward thinking in that Stamford’s downtown and South End will most certainly continue to densify in the near future. In 10 years there may be as many commuters living in a 10-15 walk of the station as there are driving to it today. A plan that weaved the station into a broader urban fabric while also remaining convenient to park and ride commuters is hard to argue.

I suggested the Gateway and Metro Green developments were best situated to make the plan work should they throw their hat in the ring. While each has its own challenges, both locations could offer replacement parking next to the station. While today The Advocate mentioned Metro Green was weighing whether to submit a proposal, Gateway appears to be definitely moving forward with a plan according to this letter to the Board of Reps.

According to the letter, the former factory site would include “open space for the Mill River Park system, an office building, a residential building and convenience retail for commuters” in addition to a new garage with direct access to the train platform replacing the 800 spot garage adjacent to the station. No mention of if they also has plans to take on development of the station garage plot.

The potential for direct platform access from the replacement garage gives them a leg up. Finding a way to connect the location to the mutli-million dollar Urban Transitway investment would most likely need to be addressed. All other proposals are due next month. Should be interesting.

Wholdega

So I checked out the Fairway in Harlem yesterday, mostly as a scam to park for the Dinosaur BBQ across the street. Stamford’s is scheduled to open next year as part of the Harbor Point Yale & Towne development.

I would describe Fairway (at least this location) as “Whole Foods meets bodega”. Anyone else have more experience with Fairway care to share?