CONSTRUCTION UPDATES
September 19, 2023
As you have seen, most of the buildings along the Boston Post Road between Exit 11 and Corbin Drive have been demolished, with the last one, 10 Corbin Drive, to come down next week. On Monday, September 25th, we will have to close the section of Corbin Drive from the Boston Post Road to the new street between Sail to Sable The Cabana and Shoes & More for 3 to 5 days, during the daytime only. Corbin Drive will be fully open in the evening; this is to keep everyone safe as the 3-story building at 10 Corbin Drive is taken down.
If you wish to drive down Corbin Drive during this period, you can get to it from Old Kings Highway South or you can enter the driveway between 1020 Boston Post Road and First County Bank, follow the new driveway alongside The Granola Bar, then turn left onto Corbin Drive.
We have filed for our foundation permit to begin construction of the second phase of The Corbin District, and we are working with our construction manager, A. Pappajohn, to line up the work associated with phase two now. We will work as quickly as we can to finish the demolishing of 10 Corbin Drive and re-open Corbin Drive in its entirety, but while we work in this area, please do not walk on that side of the street. For those who love to watch construction, stop by the sidewalk in front of Barrett Bookstore or Sail to Sable The Cabana and watch from there....but be safe.
As always if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to me.
David Genovese
June 17, 2023
Parking PSA from The Corbin District!
As we complete the first phase of The Corbin District and move on to phase two of our work, we felt it was important to share some thoughts on parking in downtown Darien currently, and over the course of the next phase of construction.
Downtown Darien has more parking than any other downtown in the region relative to the commercial space located within its boundaries. One of downtown's historic problems that we are working hard to address is its walkability, which has historically not been great given the large number of curb cuts, uneven or broken sidewalks, and the few crosswalks located along the Boston Post Road. Our plan for The Corbin District creates over 800 parking spaces in downtown, and it was designed to enable the project to function well without relying on nearby municipal parking, as required by the Town of Darien's Planning & Zoning Commission. As importantly, the project creates pedestrian-friendly walkways into the Center Street Municipal Parking Lot, and more user-friendly parking along Corbin Drive and the Boston Post Road (as opposed to the back-out parking along the Boston Post Road that created significant hazards).
When we began working on our first projects in downtown Darien in 2003, the Center Street Municipal Parking Lot (behind The Goose and CVS) was basically empty. It was so unused that the Darien Farmer's Market could operate within it. People who are new to Darien may find this hard to believe! With new restaurants and retail, that parking lot began to fill. When we built 1020 Boston Post Road, which includes restaurants, retail and office space, we needed to create an opportunity for office workers of the building to park over the course of their day. They cannot be expected to move their cars every three hours, this is why some of the spaces behind 1020 Boston Post Road are reserved Monday through Friday, from 8 to 5, for office employees. The idea is that customers of the restaurants and retailers in that building and nearby can park a little further away and walk to dine or shop.
In developing our idea for The Corbin District, we also had a big decision to make. Option One, we could literally terminate all of the leases to our customers in downtown, beloved stores like Everything is Rosey, Helen Ainson, the Darien Toy Box and others, and effectively build the project in one huge phase, then hope that some of them would re-open in The Corbin District. Given that some of these businesses really wanted to stay open continuously, few considered this a great option. Option Two was to build the project in two phases, creating an opportunity for our existing businesses to stay open in the first phase upon completion, and then move some of them again into the second phase upon its completion in 2025. This would enable us to keep downtown vibrant and enable so many of our locally-owned stores to remain open continuously. After a lot of contemplation and discussion with the Town of Darien and our customers, we chose Option Two. To me, after we figured out how to execution the project in two phases, although it created significantly more work for our team, extending the duration of construction by 1 or 2 years, it honestly seemed the only choice and the right choice for our community.
Barrett Bookstore, Sail to Sable The Cabana and Darien Cleaners & Tailors have already relocated and opened on Corbin Drive. Wee Mondine relocated from Noroton to downtown and opened a few weeks ago. Over the next two weeks, Everything is Rosey, Helen Ainson, the Darien Toy Box, Shoes N More and Compass will relocate and open in 15 Corbin Drive, and Green & Tonic is expected to re-open in a new and expanded cafe in the same building in July. When these stores open later this month, it is going to take some time for all of us to adjust to the new layout of our downtown, and we are going to collectively need to adjust our habits for parking and shopping in downtown. You may need to park and walk a bit further than you have in the past. As stated above, you can park on the Boston Post Road, in the Center Street Municipal Lot, on Day Street, on Grove Street, on Brook Street or in the lot by Grove Street Plaza. You can even park on Old Kings Highway South by Corbin Drive, something most people do not realize.
When our project is completed in 2025, there will be significantly more parking downtown than existed previously and the pedestrian friendliness of our downtown will be significantly improved. We know that there will be some inconvenience during this period of time, and we apologize to you for this, but understand that with this sacrifice and inconvenience comes a reward, an improved downtown with more stores, restaurants and fitness options, all good things that so many in our community want as expressed to us over the years of our work in transforming downtown Darien into one of the most attractive, vibrant downtowns in the region.
We are committed to doing the best that we can to manage our construction process to minimize the inconvenience, as we did during the first phase of construction of The Corbin District. As always, we welcome your feedback, and we are grateful for your support. We also ask that you plan ahead and leave a little earlier for your appointment. If you find yourself frustrated during this period of time, please try to be kind to the retailers or restaurateurs.
It would undoubtedly be less disruptive to leave downtown in its current state, but now that our first phase is completed and you have a sense of what is coming, we hope that you will agree that this collective sacrifice will be worth it for you, your friends and families.
One other thing to note, and we cannot really quantify it at this time. Given the closure of the New Canaan Metro North Train Service, we have a significant number of people from New Canaan parking in the Darien train station parking lots, and presumably some of them are overflowing into our municipal and private parking lots. Thankfully, this should end by September 1, 2023.
Please know that my team and I are committed to creating the most attractive, enjoyable place in your downtown to live, work, shop and workout. If you have any questions at all, or even better, suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me by emailing me at hello@thecorbindistrict.com.
David Genovese
April 20, 2023
To Our Tenants and Visitors in the Vicinity of Corbin Drive:
As we continue to prepare for the phase one opening, we have additional paving work on Corbin Drive to complete. We expect to have crews on site from Friday April 21st through Monday April 24th. During this time, Darien Police will be onsite to direct traffic as needed. Work will begin at the entrance to the Corbin Parking lot and continue down Corbin Drive to the intersection at Old Kings Highway South.
Thank you for your continued patience as we work toward the opening of the first phase of The Corbin District.
March 31, 2023
To Our Tenants and Visitors in the Vicinity of Corbin Drive:
As we begin the final steps to opening of the first phase of The Corbin District, we have some finishing work that needs to be addressed. On Tuesday April 4th through Friday April 7th, Corbin Drive will be closed for repaving. Tenants and visitors will be able to access the Corbin parking lot through the driveway entrance at Boston Post Road and Helen Ainson Store. The Lower Corbin Drive Parking Lot will be accessible at the intersection of Old Kings Highway South and Corbin Drive. There will be signage and traffic police to help direct pedestrians and drivers accordingly. Please see the map below for access points to parking lots.
We sincerely apologize and understand the inconvenience of this repaving. We are in the home stretch to the completion on this phase and look forward to the opening of the first buildings of The Corbin District.
Thank you for your continued patience!
David Genovese
March 31, 2023
We would like to provide an update on the first phase of The Corbin District project. We are happy to share that the construction of 1040 Boston Post Road should be completed by the end of May. In connection with the final phase of construction, we need to reconfigure the parking lot between 1020 Boston Post Road and 36 Old Kings Highway South, in phases.
The first phase of work will begin on Monday morning, April 3rd, and continue throughout the week. Unfortunately, during this time, we need to eliminate nine parking spaces that are located closest to the construction fence. By the end of day on Friday, that section of the parking lot will be paved and the nine parking spaces will be available for your use on Monday, April 10th.
If possible, we ask that you park in the Post Office parking lot, or in the parking lot adjacent to 10 Corbin Drive next week. We want to express our sincere thanks for bearing with us through the construction process. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
David Genovese
January 11, 2023
As part of the construction related to Phase One of The Corbin District project, we will be installing all new sidewalks and granite curbs on the Boston Post Road from the corner of Corbin Drive to the corner of the 1020 Boston Post Road by Gofer Ice Cream. In order to do this work, the Town of Darien is requiring that we close the sidewalk. Signs have been posted along the Boston Post Road and in front of 1020 Boston Post Road notifying the public of the work being done. We expect the work to take approximately two weeks. We will have flaggers on the Boston Post Road to help direct traffic and have coordinated this effort with our construction team to make the process run as smoothly as possible.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding.
January 7, 2023
On Monday, January 9th we will be working at night in front of 1040 Boston Post Road to install the water line to the building. Work will set up at approximately 7 pm and continue to 5 am. We hope to get this work done in one night but it may require two, in which case we will be at it again Tuesday night. This is the last utility connection requiring work in the street for this building. The week of January 16 we will install the final utility connection for 15 Corbin Drive, our last work in the roads around the first phase of The Corbin District.
The push is on now, we are going to be working hard to move Bank of America into their new beautiful branch in mid February, to open in March. The USPS Building at 30 Corbin Drive will be demolished at the end of the month and we will be working to relocate all of our retail tenants into their new homes in March and April so that we can get into Phase Two of The Corbin District!
October 27, 2022
As part of the construction related to Phase One of The Corbin District project, we need to run power to the buildings located at 15 Corbin Drive and 1040 Boston Post Road. To do this, we will be digging a large trench from 15 Corbin Drive to the 1020 Boston Post Road transformer which is located in a planting bed opposite the Parlor Pizza patio. In addition to bringing power these two buildings, this work will provide a second feed to 1020 Boston Post Road. By adding 1020 Boston Post Road to this new electrical feed, we will now have dual-feed power, meaning the probability of a power outage at 1020 will be reduced to near zero.
Unfortunately, the trench will run from the back of 15 Corbin Drive through one row of parking spaces adjacent to the construction site. The work will start on Monday morning, November 7th, and will take approximately one week to complete. It is possible that we may finish and backfill the trench in four days. To minimize the disruption, we have hired a valet parking service for the week of November 7th. We hope that you will use the valet service, however, if you prefer, you can certainly park your car in the 10 Corbin lot.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to complete the first phase of The Corbin District.
October 20, 2022
On Wednesday, October 26th, we will be pouring the last concrete slab for 15 Corbin Drive and the first phase of our project. The work will begin at approximately 6:30 am and continue through 3:00 pm. The concrete trucks will be located adjacent to 15 Corbin Drive. None of the parking spaces for 1020 Post Road or 36 Old Kings Highway South will be impacted. The concrete trucks will be using Old Kings Highway South as their staging area, so the parking spaces along Old Kings Highway South will not be available during that time. The driveway for 36 Old Kings Highway South will remain accessible at all times.
As always feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns
September 27, 2022
On Thursday, September 29th, we will be pouring a slab for 15 Corbin Drive. The work will begin at approximately 6:30 am and continue until approximately 2:00 pm. The concrete trucks will be located behind Parlor Pizza. None of the parking spaces at 1020 Post Road or 36 Old Kings Highway parking lots will be impacted. The concrete trucks will be using Old Kings Highway South as their staging area, so the parking spaces along Old Kings Highway South will not be available during that time. The driveway for 36 Old Kings Highway South will remain accessible at all times.
As always feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.
September 9, 2022
On Wednesday, September 14th, we will be pouring a slab for 15 Corbin Drive. The work will begin at approximately 6:00 am and continue until about 1:30 pm. The concrete trucks will be located behind Parlor Pizza. None of the parking spaces at 1020 Post Road or 36 Old Kings Highway parking lots will be impacted. The concrete trucks will be using Old Kings Highway South as their staging area, so the parking spaces along Old Kings Highway South will not be available during that time. The driveway for 36 Old Kings Highway South will remain accessible at all times.
August 25, 2022
On Monday, August 29th, we will be pouring the second floor of 15 Corbin Drive. The work will begin at approximately 6:00 am and continue until about 1:30 pm. The concrete trucks will be located closest to the center of the site. None of the parking spaces at 1020 Post Road will be impacted, however, we will need to cone of a few parking spaces in the 36 Old Kings Highway lot for the duration of the pour. The concrete trucks will be using Old Kings Highway South as their staging area, so the parking spaces along Old Kings Highway South will not be available during that time. The driveway for 36 Old Kings Highway South will be accessible.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
August 20, 2022
While Eversource made progress cutting in the gas line connection down Corbin Drive, they were unable to complete the work as expected. We have been updated that they anticipate that the crew will be working through Thursday August 25th which will take the line in front of the 10 Corbin building to the Boston Post Road intersection. As they make their way down this final section, Corbin Drive will be open in one direction. Our construction team is coordinating with the crew to ensure access to the Corbin lot is available and that a traffic patrol is on site to keep cars moving through the one lane area, which will be limited to the area where they are cutting in the line.
Our apologies for the inconvenience this causes for you and your customers, and we will continue to make every effort to ensure this final work goes as smoothly as possible.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
August 12, 2022
We want to apologize as Eversource arrived today for gas line work without advance notice. As a result, we were unable to send out a notification and give you a proper heads-up that they would be working on Corbin Drive. Our sincere apologies for any confusion Eversource's work today caused you and your customers.
While today's work is complete, we do expect the crew to be back on Monday August 15th to continue gas line work along Corbin Drive and Old Kings Highway South. During this time, they will make their way down the remainder of Corbin Drive and move to Old Kings Highway South. They will work through these areas in sections, where traffic will go down to one lane. Arrangement have been made for traffic police to be on site to help direct drivers. All parking lots will remain open and accessible to tenants and customers. Eversource is anticipating that they will complete this work by Friday August 19th.
We appreciate your continued patience as we work to through this phase of The Corbin District construction. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
August 8, 2022
On Friday, August 12th, there will be an elevated slab pour in the front building of the site, the building that is closest to the Post Road. The work will begin at approximately 6:00 am and continue until about 1:30 pm. The concrete trucks will be located adjacent to the Parlor Pizza patio. None of the parking spaces in either the 1020 Post Road or 36 Old Kings Highway South parking lots will be impacted.
In order to stage the concrete trucks, we will have to eliminate the parking spaces along Old Kings Highway South for the duration of the pour. The driveway for 36 Old Kings Highway South will be accessible at all times.
We thank you for your patience during the construction. As always feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.
July 8, 2022
On Tuesday July 12th and Wednesday July 13th, we will be completing the sewer line connection work on Corbin Drive in front of the Post Office where we need to close off traffic in both directions. Corbin Drive will be fully open from the Boston Post Road intersection to the Post Office as well as from Old Kings Highway entrance to the Post Office. The section in front of the Post office will be closed for two days with sidewalks fully open to access their entrance.
On Thursday July 14th and Friday July 15th, sewer connection work will continue with one lane open on Corbin Drive from the Post Office to the Old Kings Highway South intersection. Corbin Drive will be fully open from the Post Road intersection to the Post Office in both directions. Darien Police will be on site to help the flow of traffic as well. The Construction team will be monitoring work closely to ensure that all cars will be directed as needed to ensure they can get to their destination.
With Darien Sidewalk Sales running from July 14-16th, we will be working with heightened awareness to traffic needs as well as safe pedestrian access to the local shops and parking lots.
We appreciate your patience as we complete the sewer line connection along Corbin Drive. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.
Thank you,
David Genovese
(203)-656-0500
June 3, 2022
On behalf of the development team for The Corbin District, we want to thank you for your patience as we carry out our work in downtown Darien. We have now completed the sewer line replacement project within Corbin Drive. Unfortunately, this work took longer than expected due to the difficulty we had removing some of the bedrock in the path of the upgraded sewer line. Thankfully, this work is now behind us, and Corbin Drive will re-open for normal traffic starting end of day today.Occasionally, as we pour the concrete on the floors for 1040 Boston Post Road or 15 Corbin Drive, or erect certain steel components, we will need to partially close the road again, but this will be sporadic and short-lived. It will usually allow at least one-way traffic.
Please note that Barrett Bookstore and the US Post Office will be open throughout the summer and parking is available behind the 10 Corbin Drive building, and along the Boston Post Road.
We are grateful for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me on (203) 656-0500.
David Genovese
May 3, 2022
On Friday May 6th from 7:30am - 1:00pm, we will have a concrete pour at The Corbin District construction site. During this time, there will be a section of Corbin Drive in front of the Post Office that is closed in both directions. Entrances to Corbin Drive will be open at both the Boston Post Road intersection allowing for entrance to the Corbin parking lot that services both the office and retail tenants as well as the Old Kings High South intersection allowing for access to the Post Office Parking lot and mail drop boxes through the lot entrance closet to Old Kings Highway South. All sidewalks along Corbin Drive will be open for use during this concrete pour.
We appreciate your continued patience throughout the construction process. Should you have any questions, please feel to reach out.
April 25, 2022
April 21, 2022
April 14, 2022
April 11, 2022
April 3, 2022
March 25, 2022
David Genovese
March 15, 2022
March 4, 2022
We are pleased to share that the third concrete pour for the first phase of The Corbin District has been scheduled for Monday, March 7th, weather permitting. To execute this work, we will be coordinating the delivery by concrete trucks from 9:00am to 2:00pm. During this time, we will need to close Corbin Drive from the Boston Post Road intersection to the far end of the 10 Corbin Building. Please note the sidewalk in front of the 10 Corbin building will remain fully open.
While this section of Corbin Drive is closed, the Darien Police Department will be onsite to provide assistance with the flow of traffic. Tenants and visitors approaching Corbin Drive from Boston Post Road will be directed to use Center Street to Old Kings Highway South to access Corbin Drive. From that direction the parking lots into the Post Office, the 10 Corbin office building and retail shops will be accessible. Detour signage directing traffic will be posted as well. Please keep in mind that access to the back lot is also available from Boston Post Road through the alley between Helen Ainson and Mathnasium.
We would also like you to be aware that the concrete trucks will be parking in the spaces adjacent to the Farm Stand area, along Old Kings Highway South while the work is taking place. Although those parking spaces will not be available, traffic lanes in both directions on Old Kings Highway South will be open and usable at all times. We have been coordinating this effort with our construction team and have hired the Darien Police to help monitor traffic. It is our intention to make the process run as smoothly as possible for all.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
David Genovese
March 1, 2022
We thought it would be helpful to provide a general construction update, though the work over the next month or so should be minimally disruptive. As you may have seen, the carpenters are working hard on The Tibbetts Building, and they should make fast progress on this building so that we can complete it by September of this year.
At the same time, the concrete installation team will be working hard over the next month on forming and pouring the walls for the front two buildings, 1044 Boston Post Road and 15 Corbin Drive. We expect to pour the last section of the foundation slab for 15 Corbin Drive within 4 weeks. The steel for the structure of these buildings has been manufactured and is waiting in the Carlucci Welding warehouse to be installed. From here, we should move quickly, with a goal of completing the retail spaces of 15 Corbin Drive and 1044 Boston Post Road by the end of 2022 so that we can relocate Bank of America and our retail tenants in January 2023. With this move, we can get onto Phase 2 of the project!
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on (203) 656-0500.
Thank you for your support and patience!
David
February 20, 2022
Now we will start to rock and roll!
Tomorrow, Monday, we will pour the foundation for The Tibbetts Building at 35 Corbin Drive. This building will become the home of @baublesdarien and Darien Dry Cleaning, two small stores, and just four luxury apartments (two on each floor). Each of the new buildings in The Corbin District has been designed by @beinfieldarchitecture to appear as if it was built by a different builder and designed by a different architect, and to look as if it happened at a different time than the others around it. The buildings should complement each other and not compete with each other for your eyes’ attention. Two of the smaller buildings will be constructed of wood and heavily soundproofed but all other buildings will be built of steel and concrete (as we and PG Properties built Grove Street Plaza, 1020 Boston Post Road and Mead House at 745 Boston Post Road). This is more expensive to do but the only way we know how to be highly confident that the larger buildings with apartments and retail, restaurants and fitness uses on the first floor are, to our standards, soundproof.
The Tibbetts Building should go up fast and be ready for occupancy in the fall.
Over the next four weeks we will be forming walls for the other two buildings on a Corbin Drive, as well as the last foundation slab. We should pour that last foundation within five weeks. The steel is in and @carlucci_welding is ready to erect.
Lastly, Corbin Drive will remain open both ways tomorrow. This pour should be minimally disruptive.
February 10, 2022
We are pleased to share that we are re-scheduling the first foundation pour for the first phase of The Corbin District. Our construction team has scheduled the foundation pour for Wednesday , February 16th, weather permitting. To execute this work, we will be coordinating the delivery by concrete trucks from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm. During this time, we will need to close Corbin Drive from the Boston Post Road intersection to the far end of the 10 Corbin Building. Please note the sidewalk in front of the 10 Corbin building will remain fully open.
While this section of Corbin Drive is closed, the Darien Police Department will be onsite to provide assistance with the flow of traffic. Tenants and visitors approaching Corbin Drive from Boston Post Road will be directed to use Center Street to Old Kings Highway South to access Corbin Drive. From that direction the parking lots into the Post Office, the 10 Corbin office building and retail shops will be accessible. Detour signage directing traffic will be posted as well. Please keep in mind that access to the back lot is also available from Boston Post Road through the alley between Helen Ainson and Mathnasium.
We would also like you to be aware that the concrete trucks will be parking in the spaces adjacent to the Farm Stand area, along Old Kings Highway South while the work is taking place. Although those parking spaces will not be available, traffic lanes in both directions on Old Kings Highway South will be open and usable at all times. We have been coordinating this effort with our construction team and have hired the Darien Police to help monitor traffic. It is our intention to make the process run as smoothly as possible for all.
The steel for these buildings is ready to be installed, thanks to the team at Carlucci Welding & Fabrication, and the framers are ready to begin work on The Tibbetts Building once we get that slab poured. The unseasonably cold weather experienced we have experienced over the last few weeks set us back a bit, but the situation is looking better now! Thanks for your patience and understanding.
January 17, 2022
Unfortunately, the cold weather isn’t cooperating, and we are going to have to reschedule the pouring of our first foundation slab at The Corbin District. The nights have been too cold, and our steel rebar has to be warmer (45 degrees or higher) for the installation to be acceptable. The heating system for the steel will be installed in the next few days and we will shoot for an early February pour. There is still a lot of prep work to be done so we won’t lose much time. Updated foundation pour date will be posted as soon as we have it scheduled.
Thank you for bearing with us and for your patience and support throughout the construction process.
