Ludington Court latest sign of Ridgefield’s growing condo scene

Five luxury condominiums rising on Ridgefield”™s Main Street may be indicative of a continuing trend ”“ providing housing for millennials and empty nesters alike ”“ around the county, but they”™re also symptomatic of the town”™s need to repurpose neglected properties into something valuable.

Rehabilitating a property to make it a tax-revenue generator is nothing new, of course, but in Ridgefield”™s case it”™s practically a necessity when it comes to new homes, according to Arnold Light, chairman of the town”™s Economic and Community Development Commission.

“We just don”™t have room for a lot of new construction,” Light said. “There are pieces of land here and there that single-home builders can purchase, but we don”™t have enough opportunity to build a number of houses like Michael Eppoliti is doing.”

What developer Eppoliti is doing is creating Ludington Court, a five-residence community running from 509 to 527 Main St., on the one-acre site of what was a long-dilapidated, century-old house on the corner of Main and Gilbert streets.

Two of the homes will face Main and The Elms complex across the street, while the remaining three will face Gilbert. Each home will have a view of Ballard Park to the south, and the complex is within walking distance of the Main Street shopping and dining district, as well as its library and the Prospector Theater. All five will be accessed from a driveway off of Gilbert.

The construction required a zoning change to accommodate the site”™s lower density ”“ something that was granted in 2016, although not without some drama.

“Ridgefield itself is relatively easy to work with,” Eppoliti said at the site. “But the atmosphere at a public hearing can be challenging.”

The new zoning statute allows a maximum of six units per acre if all the units are selling at the market rate, and up to eight units an acre if 15 percent of them meeting affordable housing guidelines.

“The town is very happy to see this happening,” he said. “They saw the need for this and approved our submission with very little revisions.”

A lifelong Ridgefield resident ”“ “I”™m ninth generation,” he said ”“ Eppoliti said he”™d had his eye on the property for a number of years, but that longtime owner Rocco Valeri had been reluctant to sell, preferring to pursue his own plan of building 14 units in an expanded main house and barn under an affordable housing permit.

Those plans ultimately came to naught and 509 Main Street LLC, composed of Eppoliti, Stefano Zandri and William Harford, finally acquired it in 2015 for $1,211,400.

The 14-unit complex was “never going to work,” Eppoliti remarked, adding that his plan makes more sense aesthetically and demographically.

Designed by local architects Mose Associates, each three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath condo ”“ detached from the others ”“ will consist of 2,400 square feet across two stories, with the option of building out an attic, a basement and upgrading for an elevator for convenient second-story access. Eppoliti, working with Ridgefield Supply Co., will complete the exteriors this year, while buyers will choose the interiors.

Ludington Court will be in line with the Elms and another nearby complex, Casagmo, in providing space for both younger buyers and older ones looking to downsize, all looking to take advantage of Ridgefield”™s Main Street district, Eppoliti said. Work is currently being done on the first two buildings ”“ “the weather has not been cooperative,” he chuckled ”“ with an estimated completion date of next March.

Light at Ridgefield”™s ECDC agreed with Eppoliti”™s assessment. “There”™s definitely a need for something like this,” he said. “A lot of people no longer need big homes ”“ they just want a two-bedroom, two-bath residence where they can retire but still be in Ridgefield.”

On the other hand, he said, “A lot of houses these people have are in the $1 million category, and they”™re not selling. And millennials who are just starting out are looking for properties in the $400,000-$700,000 range ”“ and those tend to go relatively quickly.”