The Stamford Savings Bank building at 160 Atlantic St. was built in 1939 but has been vacant for years. Now, a plan put forward by Old Town Square LLC proposes to use the existing building as the foundation for a 10-story, 84-room hotel in the heart of Downtown Stamford.
The proposal that recently went before the Stamford Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) reflected heavy changes from plans submitted in 2019 for a hotel which would use the bank building as an entrance hall for the hotel.
Nagi M. Osta and Shalinder Nichani are the listed principals for Old Town Square. John F. X. Leydon Jr., the attorney representing the company for the application, stated the owners’ deep ties to the community.
“Mr. Osta is a long-time businessman in Stamford,” Leydon said, noting that he is the namesake of Nagi Jewelers. “Mr. Nichani is part of a family with numerous business interests, among them hotel operations, including the Hampton Inn at the Mill River Park. They are regular contributors to the well-being of Stamford.”
Leydon stressed the owners have a vested interest in improving the city and argued that that the hotel would be an excellent way to bring the “vibrancy” found along other streets in the downtown area.
“We’re going to add a 24/7, 365-day-a-year source of life. And we’re going to have a quality restaurant at the ground floor that people patronize,” Leydon said. “We are adjacent to a park which historically has had troubles in part because of the lack of pedestrian activity.”
The original renderings included designs in both a more modern design and a brick faced version. The new proposal will preserve the façade and as many interior details as possible from the existing bank building while adding an additional 11 stories which will be clad in brick and feature paired pillars echoing the Colonial Revival styling of the original.
“It is all about preservation of the building’s history as well as complimenting the beautification of Veteran’s Park which is directly adjacent,” said Sotheby Chung, who joined the call to represent Do H. Chung & Partners, the architectural firm that produced the updated design.
“Part of our due diligence as well as our redevelopment of the project is to not only build an extension complimentary to the design cues of the present building, it is also to preserve as many of the details as possible and possibly unearthing things we didn’t know about in the close to the 100 years of this building being in operation,” Chung said.
The building was once a branch of the Stamford Savings Bank, which rebranded as First County Bank in 1985. The building borders one edge of Stamford’s Veteran’s Park and is next to an exit ramp for the Stamford Center parking garage.
In 2019, the PZC asked for some significant changes to the initial plan, and the effort was also stymied by confusion about the exact dimensions and zoning of the parcel. During Stamford’s urban renewal era when Landmark Square and Stamford Town Center were built, most of the buildings around the Stamford Savings Bank building were torn down and several streets were removed entirely to make way for the modern development.
The legacy of that confusion drove much of the conversation during the PZC meeting where the updated plans were presented as well. The dimensions of access ramps, number of adjacent parking spaces and means of access to bicycle storage were all discussed in depth prior to public comment, and it was agreed that revisions to the proposal along these lines would be necessary. Stamford statute will allow for the hotel to make use of spaces within the Summer Street Garage in order to meet their parking minimum, as it is less than 1,000 feet away from the property.
Public comments were primarily concerned with the potential impact of the hotel on traffic, with some suggesting that Downtown Stamford needs more parking and fewer attractions. One commentator also expressed worry that increased foot traffic through Veteran’s Park would be disrespectful to the memory of veterans.
On the last point, Leydon responded by sharing that the project has received a letter of support from the Stamford Veterans Park Partnership and the Stamford Veterans Council.
“We’re very much bullish on the project,” said David Stein, the PZC chairman. “We thank Nagi and [Shalinder] for working with us and meeting with Stamford Downtown’s Economic Development Subcommittee and answering our questions and also incorporating many of the historic elements.”
