Chilston Court: The High-Density Future of Downtown Greenwich
- Aug 1
- 2 min read
Get ready for 2028: Chilston Court, a massive 78-residence luxury development slated for 275 and 290 Mason Street, is set to redefine downtown Greenwich. Units will range from 2,000-square-foot two-bedroom residences to sprawling penthouses, with prices starting around $4.5 million and climbing past $10 million.
The Torturous Road through P&Z
The road to approval was anything but smooth. Initially submitted in 2023 by Mason Street Partners and Caspi Development to replace the former Greenwich Honda site, the project drew immediate local backlash over height, traffic density, and environmental runoff. In September 2024, Greenwich’s Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Commission rejected the initial 92-unit proposal unanimously in a 5–0 vote.
However, the developers utilized Connecticut’s potent 8-30g statute—a state law that severely restricts a town's ability to deny housing proposals as long as at least 30% of the units are deed-restricted as affordable housing.
Faced with steep legal constraints under state law, P&Z reconsidered. In December 2024, the commission approved a revised plan—scaled back from 92 rental units to 78 larger, for-sale condo units—on a 4–1 vote, attaching strict conditions regarding retail space and unit comparability.
The approval cleared the path for site demolition, backed by an $8 million state brownfield remediation grant awarded in late 2025 to clean up longstanding auto-service contamination.
A Vast Improvement But at What Cost?
Replacing a vacant Honda dealership and contaminated brownfield site with high-end architecture is undeniably an upgrade for Mason Street. Marketing documents for Chilston Court reveal eye-popping luxury, and if Greenwich is lucky, those unsightly overhead utility lines will finally be buried underground.
Marketing & Project Details:
By leveraging state affordable housing laws designed to expand community access, the project ultimately yields a high-density, cavernous complex dominated by multi-million-dollar homes. It cleans up a blighted lot, but it also signals a dramatically denser, taller future for downtown Greenwich.
Between the Lines:. It leaves residents asking whether this is genuinely a win for Greenwich or a win for affordable housing.