Dense apartment complex abutting Innis Arden Golf Club in Old Greenwich denied - for now

For five years, it was the project that wouldn’t quit. But this past week, the ambitious plan to transform a former industrial site on the Old Greenwich-Stamford border into a sprawling residential complex hit a concrete wall.

On January 5, 2026, the Stamford Zoning Board officially denied the application for 23 Barry Place, a decision that has sent ripples through both Stamford's Waterside neighborhood and the Old Greenwich community.

The site, once the home of the Conair Corporation warehouse (famous for hair dryers and Cuisinarts), has been vacant since the old offices were demolished in 2024. Developers Continental Family Holdings and Leandro Rizzuto Jr. proposed a massive "transitional" project comprising 60 townhomes marketed for sale at the front of the property, and a large rental block of 201 apartments at the rear, including 26 affordable units. The complex would likely be visible from the Innis Arden Golf Club.

Despite the developers scaling back the project multiple times—eliminating three-bedroom units and increasing green space to appease critics—the board voted 3-1 to deny the application. The sticking points were:

Density: Zoning Board Chair David Stein noted that while the board supports residential growth, this specific project was "really too much for that area." The board’s official memo called the density inconsistent with the surrounding residential streets.

Safety & Traffic: With the new Wings Arena bringing in skaters and families and with a location inaccessible to local transit, residents expressed major anxiety over adding hundreds of new cars to the narrow, "tight" streets of Waterside and Old Greenwich.

Environmental: The site has a history of industrial use (including a stint by Pitney Bowes). While developers promised to remediate the soil to residential standards, the "environmental question" remained a cloud over the public hearings. Note: Innis Arden previously sued former occupant Pitney Bowes regarding PCBs and other contaminants that flowed downstream into a pond near the 14th & 15th holes of the golf club

Between the Lines: Is the project truly dead? Probably not. A "No" from the Zoning Board is often just the first salvo.  If the developers return with a plan that utilizes the state’s affordable housing statute (8-30g), the town will have much less power to say no based on "character" or "density."

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