From a Single-Story Chocolate Shop to a Four-Story Apartment Complex in Cos Cob
A familiar Cos Cob property is slated for a massive transformation. Planning & Zoning is reviewing a proposal for “The Putnam Lofts”—a 4.5-story, 14-unit residential building featuring 30 bedrooms and 14 parking spaces (8 subterranean and 6 surface-level).
The applicant, KRM Realty LLC, is leveraging Connecticut’s state affordable housing statute, 8-30g, allowing it to overbuild the property as long as 30% of the units (5 total) are designated affordable.
Out With Local Incentive, In With State Mandate
This ambitious project replaces a far more modest September 2025 proposal under Greenwich’s local Regulation 6-110 workforce housing program. That earlier plan envisioned a balanced three-story, mixed-use building combining commercial space with six apartment units (including one restricted unit). While local 6-110 rules incentivize moderate workforce additions, state 8-30g powers allow developers to override local zoning limits—resulting in a dramatic leap from 6 units to 14.
Bittersweet Local History
Longtime residents know 121 East Putnam Avenue was formerly home to Commuter Cleaners before becoming the beloved dessert spot Chocoylatte Gourmet. As reported in The Short Life of Chocoylatte in Cos Cob, the sweet shop’s run was tragically brief. Opening in July 2019, its doors permanently closed just seven months later in February 2020 after an infamous late-night crash sent a car traveling 80 mph straight through the storefront.
Perhaps the applicant chose the name “The Putnam Lofts” because ground-level history on this stretch of Route 1 has proven so hazardous.
Between the Lines:
Ultimately, trading a modest single-story footprint for a looming 4.5-story complex—all for a net gain of just five affordable units—might make perfect economic sense for a developer, but not for the local community.