Greenwich Academy Expansion Means Less Open Space and Lost Tax Revenue
Over three years after Greenwich Academy purchased a 54-acre parcel of land from descendants of the Rockefeller family for $18.2 million, the school is moving to develop the property into a dedicated lower-school campus serving kindergarten through fourth grade, along with athletic facilities and faculty housing.
Originally listed for $21.5 million, the landmark property had been in the Rockefeller family for over a century and represented the family's last large landholding in Greenwich. Located in central Greenwich and bordered by Glenville, Riversville, and Pecksland Roads, the parcel sits just seven minutes from Greenwich Academy’s main campus on North Maple Avenue.
Resident and Local Concerns
Traffic & Infrastructure: Plans call for primary access off Riversville Road and a restricted bus entrance on Pecksland Road. With shuttle buses moving students between campuses for athletic use, neighbors worry about added congestion along already busy arterial corridors during peak drop-off and pick-up hours.
Off the Tax Rolls: Under Connecticut law, private educational institutions are exempt from local property taxes. When this former private estate transferred from taxable private ownership to non-profit status, the 54-acre parcel was permanently removed from the town's taxable grand list—leaving taxpayers to absorb municipal services without local property tax contributions.
Diminishing Open Space: While the application proposes preserving wetlands and maintaining walking trails, the addition of classrooms, a squash facility, surface parking, and eight faculty housing units converts acres of forested, historic estate land into a built-out institutional campus.
Between the Lines: The good news: Greenwich Academy is prospering and expanding its educational capabilities in the community. The rub: local residents face increased traffic, added infrastructure strain, loss of historic open space, and another large parcel permanently removed from the municipal tax roll.