Danbury builder touts 'tremendously cool' plan for 'affordable' $1,250 studios, $1,775 apartments

DANBURY — A developer whose scheme has been criticized by the city’s top planner to convert a west side hotel into micro apartments and innovation space showed up at a public hearing this week with supporters to tout the proposed units as both desirable and affordable.

“We are trying to bring life back to the area in a creative way… and are really excited about the potential for what we think is a phenomenal concept,” said Dan Bertram, a downtown developer, speaking of his plan to convert the defunct Crowne Plaza hotel into 198 micro apartments and three floors of makerspace for entrepreneurs and artists. “We are very, very excited by the possibilities we see with this property.”

Supporters agreed, urging the city’s Zoning Commission to pass an amendment that would allow Bertram to operate an apartment house in the Mill Plain Road commercial corridor on Danbury’s booming west side.

“It is not often that the Chamber of Commerce opines on local zoning issues…but our chamber feels strongly that within this proposal there is an opportunity for the city to send a message to businesses of all sizes … that we are aware of the type of housing that is needed for our economy to continue to grow — particularly workforce housing,” said P.J. Prunty, CEO of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce. “This model fits perfectly with the desperate need for housing for our current and our future workforce.”

Prunty was referring to Bertram’s plan to convert the 240-room hotel into 154 studios that would measure 330-square-feet and rent for $1,250, and into 44 one-bedroom apartments that would measure 660-square-feet and rent for $1,775.

Prunty was among 11 speakers at a two-and-a-half-hour public hearing on Tuesday who praised plans to remodel the empty 10-story hotel into the kind of micro apartments that are popular in New York City and Seattle with young adults.

It was the first time Bertram and his supporters addressed a city land use commission since Danbury’s top planner questioned the affordability and desirability of the micro apartments in a critical eight-page report. In her report, Planning Director Sharon Calitro scrutinized the mortgage that Bertram’s Bright Ravens IS LLC took out when he bought the bankrupted hotel for $8 million in 2021, and said the hotel location near the Exit 2 ramp to Interstate 84 was neither mass transit-friendly nor pedestrian-friendly.

The city’s Planning Commission followed Calitro’s report by giving a negative recommendation about Bertram’s rezoning request to the Zoning Commission.

At Tuesday’s public hearing, Betram’s lawyer delivered a lengthy rebuttal.

“Mr. Bertram has a proven track record with residential projects in both Danbury and the greater Danbury area — including affordable housing projects. He thinks this can work, and second-guessing his investment is not a zoning issue,” said Thomas Beecher. “This site is not the isolated and deserted island that (Calitro) makes it out to be. There are sidewalks leading all the way down to Mill Plain Road. Once you get there you can go to Trader Joe’s, Starbucks and other places. Even an older Baby Boomer like myself can walk the four-tenths of a mile down the hill.”

Entrepreneur Jason Clemence agreed.

“My company has tripled in size and I now have eight employees looking forward to opportunities for affordable housing like Bright Ravens,” said Clemence, who builds indoor adventure parks. “It will help my business and make it easier for my employees.”

'Hopefully we can pull this off'

Paul Rotello, the City Council’s Democratic Minority leader, was the only speaker who criticized the application, noting that the decision before the Zoning Commission had less to do with the merits of Bertram’s project and more to do with the impact of removing the 7-acre hotel property as a commercial use and changing it to a residential use.

“Are you for or against it?” asked Zoning Commission member Michel Coelho of Rotello.

“The project itself in a vacuum is intriguing to me — I don’t have a problem with the project,” Rotello said. “It is the zone change that I am taking issue with. The real reason we are here tonight is a zone change. If I was on Zoning Commission, I would vote ‘no.’”

“Councilman Rotello, they are not looking to change the zone,” Zoning Commission Chairman Theodore Haddad said. “They are looking to add something as a permitted use to the existing zone.”

“With all due respect … that is a distinction without a difference,” Rotello said. “You are watering down a commercial zone. You are allowing a non-commercial use in a commercial zone and when you do that you’ve taken (seven) acres off the table.”

The Zoning Commission held the hearing open until the end of June.

“This building needs a new life. Let’s let it be repurposed and rejuvenated,” Beecher said. “Put aside those what-ifs? There is absolutely no significant downside to the city of Danbury if you adopt this resolution.”

Before that happens, Haddad told Beecher, “You have some work to do with (Calitro).”

Bertram agreed.

“We are highly motivated to make this tremendously cool,” Bertram said. “We’ll come back with everything we can to try and close the gap … and hopefully we can pull this off.”