Major Downtown Milford Development Project Filed With City

MILFORD, CT — One of the city's most prominent developers has officially filed plans with the Planning and Zoning Department for a major downtown development that would create a municipal parking garage and quite possibly a small grocery store.

Robert H. Smith Jr., who is Executive Managing Director and Founder of Metro Star Properties LLC, confirmed he has filed plans with the city for the development at 44-64 River Street.

Plans call for 50 apartment units, 12,000 square-feet of retail space and the "first priority is for a grocery store like Trader Joe's."

The lower level is a municipal garage with 120 parking spaces, and this garage will be leased to the city for $1 per year for 99 years. The garage will be open to the public.

There will be 76 parking spaces on the upper level for the apartments and retail uses.

Smith said he already has some leads on finding a grocer for the development, and he'd love to see it be Trader Joe's. He stressed there is no deal with Trader Joe's currently.

"Yes we are working to find a grocer, first choice is Trader Joe's. We do have interest from smaller grocers now. Very optimistic we can find one, it would be great for downtown," Smith said.

This development has been in the works for several years and was approved by the Board of Aldermen back in 2019.

Milford's Economic Development Director Julie Nash said the proposed project is a "good" one as it strikes a delicate balance of preserving the city's charm but also moving Milford forward.

She said it's a fact that a project like this one is good for downtown businesses as it will bring more people to the area and help the established businesses, especially the local restaurants.

She said the plans by Metro Star are "beautiful." She added that a parking garage is badly needed so parking is more accessible downtown, which again should help established businesses and help attract new businesses to the area.

As for the plans for a "very small grocery store," Nash said it's definitely a good idea as people can walk from the train to pick up essential items. She said the downtown will soon have everything you can access by walking including: doctor's offices, hospital, train station, municipal buildings, restaurants, and numerous shops.

Rendering of the development courtesy of Metro Star Properties LLC