By James Lomuscio
With the framing completed and the smell of plywood sheathing still fresh, Westporter Sam Gault today walked the grounds of Saugatuck Center, a two-building, riverfront retail, residential and office development scheduled to open in May, and seemed pleased.
Today’s “topping out” of Saugatuck Center drew (l-r) Sam Gault and Jim Donaher, representing the Gault family, First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, and Gus Pappajohn, builder. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com
“My grandfather bought this property in the early 1920s,” said Gault about the one-acre, Riverside Avenue parcel with 500 feet on the Saugatuck River. “We used it to store oil, building materials and sand.”
The 365,000-gallon oil tank came down this past May (see WestportNow May 5, 2010), as did the wood framed buildings that housed DeRosa’s restaurant, Westport Florist and the Riverside Barber. Today was the “topping out,” marking partial completion of the project
To hear Gault, president of LH Gault & Son, Inc., tell it, it is all part of a new vision for Saugatuck—a vision from one of Westport’s oldest families. The hometown company stated in 1863 on the Post Road where Gault’s great-great grandfather sold feed and grain.
“This is the next progression to using this property to its fullest, not only for ourselves, but for the town and the community,” Gault said about Saugatuck Center, which will be replete with a riverfront walking trail open to the public.
Building a new Saugatuck community appears to be Gault’s goal with 27 rental units and 27 condominiums on the horizon. Both he and his brother-in-law Jim Donaher are principals of Hamilton Development, the Gault company’s real estate arm.
In addition to these two 10,000-square-foot buildings, each with underground parking and three upper floor apartments from 1,200 to 1,900-square-feet, Phase II involves the construction 21 rental units on 1.6 acres across the street, the site of Doc’s Cafe.
And on a 1.4-acre hillside behind that development, Gault plans Saugatuck Mill, a community of 27 condominiums.
The “topping out” ceremony presided over by Gault and Donaher involved pitching an American flag high atop the north building to show the project is on track. The north building, which already has a corporate tenant scheduled to move in, is called Tide, the south building, Marsh.
“It’s been four to five years in the making with the zoning process,” Gault said. “The objective all along was to create a sense of neighborhood.”
Joining Gault and Donaher as they marked the buildings’ finished framing was Norwalk builder Gus Pappajohn, the general contractor. Also present was Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff.
“It’s very exciting and it’s been a long time coming,” Joseloff said. “As the sign says, it’s going to bring neighborhood back to Westport. It’s a sign that Westport is on the move.”
so where are the shading street trees?