By James Lomuscio
Talk about going green. Plans are afoot to transform a shuttered Westport car dealership into an upscale outdoor center replete with a greenhouse, an array of outdoor furniture, furnishings, plant showrooms, cafe, and myriad products for the organic gardener.
The first Terrain store has been open near Philadelphia since 2008. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Shopterrain.com photo
Urban Outfitters is eyeing the shuttered Curran Cadillac property at 561 Post Road East for its second Terrain store nationally. And Thursday night, attorneys for the company are scheduled to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for a pre-application.
The plan submitted by Jennifer M. Porter of the New York law firm Gibbons P.C., calls for stripping the auto showroom down to its beams and razing a two-story, dilapidated house on the corner of Post Road East and Crescent Road to garner more parking.
According to the proposal, the new buildings will total 17,108 square feet, less than the current 21,566. Curran Cadillac closed in February 2009 after 40 years in the location. (See WestportNow Feb. 27, 2009)
“In summary, this Terrain design incorporates transparency, translucency, screening and layering onto the existing structure and form in order to create a unique, effective selling environment for home, garden and plant products,” the pre-application states.
Jim Curran, owner of the property, has not returned calls, nor has Ken Nemeth, Urban Outfitters’ senior development manager in Philadelphia. The property has yet to change hands, so it is not known if urban Outfitters will be leasing it.
When Terrain opened near Chadds Ford, Pa. outside Philadelphia three years ago, Home Channel News described it as “Smith & Hawken meets Barnes & Noble meets Bath & Body Works.”
Curran Cadillac closed in February 2009. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
“They took the 10-acre nursery and added indoor and outdoor furniture, pottery and decor, personal care items, books, cooking utensils and more. In addition, there’s an established landscape design service and a café serving a spa-meets-farmhouse menu,” stated Home Channel News.
“Terrain at Styer’s has been drawing a steady stream of upscale suburban customers—particularly women in their 40s, 50s and 60s. There are Saturday classes on such topics as caring for hydrangeas, grilling, wreath making and container design. It could be called a one-stop-shop for the gardening/entertaining life style.”
Should Terrain open here, it will be parent company’s third store in Westport.
Already, there is Anthropoligie at 1365 Post Road East, and Urban Outfitters, the trendy clothing chain with the 18- to 30-year-old as its target customer, is scheduled to move into 11,600 square feet owned by Westport developer David Waldman at 101 and 107 Post Road East by the spring of next year.
