Image courtesy of Studio Architects

A former distribution center and corporate headquarters in Rocky Hill could become apartments under a new plan being presented to town officials tonight.

Belfonti Cos. hopes to turn the long-empty Ames property near the town’s heart into a mixed-use development anchored with 213 apartments.

The town received a $500,000 in state funding last year to clean up the property and prepare it for redevelopment. Belfonti is now under contract to buy the land at 2418 Main St., according to documents filed with Rocky Hill officials. A Dow Realty Co. listing for the 12.67-acre property on LoopNet put the asking price at $2.9 million. The company is also under contract to buy a neighboring half-acre parcel at 1 Dividend Road to round out its proposed development.

Plans Belfonti filed with town officials show 93 one-bedroom and 120 two-bedroom units in nine buildings, plus a clubhouse, 11,067 square feet of office and retail space in an 11th building, plus 9,959 square feet of retail on the ground floor of the residential building that faces Main Street. Plans also show 452 covered and surface parking spots.

The company plans to set aside 10 percent of the units as deed-restricted affordable ones for residents making 80 percent of the area median income according to town zoning laws.

In response to feedback from local officials, the application states, Belfonti will also add sidewalks and a plaza in front of the property to make the development more pedestrian-oriented and help boost the development’s ground-floor retail and restaurant tenants.