Image courtesy of the Sullivan Architectural Group

A parking lot could become home to a 210-room hotel under a new proposal to be considered by Norwalk’s Planning & Zoning Commission tomorrow night.

An LLC controlled by local developer and real estate agent Jason Milligan is proposing a 6-story building on a parking lot and adjacent single-story retail building at 21-23 Issac St. he’s owned through since 2018, according to public records.

The building would include 178 parking spaces in a 2-story above-ground garage and would also rent out five street-level live/work units as apartments, according to filings.

“The proposed development represents asignificant improvement to the current state of the Property, will bring much needed activity to  the Wall Street neighborhood, and is in scale with Wall Street Place,” Milligan’s attorney Adam J. Blank of Wofsey Rosen wrote in a project application.

Unlike some extended-stay hotels that are filled with amenities, Blank wrote, Milligan’s proposed hotel has very few – only a small cafe, a business center and meeting room, lounges and a rooftop deck – to make sure guests are driving economic activity in the area by eating out, shopping and seeking personal services like haircuts. Unlike bustling South Norwalk, downtown Norwalk has struggled to attract nearly the same level of residential development and retail and restaurant activity as the neighborhood around the city’s main Metro-North station a mile-and-a-half away.

Blank wrote that the project will only need to pass site plan review from city officials and will not need zoning relief, and while it does lie within the Coastal Area Management Zone, it is not at risk of flooding and contains no “coastal resources” so it ought not require mitigation plans.