Image courtesy of Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects

The rundown commercial district next to Westport’s Metro-North train station could be in line for a near-total makeover if city officials approve its special permit and site plan application next week.

International luxury hotel developer Roan, based in Westport, will be presenting its 7-acre, 13-building proposal to turn a collection of boat dealers, car repair shops, small offices and parking lots that is the current Saugatuck commercial district into a luxury waterfront destination to the town Planning & Zoning Commission on March 10.

Plans for “The Hamlet,” as the development has been dubbed, show 315,735 square feet of residential, retail and hotel space across three blocks. To meet floor-area ratio rules and to create shopping streets in one block’s interior, the 57 multifamily units, event space and 57 hotel rooms will be split up into multiple buildings whose architecture appears to take queues from Victorian commercial buildings and hotels.

The event space, in particular, will be housed in a nearly 30,000-square-foot, multi-story building reminiscent of a stone barn, to replace a parking lot next to the neighborhood’s playground.

Plans also show Roan plans to restore the facades on the small number of historic retail buildings along Railroad Place.

By placing all its parking underground, the development is able to benefit from a floor-area ratio boost, its application states. The 224 spaces will be valet parking only.

The development will be rounded out with a marina along the Saugatuck River, to be permitted separately.

“The proposed Hamlet will certainly enhance Saugatuck Center and invite smart development into the community to  enhance one of the most underdeveloped sites in the state that is adjacent to a thriving rail station,” Roan wrote in its application, raising the specter of a denser, multifamily-only development rising at the hands of another developer, instead of its “carefully curated” one, if its proposal isn’t approved.