Big Y Shopping Center Will Have Less Retail in Old Saybrook, Connecticut

OLD SAYBROOK - The grand opening of the Big Y World Class Supermarkets in mid-2009 will happen without an opening of a neighboring retail store due to an unsuccessful lease agreement.

A proposal to build a 106,749-square-foot shopping center, anchored by a 67,693-square-foot Big Y, was approved by the Zoning Commission in August 2007 but the center's other occupants remains unknown.

The shopping center will be located near the junction of Spencer Plains Road, also known as Route 166, and Boston Post Road, also known as Route 1.

Attorney David Royston, representing Max's Place, LLC, told the Zoning Commission that an unsuccessful lease agreement with Bed, Bath, and Beyond has prompted developer Ron Lyman to propose that Building C be eliminated from the initial plan for the shopping center.

Lyman had previously said the building would house a 20,400-square-foot Bed, Bath, and Beyond store with room for a small 3,600-square-foot retail store.

However, those plans fell through when the chain decided that projected revenues would be impacted since shoppers are likely to shop at the newly opened Bed, Bath, and Beyond store in the Crystal Mall in Waterford, approximately 20 miles away.

Royston said the construction of Building C is set to begin after Big Y opens but that linear buildings A and B would still be constructed, alongside Spencer Plains Road, at the same time as Big Y.

Building A will be approximately 7,000-square-feet and Building B will be about 7,500-square-feet and will help providing screening from the shopping center's large parking lot.

When Big Y opens, the location of the proposed Building C will have temporary landscape, Royston said, adding that the delayed construction of the building will not have any effect on the overall character of the shopping center and will not change the parking lot.

Royston said the pre-treatment facility at the center will remain in the same location, but with the absence of Building C, screening of landscaping and fencing will be added.

Lyman has previously told the Pictorial Gazette that his plans are to have the shells of Building A and B completed before Big Y opens for business.

Specifically, Lyman is hoping to lease space for a men's clothing store and wants to avoid having beauty salons, barber shops, fast food restaurants, or cellular phone stores in the center.

Since Big Y will have its own pharmacy, the center is not expected to host another pharmacy.

Lyman is optimistic that when Big Y opens, lease agreements will have already been made for the retail space in Buildings A and B allowing for those stores to open soon after.

Unless Lyman obtains a special permit otherwise, the Zoning Commission has restricted the Big Y to maximum hours of operation seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and the other retail stores will have maximum hours of operation seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.