Two adjacent lots near Interstate 84 in Manchester could be combined into a single mixed-use development with 16 apartments and ground-floor commercial space, a developer says.
The concept came before the Planning and Zoning Commission on July 6 as a pre-application review, an informal step that lets a developer receive the panel’s feedback before submitting a formal filing.
Vernon-based architect James Montana is listed as the applicant, representing Macintosh Street LLC, a company controlled by Aspasia and George Koutouzis, who acquired the two properties at 95 Avery St. and 111 MacIntosh St. in 2025.
Montana wants to merge the properties and rezone the combined site as a single Comprehensive Urban Development, or CUD, district.
Currently, the lot on Avery Street is zoned for special design commercial use, while the larger rear parcel is zoned for single- and multifamily housing. Folding both into one CUD zone would permit a mix of commercial, residential and industrial uses with more flexibility than either designation allows on its own.
The plan calls for two buildings. A 6,000-square-foot commercial building at the corner of Avery and Deming streets could be divided into as many as eight tenant spaces for offices, shops and gathering places.
Behind it, an 8,000-square-foot building would hold the apartments.
Macintosh Street LLC argues the land is hard to use as currently zoned.
The Macintosh Street lot consists of 1.29 acres of vacant land.
The other property contains a small office building that housed Connecticut Feline Medicine and Surgery until the business relocated to East Hartford in 2022.
Split between two zoning categories, neither property can be readily leased, sold or developed, and combining them under one flexible designation would make redevelopment viable, the developer says.
A formal application will follow if Macintosh Street LLC decides to move ahead with the project.
