A developer is asking Glastonbury officials to allow more restaurant tenants to move into The Shops at Somerset Square and revise parking rules to make future tenant changes easier to approve.
Memphis, Tennessee-based KPS Development Partners has filed an application for a major amendment to the center’s Planned Area Development at 110-170 Glastonbury Blvd. The proposal would convert three existing retail spaces in the seven-building complex to restaurant use, bringing total food-and-beverage space to roughly 39,000 square feet, or about one-third of the center’s 113,000 square feet of leasable area, according to the filing.
KPS said the request reflects ongoing shifts in the commercial real estate market, with traditional brick-and-mortar retail continuing to decline and demand growing for restaurants and personal-service businesses.
KPS was formed in 2022 as a joint venture between POAG Development Group and KRN Development. POAG purchased The Shops at Somerset Square that same year for $30.1 million from Brookfield Properties.
At the time, a POAG official told the Hartford Business Journal the company aimed to revitalize the lifestyle center — anchored by tenants including Jos. A. Bank, Lux Bond & Green, Chico’s, White House Black Market and Max Fish — by trying to attract new restaurants, boutique fitness studios and health-and-beauty retailers.
As part of that effort, KPS is now seeking town approval to expand restaurant space — a change that also triggers stricter parking requirements under zoning rules. Normally, the switch would raise the site’s required parking count to 692 spaces, well above the 561 currently available.
To address that, KPS submitted a shared-parking analysis showing demand has never approached capacity, even at peak times. A study found the lot about half full on a recent Friday evening, with more than 300 spaces open.
The company plans to re-stripe the lot to 568 spaces and is asking the town to adopt a more flexible parking formula — between 4.5 and 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of leasable area — to streamline future tenant changes.
Engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill concluded the existing parking supply would still meet demand after the additional restaurant conversions. Town planning staff have recommended approval, saying the proposal supports Glastonbury’s long-range goals of encouraging mixed-use development and more efficient parking standards.
On Oct. 21, the Town Plan & Zoning Commission approved the changes, which also require signoff from the Town Council.