“We are going to keep the entire structure as is — new windows, new roof — but basically keep the architecture as it is. It’s beautiful. It fits right in,” Clark told the commission during a June 5 public hearing. “And we’d be happy to call it our new home.”
Newtown approves conversion of former Taunton Press campus into 83-unit apartment complex
Newstimes June 11, 2025
NEWTOWN – A local construction company’s plan to relocate its headquarters to the former Taunton Press campus and redevelop the site with 83 luxury apartments got unanimous approval from planners who called it “a great project.”
“I think it’s a great plan, and a great reuse of the property,” said Barbara Manville, a member of Newtown’s Planning and Zoning Commission shortly before a vote last week allowing developer Phil Clark to close on the 13-acre property and begin construction.
The site at 63 S. Main St. is a wooded campus bordered by Deep Brook. Listed for $2.95 million, it has nostalgic as well as aesthetic value.
The site has been vacant since the family sold the Taunton Press business in late 2023, one month before Roman died.
Clark, himself a Newtown success story having founded Claris Design Build in 1991, plans to refit the two buildings on the campus into apartments and his company’s new headquarters, and to construct a third building of apartments.
Environmentalists with a special concern for Deep Brook said they were pleased with Clark’s cooperation.
“We did have a good discussion with Claris and we’re really in line with what they’re trying to do,” said Neil Baldindo, a Sandy Hook resident and vice president of Candlewood Valley Trout Unlimited, during the June 5 public hearing. “They are taking a brown site and they’re converting it.”
Commission members agreed.
“Your traffic engineer … has noted that this development will create less traffic at peak hours than what was formerly approved and what could be built there as a matter of right,” commission member Don Mitchell said. “So I am all for it.”
The commission’s approval, which requires Claris to build a walkway in front of the property should the state build sidewalks on Route 25, is effective at the end of the month. The hope is that tenants in the new complex would be able to walk to Mile Hill Road and then south to Fairfield Hills – the town’s park-like municipal center.
“I’m in favor of any project that turns a brown property productive,” said Gregory Rich, a commission member. “I really appreciate the fact that you worked with us and you worked with the concerned citizens that have asked for some changes.”
The commission chair agreed.
“To the applicant good luck,” David Rosen said. “It looks like a great project.”