By this coming fall, there could be a locally owned restaurant open in the former racquetball court, and retail space, offices and apartments under construction, as Mattern Construction Inc. works to erase remnants of the long-closed former YMCA on Main Street. The Norwich Planning Commission unanimously approved Tuesday the Baltic company’s plan to transform the blighted building across from the new Hotel Callista at a key downtown gateway into a mixed-use commercial and residential development. The plan includes eight one-bedroom market-rate apartments, space for a restaurant, three 1,200-square-foot retail spaces and office space for Mattern to move its headquarters into the building. “This project is of significant importance to the continuing revitalization of downtown Norwich,” company President Eric Mattern told the planning commission Tuesday, “and will be the first of many that will bring new life to Main Street and beyond.” Mattern said the restaurant should be completed first by fall of 2024, with the apartments completed soon afterward and the three commercial spaces “completely leased” by fall of 2025.
https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240127/three-long-awaited-norwich-projects-receive-approvals-updates/