Beval Saddlery

Plans Filed To Create New Office Building on Former ‘Beval Saddlery’ Site on Pine Street [UPDATED]

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The owners of the Pine Street property where Beval Saddlery used to occupy a single-story brick structure have applied to the town to create a new office building there. Plans for 50 Pine St. call for a structure about the same size as the existing building, vacant since the equestrian riding equipment provider moved out last summer. It isn’t clear from the filing how much of the original building is to be preserved—no application for a demolition permit has been made. The .63-acre lot then sold for $4,350,000 last September, and the new owners—a Bangor, Maine-based company—the following month applied through a local land use attorney to allow first-floor office use in the Business A zone.

Business

New Owners of ‘Beval Saddlery’ Building Seek First-Floor Office Use for ‘Second Ring’ of Downtown New Canaan

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Saying the change would help commercial property owners, retailers and the wider community, a local land use attorney has applied to the town to allow first-floor offices in a business zone that skirts the center of downtown New Canaan. Representing the new owners of the former Beval Saddlery building on Pine Street, attorney David Rucci of Main Street’s Lampert, Toohey & Rucci LLC is seeking to amend the New Canaan Zoning Regulations to “re-establish first floor office use with site plan review in the Business A zone.”

“The Business A zone was created in 1985,” Rucci wrote in an application filed Monday with Planning & Zoning. “It is the largest of the business zones and represents the second ring of the core. While there is a prohibition on new first floor office use today, over 50 percent of the zone serves first floor general office use. The remaining properties serve retail, bank, medical, second floor office use and single purpose type of business use.”

The application continued: “By re-establishing first floor general office use in the Business A zone, we believe the zone would become more economically viable for both A zone building owners and the Town of New Canaan.

News

Former ‘Beval Saddlery’ Building Sold for $4,350,000

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A commercial building on Pine Street that’s been the subject of wide speculation, have been sold in the past week, according to property transfer records on file with the Town Clerk. The former Beval Saddlery at 50 Pine St. was purchased for $4,350,000 by a Bangor, Maine company and its principals, according to a transfer recorded Tuesday. It isn’t clear what the buyer, a company called ‘Cross Realty – Connecticut LLC,’ plans to do with the property. Its managing partners—Royce Cross and officials from Cross Financial Corp and the Woodrow Cross Trust, according to records on file with the Connecticut Secretary of the State—could not immediately be reached for comment.

Business

Beval Saddlery in New Canaan To Close

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After more than 30 years, Beval Saddlery is closing its New Canaan store, officials say. According to a sign on the Pine Street business’s door, the provider of equestrian riding equipment, apparel and supplies is to continue its North Salem, N.Y. and Gladstone, N.J. stores while closing the one here. “We’re excited for this change and look forward to serving our customers in these existing locations, both centered at the heart of two strong equestrian communities,” the sign said. “In addition, our mobile store will be hitting the road to meet you at shows beginning in May.”

It wasn’t immediately clear why the store is closing—Beval’s owners were not immediately available for on-the-record comment. The business will continue to offer its products and support through its website.

Business

Citing Misrepresentations, Building Officials Issue Stop-Work Order on Beval Saddlery Renovation

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New Canaan building officials have issued a stop-work order on interior renovations to a Pine Street business after the property’s owner told them the project hadn’t been authorized and that misrepresentations had been made on a permit application for the work. It isn’t clear how far along Beval Saddlery is with an estimated $150,000 renovation at its 50 Pine St. location. Work must now stop, following a letter sent last week from Chief Building Official Brian Platz of the New Canaan Building Department to Mark Walter, owner of Beval Saddlery. “At the owner’s request I will reinstate and validate the now void permit with or without modifications, or I will order the building restored to its condition prior to the issuance of this permit,” Platz said in the letter, dated Oct.