Greenwich commission approves 40-seat theater inside Hyatt hotel

Planning and Zoning · Meeting of February 18, 2026

Greenwich Planning and Zoning Commission approves 40-seat movie theater inside the Hyatt hotel, voting 5-0 twice. Attorney Chris Fischer of Cuddy and Feder represented applicant HRG Hotel Owner LLC in winning both a zoning text amendment and a final site plan for the theater at 1800 East Putnam Avenue. The hotel reported 551 on-site parking spaces against a 374-space requirement for guest rooms, 65 for the restaurant and 16 for the theater.

Conditions require reserved parking near the entrance for movie patrons, sized to ticket sales, whenever a gala expecting more than 550 guests coincides with a screening, and closure of the theater during events with physical security checks. Resident Harold Stillman called it "a very creative and good idea," noting Greenwich has "lost all the movie theaters over time." All prior site conditions, including maintenance of the property's historic obelisks, carry forward.

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Source: the Planning and Zoning meeting of February 18, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

GREENWICH — February 18, 2026 — The Greenwich Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 Wednesday to approve a zoning text amendment and, in a second 5-0 vote, a final site plan allowing a 40-seat movie theater to operate as an accessory use inside the Hyatt Regency hotel at 1800 East Putnam Avenue.

The approvals cap months of review over how the hotel's existing conference space, already built out with theater seating years before the zoning question surfaced, should be classified and how its parking would be managed during the hotel's largest events. Commissioners Jenkins, Low, Yesi, Jones and Alban cast the votes on both measures.

The Full Story

Attorney Chris Fischer of Cuddy and Feder, representing applicant HRG Hotel Owner LLC, care of Trinity GP Fund 1 GP LLC, told the commission the amendment was narrow: it permits a fixed theater of no more than 40 seats inside a hotel, well short of the 150-seat threshold the town's regulations otherwise require for a standalone movie theater. The chair read into the record that the change is consistent with the town's 2019 Plan of Conservation and Development, which calls for updating zoning to "promote space for live and film theater experiences," and noted the Western Connecticut Council of Governments found no intermunicipal impact when it reviewed the amendment on December 16, 2025.

The site plan vote set specific parking terms. The applicant reported 551 on-site spaces against a regulatory requirement of 374 for guest rooms, 65 for the restaurant and 16 for the theater, leaving what staff calculated as a surplus of 95 spaces under normal operations. The approved conditions require that when a gala expecting more than 550 guests is booked at the same time as a public movie showing, the hotel must reserve parking near the building's common entrance for theater patrons, sized to the number of tickets sold that day. If an event requires physical security screening at the common entrance, the theater must close to the public for that event. Commissioners pressed hotel representative Jake Lynch and Fischer on an earlier proposal to set aside a flat eight spaces, ultimately steering the applicant toward a ticket-based formula instead. All conditions from the site's prior approvals, including a requirement that the applicant work with town staff on maintenance of two historic granite obelisks on the property, carry forward.

"It's more akin to a screening room that has public use and capability for public viewing," Fischer said of the space.

Resident Harold Stillman spoke in favor of the theater during public comment. "In Greenwich, we've lost all the movie theaters over time, and that's not a good thing," Stillman said. — Harold Stillman, resident

The chair, weighing the parking numbers, told the applicant team the theater's long-term success depended on getting the details right. "If you want to have the movie theater be successful and someone has a bad experience, can't find parking, it's a big mess, they're not going to come back," the chair said. — Planning and Zoning Commission chair

The commission also opened a pre-application review of a proposal by Berkeley Insurance Company to demolish and rebuild its headquarters at 475 Steamboat Road, a 96,515-square-foot building constructed in 1969. Representative Hegney told the commission the new building would include bird-friendly glass and quieter rooftop mechanical equipment. Stillman, who also lives near the site, objected to the design. "This building is very prominent when you come into Greenwich," he said, arguing the all-glass facade would look more like "a city like Toronto or New York City" than a Greenwich building near the Otter Rock Preserve.

Why It Matters

The theater ruling gives Greenwich its first movie screen in years, addressed through a zoning classification other hotels in the General Business zone could eventually seek to use. The parking conditions, tied to ticket sales rather than a fixed number of spaces, set a template the commission may apply to future mixed-use approvals where event traffic and daily operations overlap.

Beyond the theater, the commission is weighing several larger projects that will return for formal votes: a full teardown and rebuild of Berkeley Insurance's Steamboat Road headquarters, a 152-child Primrose early-education center proposed for the Greenwich Office Park on Weaver Street, and conversions of existing buildings on Palmer Hill Road and Deerfield Drive. Each drew commissioner questions Wednesday about traffic, parking and environmental impact that will shape the applications when they come back for final review.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Zoning text amendment permitting a theater as an incidental use within a hotel (HRG Hotel Owner LLC / Trinity GP Fund 1 GP LLC) Tally: For: 5, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 5

- Vote: Final site plan converting existing hotel conference space into a 40-seat theater at 1800 East Putnam Avenue, with parking and security conditions Tally: For: 5, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 5

- Vote: Reordering the agenda to hear New Greenwich Park LLC (Primrose) ahead of Two Deerfield Drive Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approval of the January 21, 2026 meeting minutes Tally: Approved unanimously

• Action: 97 Havier Place LLC final subdivision application for 97 and 0 Havier Place — Postponed, no new date announced
• Action: SF1919A LLC final site plan and special permit for 9 Sabine Farm Road — Continued, pending health department and geothermal review; no date announced

Source

Greenwich Community Television: Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, February 18, 2026