Residents press developer and council over Brookchester Shopping Center redevelopment

A developer proposed turning the Brookchester Shopping Center into a four‑story mixed‑use complex with roughly 150 residential units and about 27,000 square feet of retail, and New Milford residents responded with sustained, sometimes emotional public comment urging the borough to demand more data before approving any redevelopment.

At a March meeting of the Borough of New Milford mayor and council, Andy Noran, an attorney representing the Brunetti organization, introduced the preliminary concept plan and said the development would include approximately 150 apartments and about 27,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. “We are proposing to redevelop it with a modern mixed use project that we think will be of great benefit to this community,” Noran said during the presentation. The developer said the CVS on the site would remain in place.

Project architect Jack Raker described the building as four stories built over a partially buried garage benched into the existing grade; he said the design provides residential amenities, on‑site trash management and roughly 390 physical parking spaces, and that the scheme would meet or exceed state residential parking standards (RSIS). Raker also said the project would provide EV‑ready stalls to meet state requirements.

Why the council and residents…