Norwich — The New York group that purchased two abutting historic downtown buildings once envisioned for a heritage museum received approval this past week to create 42 apartments in the upper stories and to renovate the Main and Water street storefront spaces in what city officials hope will bring new life to lower Main Street.

The two 1860s Bulletin and Richards buildings, with rich histories in the downtown’s post-Civil War economic heyday, have been mostly vacant for decades. The buildings were rescued from decay in the 1980s and ‘90s with structural preservation grants to create the Norwich Heritage Discovery Center. But the museum project never got off the ground.

Former Norwich developer Janny Lam purchased the buildings and brought in restaurants, a salon and boutique shops to the storefronts, but she eventually lost the complex to tax foreclosure in 2018.

The Rochelle, N.Y.-based principals in New England Rose LLC purchased the two buildings at 77-91 Main St. at a tax foreclosure auction in May 2018 with plans to renovate the complex for apartments and commercial space.

Their plan to create 42 market-rate apartments — 40 studio units and two one-bedroom apartments — storage and amenities for tenants and to renovate the commercial space on Main and Water streets received unanimous approval Tuesday by the Commission on the City Plan.

Project attorney William Sweeney said the developers plan to obtain federal historic preservation tax credits to maintain the historic brick exteriors, which include ornate, unique features, and do extensive interior renovations and renovate and maintain the commercial spaces on Main and Water streets.

During the museum planning, the interiors of the two buildings were gutted, including walls that once separated the two structures. An elevator shaft was created, but no elevator was installed.

Like many other Norwich buildings, the structural quirks are many. The buildings were constructed into a steep hill, so the Water Street side is five stories tall, while the Main Street side is three stories. The buildings are now combined into one, but their floors do not line up, Sweeney said. So, when an elevator is installed, it likely will have nine stops, with doors opening on either side.

The project needed zoning variances, because downtown zoning regulations prohibit residential space from being located beneath commercial space. But the Main Street storefronts are really on the third floor. The city Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance to allow second-floor apartments on Water Street.

Another regulation for “mixed-use” projects requires at least 50% of the building to be reserved for commercial space. But Sweeney said that would not be viable for these buildings, which have a combined 21,552 square feet of space.

“The building is so huge, you can’t do half and half and make it viable,” Sweeney said.

The complex has no parking. Downtown regulations do not require parking, but Sweeney said the developers recognize they would need to provide parking for the project to be viable. About 30 spaces in the city-owned Main Street parking garage directly across the street, and more spaces in the garage are expected to become available by 2021, when the apartments project is slated to be completed.

Other nearby free parking is available at the Norwich Transportation Center near Norwich Harbor, Sweeney said.

Sweeney said with the planning and zoning approvals in place, some interior demolition can start this summer. The only current commercial tenant is the Ice & Fire Chinese restaurant on Main Street. Sweeney said the developers hope to work with the restaurant to renovate the space. He said new commercial entities have expressed interest in other commercial spaces in the complex.

The developers already are working with Norwich Public Utilities on utilities connections for the project.

“NPU has been really great,” Sweeney said.

NPU spokesman Chris Riley said utility services are in place already for the buildings, so NPU would work with the developers on interior renovations, service upgrades if needed and any possible energy efficiency rebate or incentive programs.

“The prospect of new residential and commercial activity in downtown is great news for Norwich,” Riley said, “so NPU was very excited to meet with the developer and the city’s Planning and Neighborhood Services Department earlier this year.”

City Historian Dale Plummer said the more ornate and slightly shorter building is the Charles Richards Building, with a unique “high Victorian gothic” yellow brick façade featuring varied arches, tall, narrow decorative windows and roofline designs. The red brick former Bulletin Building is more plain but has decorative roof features and large rectangular windows.

“The exterior (restoration) work done was very good,” Plummer said, praising noted historic preservation architect Fred Biebesheimer. “Unfortunately, the interior was completely gutted.”

Richards was a merchant who made his fortune in the Pacific, Plummer said. He returned to Norwich after the Civil War and invested in real estate. He built the Main Street building, which housed the Porteous, Hislop & Mitchell Department Store, a well-known store at the time. Downtown Norwich was humming as the commercial center for the surrounding towns. Ships arriving in the harbor and the trolley helped bring more people to Norwich, Plummer said.

The Bulletin Building housed the newspaper and, in the 1880s, the Norwich post office.

“Both buildings have a very rich history,” Plummer said. “It’s great to see the buildings coming back into use. Residential use is really one of the keys to downtown revitalization.”

c.bessette@theday.com