Groton ― Commercial space in a mixed-use building at 1028 Poquonnock Road is proposed to be converted into four, one-bedroom apartments under a plan recently approved by the town.

With the proposed addition of the new apartments, the two-floor building will be fully residential and have a total of 21 apartments.

The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the plan last week from S&O Gabriele Properties LLC.

Gabrieles Martial Arts, a family-owned business which once operated one of its locations in the Poquonnock Road space, consolidated a couple of years ago into its location at 169 Boston Post Road in Waterford.

The conversion of the Poquonnock Road space comes at a time when the Town of Groton needs more housing, Jason Gabriele, the property owner, said Thursday. He hopes the four new one-bedroom apartments, which will have a den or office space, will be completed by the end of the year, if everything goes according to plan.

“It was a commercial space, and we saw the need for commercial has been minimal and that we have apartments already in the building so we thought it would just be a nice smooth transition to make the building fully apartments,” Gabriele said.

The property is located in a Mixed-Use Town Center, a new zone created for the downtown area in 2019 to encourage apartments and mixed-use developments, Deborah Jones, the town’s assistant director of planning and development services, said Thursday.

According to the town’s zoning regulations,“ the town wishes to see high levels of investment that will transform this area into a high-density, walkable, mixed-use center.“

“The MTC district may accommodate a mix of uses, including residential, and act as a destination for residents across and outside the Town, ultimately serving as a true Town Center and gathering spot with its own clear identity,” the zoning regulations state. “The district is designed to be pedestrian friendly, but still able to accommodate significant vehicular traffic. Development here should be oriented to existing or planned streets with wide sidewalks, street trees, pedestrian-scale lighting, and street furnishings, as well as transit stops.”

To be in line with the design guidelines of the zone, the apartment conversion will require a larger 10-foot-wide sidewalk and the installation of front doors and a walkway to the front of the building, Jones said.

“We enjoy being in the Town of Groton,” Gabriele said. “We love doing business there. Our conversion of our building at 1028 Poquonnock Road over the years has been very seamless.”

He said the town has been great to work with, but with the new regulations for the Mixed-Use Town Center in place, he believes the town should look into covering for small business owners the expense of some requirements, including sidewalks, from the town’s economic development fund.

Gabriele said he supports the beautification effort for the downtown district, but he feels it also will benefit the town, and if the town is requiring the small business to do that, it should use money in the economic development fund.

“As a small business owner in the community for the past 25 years, I think the town should consider to do the project all at once ― and not place that onto the property owner,” he said.

k.drelich@theday.com