Plans for a 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market on the Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook suffered a setback last week as the Rhode Island-based commercial real estate firm that is developing the store has withdrawn its application, according to information posted on the community's Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission website.

The application was pulled at the request of the Carpionato Group, according to officials with the town's Zoning Commission. First Selectman Carl Fortunato said Friday he has been told by representatives of the Carpionato Group that the company will submit a new application, although he is uncertain when that might be.

"The original application, as submitted, was going to be very difficult to get approved because of setback issues and some other things," Fortuna said. "There is a lot of support in our community for what they want to do. This is basically a blighted property on the west side of town and we look forward to working with them when they bring a new plan forward."

The space Whole Foods would be moving into at 1654 Boston Post Road is a former location of the Benny's discount retail chain, which closed in 1997.

Carpionato Group officials were not immediately available to comment about their application being withdrawn. In an interview with CT Insider that was conducted before the application was withdrawn, Carpionato's Vice President of Retail Leasing & Acquisitions, Joe Pierik, acknowledged that Old Saybrook zoning officials had exacting standards for the property.

"Once a decision is rendered, I'm hopeful we will begin construction by the end of the year," Pierik said. "Once construction begins, the expectation is that the store will take about a year to build."

Carpinato Group already has a track record of working with Whole Foods in Connecticut, having brought a store to the Avon Village Center that opened in September 2021. The company announced plans for the Old Saybrook location in August 2022.

If the Old Saybrook store is built, it would be Whole Foods' first location on Connecticut's shoreline east of Milford. In addition to Milford, the nearest locations to Old Saybrook are in Glastonbury or West Hartford.

Elsewhere in Connecticut, Whole Foods already has new stores under construction in Stamford and South Windsor.

The Stamford location is at 110 High Ridge Road in the city in part of the space where Lord & Taylor had been for more than 50 years before it went out of business in Ferbruary 2021. No opening date has been announced for the Stamford location.

The other location is in South Windsor at The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk. That store is scheduled to open during the first quarter of 2024, according to officials with Greenwich-based Charter Realty & Development, which manages Evergreen Walk.

Whole Foods currently has 11 stores in Connecticut as well as a distribution warehouse in Cheshire.