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United Parcel Service and the town of Fairfield are engaged in "serious discussions" with a developer to build an office complex in conjunction with a third railroad station on the company's abandoned Commerce Street property, according to a town official.
"All of this is in the proposal stage, but the project would be primarily office space with some supporting retail," said Diane Melish, Fairfield's director of community and economic development.
Melish declined to identify the developer, but said negotiations are progressing towards a purchase of the 39-acre site.
First Selectman John Metsopoulos is representing the town in the discussions. He did not return a telephone call seeking comment on the development proposal, or the prospect of building the rail station as part of a public-private partnership.
The state "is looking for opportunities to build train stations with large amounts of parking," said Harry Harris, chief of the state Department of Transportation's (DOT) Bureau of Public Transportation.
Political momentum for addressing the region's traffic woes reached critical mass in September with a statewide summit meeting on transportation and its impact on economic development.
The need for more commuter parking at existing railroad stations was...