A developer is proposing to demolish a vacant church and build housing on the property, while a second company is considering senior housing for an undeveloped parcel about a mile and a half away.
Taken together, the plans could add nearly 40 homes in the town of Plainville.
Robert Rossetti and James Manafort’s business bought the former Grace Lutheran Church this summer, and is pursuing plans to demolish it to make way for 19 homes in clusters of three and four.
In the center of town, Carrier Construction is considering whether to clear a vacant lot on West Main Street and put up a 20-unit apartment building. The company gave the town an informal presentation on its concept, but hasn’t yet filed a formal zoning application.
Both sets of developers have noted that Plainville’s long-term development plan calls for more housing.
The plan puts an emphasis on helping seniors who want to continue living in town but not with the burden and expense of a single-family home. The Rossetti and Manafort project is described as “active adult housing,” which carries a 55-and-over age restriction.
Through their 222 Farm Ave. LLC business, Rossetti and Manafort paid $600,000 for the empty church at 222 Farmington Ave. in July. Avon-based Rossetti Development now has a lawn sign in front of the boarded-up building.
Grace Lutheran operated in the church for at least 16 years before closing in 2024, when its congregation joined the Faith Lutheran Church in Bristol.
Faith Lutheran was the result of a three-way merger of Grace Lutheran with Bristol’s Zion Lutheran and St. Andrew Lutheran churches. It held its first Mass last October, and the former Grace Lutheran building hasn’t been used since.
Plans filed with town officials indicate 19 homes tightly clustered in groups on the roughly 2.2-acre property. The developers are also proposing to set aside two sections of the tract as open space.
Rossetti Development specializes in high-end homes, and its website illustrates more than a dozen luxury one-family houses. The company’s maps for the Plainville project don’t specify details about the homes there, but the developers are expected to provide extensive information at the Planning and Zoning Commission’s hearing on Oct. 28.
Carrier is interested in building 14 one-bedroom apartments and six two-bedroom units in a three-story structure it would construct at 105 and 111 W. Main St. The overgrown land is about a third of a mile west of the Main Street Diner in the heart of the town center.
Johnny Carrier, a company representative, said he would maintain an office in the building as well, and might offer a ground-floor medical office.
Carrier’s presentation emphasized that the site would be in a convenient walking distance of the businesses in the town center, and fits with the town development plan to add housing in that area.
It is unclear when the company intends to file a formal zoning application.