Wake Robin Inn sold after nearly two years of land-use battles

LAKEVILLE — The Wake Robin Inn, the historic country property at the center of a contentious land-use battle for nearly two years, has been sold for $3.5 million.

The 11.52-acre hilltop property was purchased by Aradev LLC, a hospitality investment firm planning a major redevelopment of the 15,800-square-foot inn. The sale was announced Friday by Houlihan Lawrence Commercial, which represented the seller, Wake Robin LLC.

Tom Cervone of CR Properties Group brokered the deal for Aradev.

Representatives of CR Properties and Aradev could not be reached for comment. Terms of the transaction, including whether the closing was contingent on the previously granted special permit or pending litigation, were not disclosed.

Long known as a wedding and retreat destination, the inn is slated to be transformed into what Aradev has described as a boutique hospitality campus serving Salisbury and the surrounding region.

Under the redevelopment plan approved by the Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission in October 2025, the number of guest rooms would increase from 38 to 54. The project also includes a 2,000-square-foot detached cabin, expanded event space, a sit-down restaurant and fast-casual counter, as well as a spa, library, lounge, gym and seasonal pool.

The commission voted 4–1 to grant a special permit after seven public hearing sessions, adopting a nine-page resolution with 40 conditions. The proposal had been scaled back from an earlier version, eliminating a detached event barn.

Despite the approval, neighborhood opposition has remained strong. Wells Hill Road residents Angela and William Cruger filed two lawsuits challenging both an underlying zoning change and the redevelopment approval.

In late January, a Connecticut Superior Court judge in Torrington dismissed the couple’s lawsuit alleging that a 2024 zoning amendment allowing hotel development in the Rural Residential 1 zone where the inn is located was illegal “spot zoning” designed specifically to benefit the Wake Robin project. The court found the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that public notice of the regulation was procedurally deficient.

When adopted, the amendment drew scrutiny from opponents who argued it had been crafted to advance the Wake Robin redevelopment. Town officials and land-use staff maintained the change was part of a broader effort to address longstanding nonconformities affecting historic inns across Salisbury.

A second lawsuit — an appeal of the commission’s approval of the redevelopment plan — remains pending.