The Danbury Zoning Commission has approved changes to regulations that would allow for the Career Academy to be built.  Plans for the $99-million middle and high school call for renovating part of the old Matrix Center on the City's west side. 

The Summit developers were also given more flexibility to lease out the 1.2 million-square foot building.  The zoning change allows a secondary school in the Planned Neighborhood Development zone. 

The City's Plan of Conservation and Development gives developers incentives to retrofit buildings to include a City-owned and operated public school.  Developers would only have to build a minimum of 175 housing units, rather than the normally required 250-unit minimum in that zone.  The Summit planned to build 400 apartments, but three of the six residential “pods” will be used for the school.  The commission amended the Summit’s master plan to give developers more than 950,000 square feet of non-residential space, an increase of about 7,900 square feet.