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Enfield Development Projects Remain on Track

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Aaron Marcavitch says Enfield residents tend to take a wait-and-see approach to development, but they’ll soon be seeing some shovels in the ground.
Opinion

Community Spotlight

Aaron Marcavitch says Enfield residents tend to take a wait-and-see approach to development, but they’ll soon be seeing some shovels in the ground.

Aaron Marcavitch says Enfield residents tend to take a wait-and-see approach to development, but they’ll soon be seeing some shovels in the ground.

Development projects — whether for much-needed housing, a transportation hub, or the reimagining of a long-dormant retail center — aren’t done in a day, or a year. That’s certainly true in Enfield, Conn., which is looking forward to all of that and more. The good news is, progress in evident across the board.

“Enfield is kind of ‘we’ll believe it when we see it.’ There’s always a little bit of hesitancy to celebrate something until they see a shovel in the ground,” said Aaron Marcavitch, the city’s Economic & Community Development director.

“These projects are either in their permit process, or they’re moving through different gyrations. But the redevelopment of the mall is still moving ahead, the North River Street project is still moving ahead, and the MassMutual site is still moving ahead,” he added, referring to three projects that all involve new residential units. “They’ve not stopped for any reason — they’re just moving through their process.”

“The redevelopment of the mall is still moving ahead, the North River Street project is still moving ahead, and the MassMutual site is still moving ahead.”

In 2024, most of the Enfield Square property — one of the region’s most notable dead malls — was purchased by Woodsonia Acquisitions, which proposed a $250 million project that will feature retail and restaurant businesses and 465 residential units. Site work on what will be called Enfield Marketplace could begin this spring.

Woodsonia will serve as the project’s master developer and seek other developers for the various components. “There’s a set design to the overall layout, and they’ll come in with each piece — the housing piece, the retail piece, the outparcel pieces — over time. So that will take some time,” Marcavitch explained.

“The overall concept has not changed dramatically,” he added. “They did a market study and found that a hotel really wasn’t going to work. So that’s the biggest dropout from the plan. And then they ran into a few issues with agreements that already existed on the property between other tenants that are staying, so that caused them to move the design around a little bit. But the overall concept of a housing component, a retail component, and an outparcel component still remains the same.”

The former MassMutual site on Bright Meadow Road is being redeveloped for hundreds of residential units along with some commercial space.

The former MassMutual site on Bright Meadow Road is being redeveloped for hundreds of residential units along with some commercial space.

For this issue’s Community Spotlight, we update not just that project, but several others in various phases of progress, most emphasizing a key priority for many towns these days: new housing.

 

Home Sweet Home

The wait-and-see mindset of many in Enfield is why Marcavitch is especially excited about a project on North River Street that will add 140 units of housing, perhaps with more to come.

“They’re expecting to put shovels into the ground in quarter one — soon. So people will say, ‘oh, there is actually something happening in Thompsonville right now. People have shovels in the ground.’”

The project is being developed by HGRE Ventures, a partnership between Avon-based Honeycomb Real Estate Partners and GRAVA Properties of West Hartford. HGRE plans a $100 million, two-phase project that could eventually bring more than 300 units to the riverfront section of Thompsonville, near the much larger Bigelow Commons apartment complex.

Meanwhile, South River Realty, which owns a series of parcels on South River Street, has proposed a 160-unit residential building there, while MB Financial Group is looking to develop a 464-unit housing project, with some commercial space, at the former MassMutual site on Bright Meadow Road.

The housing element is especially intriguing at a time when most cities and towns in the region need more of it. At the same time, Enfield officials are eager to see more progress at the train stop project taking shape in the Thompsonville neighborhood, not far from the North River Street development.

The Enfield train station aims to connect the town to Springfield, Hartford, New Haven, and beyond. The $45 million project includes Main Street bridge work and new track, and ties into broader revitalization efforts for the riverfront and other areas of town. The station is expected to be more than a metro stop, bringing locals to work; it will also be a larger Amtrak hub for more distant destinations, while a planned spur off the Windsor Locks stop will bring people to and from Bradley International Airport.

Late in 2023, the Connecticut Department of Transportation attached dates to the project, including the summer of 2024 for the final design to be completed, the winter of 2025 for the construction bid to be awarded, the spring of 2027 for accompanying rail and bridge work to be completed, and the fall of 2027 for completion of the station and platform. But those dates have shifted — more than once.

“We had some recent meetings with the folks at DOT. And the train station is still on track — those are the only words that ever come to my head when I think of it,” Marcavitch said with a laugh. “They were saying maybe the end of ’28, but now they’re somewhere in ’29 for being finished.

Enfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1683
Population: 42,141
Area: 34.2 square miles
County: Hartford
Residential Tax Rate: $31.50
Commercial Tax Rate: $31.50
Median Household Income: $67,402
Median Family Income: $77,554
Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager
Largest Employers: Empower Retirement LLC, Town of Enfield, Advance Auto Parts Distribution Center, Eppendorf Manufacturing
* Latest information available

“I don’t think we were surprised by that in any way; that’s sort of standard for these types of projects,” he added. “Seeing how long it’s taken to finish the Windsor Locks station, I have a feeling it may even shift another couple of months, but that’s just the way it goes.”

A few components have added to the complexity, including creating a service road from Route 5 to the station, determining a new spot for commuter bus service, and altering an undersized Main Street underpass at the train station, Marcavitch explained.

“But it’s continued to move. They’re done with their design process, and they hope to go out to bid sometime soon for the construction part of this. So in theory, we’re going to see shovels in the ground sometime in 2026.”

He said the combination of more public transit and more housing should create more mobility and economic opportunities for people in town. “People who may be working in Hartford, or working in Springfield, and taking the train to those locations — they’re not going to need a vehicle as much. Maybe they only need one car; maybe one person is working from home, and the other person is taking the train.

“So it’s going to be important for us to not only have that, but then also have our own local bus connections that somebody could pick up at the train station and take to the mall, take to Costco. And we have to work on our bike connections so that people can use their bikes to do that. We want to try to reduce car dependency for folks who live in that area,” he added. “It really is going to be beneficial in that way. Once we start to get some momentum, that’ll be really good.”

 

Setting Down Roots

The town has been making progress on other fronts as well, from an Amazon distribution facility moving ahead on Bacon Road to continued streetscaping in North Thompsonville.

Efforts like the latter, Marcavitch said, “aren’t huge projects, but they’re really going to impact how people perceive Enfield as a place they want to bring their business to. And we’re going to continue to work with commercial retail and food options in town to make sure we’re bringing in stuff that people in the town want.

“We’re very driven, in many ways, by the traffic on 91, where people are coming off the highway, grab food quickly, and jump back on the highway and head off to Vermont or wherever they’re going,” he noted. “We tend to be a very good rest stop in that way, but we also want to make sure we’ve got diverse retail and diverse food options for people in town.”

He said town officials appreciate that travelers and residents of local communities are coming to Enfield to use its services and enjoy its restaurant and shopping offerings. But he wants it to be seen as more than a drive-through community; after all, more than 42,000 people live there.

“If we’re going to have businesses moving in, we need to make sure that they’ve got the services and the experiences they need to stay. We want to keep them here. We’re going have new people moving into the community with these apartments. What kind of activities are there for them? So I think the natural next step is a big conversation about that. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got community amenities.”

Enfield Stays on Track for Growth

By Contributor
Mayor Bob Cressotti
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

By Mark Morris

Mayor Bob Cressotti

Mayor Bob Cressotti says soaring real-estate activity may lead to the tough decision to re-evaluate Enfield homes and businesses.

There is no shortage of activity in development projects for Enfield.

The most significant project involves the town, with the support of state and federal officials, constructing a train-station platform in the Thompsonville section of town. The planned station will be a stop for Amtrak trains coming from Hartford and Springfield. Mayor Bob Cressotti called it a key to Enfield’s future growth.

“If we have rail access to Hartford, New York City, and points north, such as Springfield and Vermont, we can encourage more young people to live in Enfield,” Cressotti said, noting that funding for the station will come from the infrastructure bill recently signed by President Biden. In the final legislation, Connecticut is scheduled to receive $1.2 billion for roads and transit over the next five years.

When built, the station will be located just beyond Bigelow Commons, a 700-unit apartment complex that was once the Bigelow Carpet Mill. Nelson Tereso, the town’s deputy director of Economic & Community Development, said plans by the Connecticut Department of Transportation call for a covered 220-foot platform that would accommodate entrances to four train cars. As a high-level platform, passengers would be able to walk directly into the cars.

“If we have rail access to Hartford, New York City, and points north, such as Springfield and Vermont, we can encourage more young people to live in Enfield.”

Tereso is working on a number of details for the project, among them securing a right-of-way agreement with Bigelow Commons for parking at the station. Northland, the company that owns the Commons, has indicated it supports the train-station project in Enfield.

“They’ve been very good to work with,” he noted. “In fact, many of their apartment complexes around the country are located near transportation hubs.” 

In anticipation of the train station, Tereso said the town has identified several properties within walking distance that would be ideal candidates for redevelopment. With the success of Bigelow Commons, he sees more potential for housing in that area.

On North Main Street, the Strand Theater has been closed for nearly 30 years and is slated for demolition by next summer. Next door sits the Angelo Lamanga Community Center. Tereso said the town has appropriated money for its demolition, too, but he is talking with developers to see if it’s possible to find a new use for the 27,000-square-foot building.

“We want to sell the Lamanga Center to a developer who is forward-thinking and looking ahead at the train station our town will have in a few years,” he explained. “While not as large as Bigelow, these parcels represent an opportunity to build additional market-rate apartments, especially for young professionals who are working in Hartford and Springfield.”

 

On the Home Front

According to Cressotti, demand for housing is certainly up Enfield. Since the pandemic began, nearly 2,200 property transfers have been recorded in Enfield. The rising real-estate market is leading to what he called the tough decision of re-evaluating houses and businesses in town.

“Residential property values have increased by 25% to 30% on average,” he said. “We’re going to adjust the mill rate to prevent a huge spike in the tax bills.”

With such large increases in home prices, getting families to locate to Enfield can be a challenge. Tereso talked about a first-time homebuyer program the town offers to increase purchasing power for eligible buyers. The program provides a deferred loan up to $10,000 at a 0% interest rate for first-time buyers who purchase a home in Enfield. For those who choose a home in the Thompsonville or North Thompsonville section of town, the loan is forgivable.

“This program provides the gap funding that many folks need in order to afford a mortgage,” he said, noting that starter homes in Enfield typically cost between $150,000 and $250,000. “It has especially helped younger families to buy their first home.”

With families in mind, the town is currently transforming Higgins Park from a softball field into a multi-faceted park. Plans call for expanding Higgins, as the town plans to purchase the gymnasium building that belonged to the former St. Adalbert parish that abuts the park. Cressotti said the final layout will feature walking trails, a new basketball court, a swimming pool, a splash pad, and a band shell for outdoor concerts.

“We are making five- and 10-year plans instead of just reacting to what’s happening now. Sure, there are challenges ahead of us, but we’ll take each one as they come and always try to do what’s right for the town of Enfield.”

“When it’s complete, the park will have appeal to all ages, and we will be able to hold sponsored events there on a consistent basis,” he noted.

When the pandemic hit in early 2020, officials tried to figure out how to keep town business operating. It so happened that a Santander Bank branch two doors down from Town Hall had recently closed and was on the market. The idea was floated to lease the former bank and use its drive-up window as a convenient and contact-free way to conduct town business during the pandemic.

“The drive-up window worked great for residents looking to apply for building permits, pick up a dog license, or pay their taxes,” Tereso said.

The town moved the entire Tax Department into the former bank and renamed it Enfield Express. The site also had enough room to locate a police substation in the rear of the building. Tereso said the town just finalized the purchase of the building, making it official that Enfield Express is here to stay.

“People love it,” he added. “We will absolutely continue the drive-up service after the pandemic is over.”

Purchasing the former bank branch also expands the amount of municipal parking and provides another entry point for the newly configured Higgins Park.

“When the Tax Department moved out of Town Hall, we turned their old space into a new conference room,” Tereso said, noting yet another benefit of creating Enfield Express.

Finding new uses for existing structures is all part of the plan in Enfield. For example, the Social Services Department recently moved from 110 High St. to the former Alcorn School, where the town’s IT Department is located, while 110 High St. is one of seven town properties Enfield has sold while it strives to efficiently use municipal space.

Enfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1683
Population: 44,626
Area: 34.2 square miles
County: Hartford
Residential Tax Rate: $34.23
Commercial Tax Rate: $34.23
Median Household Income: $67,402
Median Family Income: $77,554
Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager
Largest Employers: Lego Systems Inc., MassMutual, Retail Brand Alliance, Enfield Distribution Center
* Latest information available

As Tereso explained, “110 High Street was once a day-care center. We sold it to a day-care provider who will now be able to expand their presence in Enfield.”

Enfield Square, purchased by Namdar Realty in 2018, could be another candidate for redevelopment. The new owners were granted a zone change to reconfigure the mall and subdivide the parcels.

While malls all over the country are being redeveloped, Tereso believes Enfield Square’s close proximity to two I-91 exits is a big selling point for future use. He plans to survey residents on possible redevelopment options to get a read on what people would like to see at the mall.

“Whether it’s entertainment, market-rate housing, or outlet shops, all those things could be a successful way to develop the mall for new use,” he said.

 

Life in the Fast Lane

For Cressotti, life these past months has been moving fast.

In October, he won the election to be Enfield’s new mayor. On Nov. 6, he took over the position, and on Nov. 15, longtime Town Manager Christopher Bromson abruptly resigned after a heated exchange with several Town Council members.

After serving in different positions with the town since 1989, Bromson decided to retire and was recently quoted saying he is grateful to see many of the projects started during his time are now going forward. Enfield Police Chief Alaric Fox has added interim Town Manager to his job title until a new manager is hired.

Even with all that happening, Cressotti likes the direction Enfield is headed.

“We are making five- and 10-year plans instead of just reacting to what’s happening now,” he said. “Sure, there are challenges ahead of us, but we’ll take each one as they come and always try to do what’s right for the town of Enfield.”