Page 9 - BusinessWest January 20, 2025

“It’s been said for 50 years now that Thompsonville
is going to be revitalized,
but I feel like some positive movement is happening. We’re actually putting those plans into action.”
hearing about, as well as some of the 55-plus and elderly types of housing.
“We’re a predominantly single-family type of community, but we’ve got some really interesting projects,” he went on. “I mean, the 140 apartments on the river are being built essentially as one-bedroom majority because they’re looking for the commuting professional with no kids. That’s their target audience. With demo- graphics changing, we kind of have to stay on our toes for what the community is looking for.”
Train Not in Vain
The entire rail-centric project in Thompsonville has cer- tainly made waves — with real ripple effects when it comes to development.
Late in 2023, the Connecticut Department of Transportation attached hard dates to the $45 million project to build the train sta- tion. Those dates included 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.
That plan is largely on track (no pun intended), though there’s plenty of bid and permit work to be completed this year, Marcavitch said, and shovels may be in the ground by September.
Enfield’s station is expected to be more than a metro stop, bringing people to Hartford to work; it will also be a larger hub for Amtrak for more distant destinations, while a planned spur off the Windsor Locks stop will bring people to and from Bradley Inter- national Airport. The project has also, as noted earlier, gained the attention of the development community.
The 140-unit project on North River Street 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 would eventual- ly bring more than 300 units to the riverfront section of Thompson- ville, near the much larger Bigelow Commons apartment complex.
The HGRE property sits on the former Bigelow Carpet manu-
Aaron Marcavitch says Enfield would benefit from a balance of different types of new housing.
Staff Photo
facturing plant, and the developers recently secured $4 million from the state brownfields program to remediate the property, Mar- cavitch said. “That actually used to be the power plant for Bigelow. At one point, they were burning garbage in there. There was oil being used, coal being used,
so there’s a lot of stuff on
the grounds that needs to be
cleaned up.”
Enfield
>>
Continued on page 11
Great Deals! Huge Selection!
BusinessWest
<< COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
JANUARY 20, 2025 9