Waterford approves Electric Boat plan for Crystal Mall
Jack Lakowsky
Waterford — The Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday
unanimously approved General Dynamics Electric Boat’s plans for its remake of
the Crystal Mall property, which the company purchased last year.
Devin Xenelis, director of facilities and real estate at
Electric Boat, said Tuesday night the company purchased the mall property after
an “immense amount of pressure from our customer,” the U.S. Navy.
Xenelis alluded to the global events that are putting
pressure on the Navy, making the military branch a more demanding customer.
“The volumes requested don’t fit in our current shipyard,”
Xenelis told the Planning and Zoning Commission as it held a public hearing on
a special permit requested by Electric Boat to transform the aging mall into
more space for the submarine manufacturer.
Xenelis said moving certain workers to Waterford would free
up space in the Groton shipyard, which Xenelis said can’t expand because it has
the Thames River on one side and neighborhoods on the other.
The Groton shipyard could then focus more on building
submarines, its “core function,” Xenelis said.
Xenelis said Electric Boat explored other sites before
deciding the mall was best for its needs.
Planning Director Mark Wujtewicz in his report on the
project said EB is looking to convert the building from a shopping center to a
"business/professional office with a private educational use" and
"ancillary uses" like medical, food and financial services. Project
plans also include removing about an acre of parking lot pavement.
The Planning and Zoning Commission approved construction of
the mall in 1979. It was once a busy regional hub where both locals and
travelers could shop, eat and meet friends. Shoppers would sometimes have to
search row after row for a parking space, and traffic was known to back up to
Route 85 on busy days.
Like many malls, it struggled to adapt as consumers' habits
changed to online shopping.
Work on the mall’s makeover will begin by the middle of this
year, with the mall’s few remaining stores and restaurants, including Olive
Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, free to continue operating in the meantime.
Their fates will be determined on a case-by-case basis as leases expire.
There are no plans to tear anything down. Electric Boat
announced the acquisition in October 2025.
When the transformation is complete, EB will occupy 542,000
square feet of space on 42 acres of land along Route 85. The site is about 5.5
miles from the company’s Groton shipyard.
Wujtewicz wrote that, in addition to the professional and
business offices proposed, EB will use the building to house 50 classrooms for
training and workforce development. He said the company expects to employ up to
5,000 people on the 83-acre property, about 55 acres of which are developed.
Wujtewicz said the company plans to make changes to the
Route 85 on- and off- ramps from I-95 to handle the increased traffic, though
these still need state approval.
EB, which employs more than 24,000 workers in Groton, New
London and North Kingstown, R.I., plans to move 4,000 to 5,000 current
employees from Groton and new hires into the mall, starting in 2027.
Electric Boat officials and business partners also discussed
traffic data and storm water management with the commission.
CIF board approves $62.9M for 38 community development projects statewide
Nearly $63 million in state funding has been approved for 38
community development projects across Connecticut, supporting initiatives
ranging from affordable housing and workforce training to park upgrades and
health care facilities.
The funding was approved Tuesday by the board that oversees
the state’s Community Investment Fund 2030 program.
Approved by state lawmakers in 2021, the Community
Investment Fund 2030 Board has a mandate to distribute up to $875 million in
grants over a five-year period for community-building and economic development
efforts in distressed municipalities.
Tuesday’s vote marked the program’s eighth round of funding.
Among the largest grants approved was $7 million for Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County to build a new Head Start facility in Stamford that will consolidate programs and expand early childhood education services.
Two projects will receive $6 million each: demolition
of the St. John Towers property in Stamford to prepare the site for affordable
housing redevelopment, and the conversion
of the 111 Founders Plaza office tower in East Hartford into residential
apartments, which is part of the broader Port Eastside redevelopment.
Higher education projects also received significant funding.
The University
of New Haven was awarded $5 million to renovate a former Railroad Salvage
property in West Haven into a Center for Innovation and Applied Technology focused
on workforce training and industry partnerships. The University of Bridgeport will receive $3.2 million to
renovate Cortright Hall.
Several awards target housing and neighborhood
redevelopment. Sound Communities in Norwalk will receive $3 million to develop
transit-oriented senior housing near the South Norwalk train station, while the
town of Vernon will receive $2.5 million to remediate the former Daniel’s Mill
site and prepare it for housing and commercial development.
Health care and community service providers were also among the recipients. Optimus Health Care in Bridgeport was awarded $2.4 million to renovate medical and dental facilities, and the city of Meriden will receive $2 million to upgrade space for its One Stop Health and Human Services building.
Other grants support smaller capital projects and planning
initiatives across the state.
Demand for the funding remains high. Officials said the
latest round drew 118 eligible applications seeking about $438 million, far
exceeding the amount available for grants.
Grants approved by the CIF board still require final
approval from the state Bond Commission.