Early plans for former MassMutual site in Enfield calls for several public, private amenities
ENFIELD —
After a failed attempt to convert the former MassMutual
site into a sprawling sports
complex fell through, new developers are detailing their early plans
for the property, including a variety of new housing, and indoor and
outdoor dining for both residents who would live there and the rest of the
public.
Developers floated their initial proposal to the Planning
and Zoning Commission on July 24.
The vision is to convert the property into a residential
community that maintains and adds to the attributes that exist on the campus,
said Eric Zuena, founding principle of ZDS Architecture and Interiors out of
Washington, D.C., and Providence.
Plans call for converting the office buildings into one- and
two-bedroom apartments, as well as between 150 and 160 townhouses to maximize
the "vast amenity package that this campus will have," he said.
There are currently several structures on the property,
including the office buildings with about 400,000 square feet designed for
2,200 MassMutual workers.
While they are not necessarily ideal for conversion into
residential units, parts can be used to build various frills, such as a pet
wash and gyms, Zuena said.
For one building, an early proposal calls for the creation
of an internal courtyard with an outdoor patio that would be used as a communal
space for both tenants and the public, he said.
Townhouses would also have their own designated clubhouse
with an outdoor pool, and apartment renters would have their own amenities as
well, Zuena said.
The conversion of the office buildings into apartments would
coincide with the construction of the townhouses, and later phases would
include building a five-story apartment building on the property.
Some members of the commission were concerned about the
height of the new building, but developers said it would likely be as high as
the existing buildings due to lower elevation and construction differences
between office and apartment buildings.
Specifics will come before the commission in the future.
A massive 20,000-square-foot food court that was intended
for MassMutual employees would remain, albeit cut to about 12,000 square feet.
Zuena anticipates food and beverages being served in the
space, which would be available to both residents and the public.
He also floated some ideas for tenants, such as a sundry
shop, hair salon, or small dry-cleaning service.
The goal is to create as many on-site amenities as possible
while ensuring the project is still viable, Zuena said.
Many amenities designed for employees can be maintained,
including landscaping, "parking for days" in the parking garage, and
the day care, Zuena said.
While the parking garage is a bit of a walk from the office
buildings, one idea Zuena floated is valet service for residents.
The day care facility is "an amenity that is going to
be a differentiator for the people that are going to inhabit this
property," he said. "We think the current campus has all the bones to
do something special and smart with what is already there."
Carl Landolina, who spoke on behalf of the developers,
said while it is typical for a purchaser of a property this size to come before
the commission before buying it, the new owners are confident they can see
their vision come to fruition.
He noted developers are proposing to carve out sections of
the property into four separate lots to make zoning changes and financing
easier to obtain.
"We're not going to get one lender to go all in,"
Landolina said.
Developers are expecting to have to go before the Inland
Wetlands and Watercourses Agency before developing a master plan, and then a
site plan for the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Last week's presentation was "the first step in many
steps," Matt Baldino, assistant project manager for Solli Engineering,
said.
Sections of WWII-era plant in New Britain to be restored, repurposed with help of $2M state grant
Deteriorating sections of a sprawling, World War II-era
factory complex in New Britain will undergo a major renovation, thanks in part
to a $2 million state brownfield grant aimed at advancing industrial
redevelopment.
The grant, awarded to the City of New Britain, will support
an $8.5 million cleanup and renovation of roughly 123,000 square feet of
long-vacant factory space in a five-building, 551,218-square-foot industrial
complex that straddles the New Britain-Berlin town line.
The complex sits on 57.2 acres and is owned by Los
Angeles-based Industrial Realty Group (IRG), which acquired the property in
1997.
IRG has gradually restored portions of the facility over the
past two decades, securing tenants piece by piece. Today, 12 companies operate
within the site, employing more than 100 people, IRG staff said.
This $2 million grant helps make the next phase of cleanup
financially feasible, Stuart Lichter, IRG founder and president, said Tuesday
during a news conference held amid rusting beams and dry-rotted wood inside one
of the buildings slated for renovation.
“We’re highly confident well get a manufacturer with a
decent number of jobs and that is going to be a huge, huge asset for the
community,” Lichter said.
The grant is part of a larger $18.8 million package of
brownfield remediation funds announced in June by Gov. Ned Lamont. The funding
supports pollution cleanup projects across 19 municipalities and is intended to
pave the way for new housing and commercial development.
Deputy Commissioner Matthew Pugliese of the state Department
of Economic and Community Development (DECD) noted the broader impact of the
state’s brownfield efforts, which have totaled $170 million in grants since the
program began, resulting in the remediation of more than 2,200 acres of
polluted land.
IRG’s New Britain project will prepare three spaces within
two buildings for future tenants. The company’s national portfolio spans more
than 100 million square feet of industrial space in 32 states. In Connecticut,
it controls eight properties.
The South Street complex had once hosted the New Britain
Machine Co., a manufacturing outfit that emerged from the merger of a
manufacturer of railroad engines and a company that made woodworking machines,
according to Connecticutmills.org.
The company expanded with a second plant on the southern
outskirts of New Britain during World War I, making fuses, machine gun tripods
and other wartime goods. More buildings were added during World War II as the
company began making aircraft parts and employment jumped from 950 to a peak of
4,100, according to Connecticutmills.org.
After the war, the company returned to making hand tools,
mechanics tools, office furniture and precision machine tools. The New Britain
Machine Co. later merged with a California-based conglomerate and then closed
the New Britain plant in 1990, according to Connecticutmills.org.