CT Construction Digest Friday April 19, 2024
Cheshire Crossing condo residents want future home of Whole Foods, TJ Maxx renamed
Christian Metzger
CHESHIRE — What's in a name? A lot of potential headaches, according to residents of Cheshire Crossing condominiums.Skip Ad
Driving directions, package deliveries and emergency calls could get confusing if a shopping center under construction in the town's north end — future home of Whole Foods, TJ Maxx and other destinations — uses the same Cheshire Crossing moniker.
That warning came in a cease-and-desist letter this week from the homeowners' association that represents Cheshire Crossing condominiums, a 92-unit, age-restricted development built in 2005 along the Cheshire, Wallingford town line.
Police, fire and other emergency services "have been aware of the name and location of our community since that time," the letter states, putting Florida-based Regency Centers on notice as it builds the retail component of the larger mixed-use Stone Bridge Crossing, which will include townhouses, apartments, a hotel and a gas station convenience store.
"By using Cheshire Crossing you have introduced the possibility of confusion to such public services during emergencies," the letter states. "In addition, other private services such as delivery services may be misdirected if the Cheshire Crossing name is used in reference to another location within Cheshire or Wallingford.”
The letter is signed jointly by co-presidents of the homeowners' association, David Fowler and John Penwell. They could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The Regency Centers development is located at the intersection of Route 10 and Interstate 691, about seven miles north of Cheshire Crossing condos. It is planned as an expansive 152,000-square-foot complex with smaller retail offerings like Chipotle, BIRDCODE Hot Chicken, and Choice Pet in addition to Whole Foods and TJ Maxx.
The letter concludes with the association telling Regency to refrain from using the Cheshire Crossing name for any portion of the Stone Bridge Crossing development. Representatives of Regency Centers could not be reached for comment.
The letter was also sent to both Cheshire and Wallingford emergency services, the Wallingford Economic Development Department and the local media.
The 27-space retail center is expected to be completed sometime in late 2025, just ahead of the holiday season, Regency Centers has said previously.
Greenwich Avenue could get more night work this summer, this time from Eversource
GREENWICH — Eversource said it is hoping to improve the capacity at three of its junctures under Greenwich Avenue this summer, which will mean some night time road closures.
Company representatives told the Board of Selectmen that they’d like permission for three intermittent nighttime lane closures between May and August to complete the work. A specific timeline for the closures has not been established.
“We would mobilize to one place, to one location, install one structure, one vault,” Andrew Vento of Penna Construction said on April 11. “There may be a gap in between when we go to the next location. … For the three locations that we've submitted for, it would be a week or two per each location.”
Vento said the earliest they would start would be late May or early June and crews may be able to finish in August, though he reiterated that they would not require continuous nightly closures during this period.
Eversource and Penna specifically plan to work on underground vaults at 86 Greenwich Ave. and at Greenwich Avenue's intersections with Lewis Street and Arch Street, according to the proposal.
The vaults are large concrete cubes nestled underground to house various utility connections. Eversource said the work is needed to expand the capacity of the facilities and allow them to handle greater loads in the future.
The project coincides with other work that Aquarion Water Company has been doing to replace water mains under Greenwich Avenue, but the Eversource work is separate.
Aquarion has had to use a nearby storage yard for its equipment, which has bothered some neighbors, but Vento said Penna Construction and Eversource believe they will be able to bring all the equipment they need to the site and will not need to set up any storage yards.
The selectmen heard the request on April 11 but did not take any action. The board proposed that Eversource come back to them and check in every month during the project so there are opportunities to discuss any issues or resident complaints.
The board will take the permit requests up again at its next meeting on April 25, once the public has had a chance to comment on the planned work.
A Massachusetts food manufacturer is planning to expand to South Windsor, with a proposed $71 million upgrade to the sprawling Carla’s Pasta facility, which is slated to close “imminently,” a town official said.
Home Market Foods, based in Norwood, Massachusetts, produces frozen meatballs and other foods, including hot dogs sold at convenience stores and movie theaters.
The company is planning a 28,000-square-foot addition to Carla's Pasta's 148,083-square-foot food production plant at 50 Talbot Lane.
The parent company of Carla’s Pasta, which was acquired through a bankruptcy auction in 2021, put the company’s sprawling South Windsor-based food production plant up for sale at the end of last year.
The Town Council on Monday approved a seven-year tax abatement on the value of the new portion of the building, contingent upon Home Market Foods’ completion of the project, the creation of 210 jobs and payment of all other real estate taxes on the property.
Negotiations between town officials and the company, under the codename “Project Fin,” occurred during an executive session of the Economic Development Commission on March 27.
Although the name of the company became public during Monday’s Town Council meeting, Councilor Michael Buganski, the council’s liaison to the Economic Development Commission, said it was important for the negotiations to occur in private.
“Many times, questions regarding sensitive financial decisions need to be held in a small group outside of the public realm until a general consensus is met,” Buganski said. “There could be a million reasons why that is. Typically the business asking for a concession is not interested in sharing their financial position with the public until a commitment is made. In this case, I believe the business in question also wants to maintain a certain level of anonymity in order to protect their market position.”
Under the deal, Home Market Foods would purchase the property from its current owner, Wisconsin-based Tribe 9 Foods, which is the parent company of Carla's Pasta.
Carla's Pasta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2021, citing tens of millions of dollars in debt and the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its sales.
Buganski said the new company is expected to offer jobs to all current employees, in addition to creating new positions.
“These are well-paying jobs that are good for the community, especially since some of the affected folks likely live here,” he said.
The abatement would total approximately $70,000 a year for the first three years, and then would decrease, Buganski said.
A tax abatement on the existing building is set to expire in 2025.
The property is appraised at $15.96 million
Tribe 9 Foods bought Carla’s Pasta through a bankruptcy auction in 2021 for $26.3 million.
Officials from Home Market Foods said they expect the project to be finished by the end of 2027.
Megan Overdorff, director of talent acquisition for Home Market Foods, said the family-owned company will become involved in the community. She said the 60-year-old business takes care of its employees, offering perks including an employer-matching savings plan and no-interest loans to employees facing financial challenges.