A long-dormant Cheshire commercial property, located near the intersection of two major Connecticut highways, is springing to life with residential construction that is likely to lure a national grocery chain to the site, according to New York City-based retail consultant.
Officials with Eastpointe, a Fairfield developer, have presented Cheshire’s Planning and Zoning Commission with plans for a 300-unit apartment complex that would be built within Stone Bridge Crossing. The 107-acre mixed use development, is located near the intersection of Interstates 691 and 84 as well a main entrance off of Route 10,
If approved by the town’s PZC, it would join a town home project that a Southbury-based developer began construction on earlier this year near Cheshire’s border with Southington.
A Massachusetts-based developer, W/S Development first proposed the idea of a large lifestyle center on the property in 2008. W/S would then shift its plans to an outlet center before scrapping them entirely in July 2015,
The two residential developments that are part of Stone Bridge Crossing are expected to drive interest in the development’s retail component. And at the centerpiece of that development is a planned grocery store tenant that a well-known New York retail consultant said is likely to be either a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Foods Supermarket.
Town officials are declining comment on who that tenant might be. Dan Zelson, a principal at Westport-based Charter Development, said he could not comment on specific tenants.
“But we are making very good progress with a number of fantastic national and local tenants,” Zelson said.
Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, said it is likely either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.
“Connecticut is still significantly under-stored when it comes to supermarkets,” Flickinger said.”To me, this is a race between Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s to see who gets to prime retail spaces first. That location is prime because of its easy access to highways.”
Trader Joe’s “is looking to fill holes it has in New Haven County as well along much of the Interstate 95 corridor from New Haven to Boston,” he said.
“They have stores in Danbury and in West Hartford,” Flickinger said. “Having a store in Cheshire would split the distance between those two stores along I-84. And it’s well beyond the five-mile radius that Trader’s Joe’s has in terms of providing their stores with at least a five-mile unique trading area.”
Officials with Texas-based Whole Foods, which is owned by technology giant Amazon, were not immediately available for comment.
The California-based grocery chain has eight stores in Connecticut, but Orange is its only New Haven County location.
“Trader Joe’s is fully saturated in Fairfield County, but has room to expand in both New Haven and Hartford counties as well as southeastern Connecticut,” Flickinger said. Currently, the chain’s only Hartford County stores are in Manchester and Corbin’s Corner in West Hartford.
Nakia Rohde, a spokeswoman for Trader Joe’s said the chain “considers many locations. “
“All of the locations that are opening soon are listed on our website,” Rohde said. “Unfortunately, Cheshire is not on the list at this time.”
Cheshire has an ordinance that limits retail development to 50,000 square feet or less. Charter Development’s online leasing information has the two largest retail space in Stone Bridge Crossing one that is 23,000 square feet and another at 22,000 square feet.
The 22,000 square foot space is listed on the Stone Bridge Crossing web site as having a lease out, while larger space was listed as still available. Charter Development officials were not immediately available Thursday to respond to questions regarding the retail portion of the project.
Flickinger said the smaller space is more in line with a Trader Joe’s location than a Whole Foods.
He said Whole Food’s scrapped its experimental 365 locations, which were supposed to deliver the chain’s high-end groceries at a cheaper cost. But Flickinger said the company is still experimenting with locations as well as fully automated stores.
“Whole Foods seems to have its new format figured out this time.,” he said. The 365 store concept launched in the the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles in 2016, but Whole Foods scrapped the entire concept in 2019.
“Whole Foods has stores already in existence that are as small as 25,000 square feet, so I’m sure they can handle something a little smaller,” Flickinger said.
Whole Foods is currently working with Charter Development on building a new store in South Windsor’s Evergreen Crossing lifestyle center and Flickinger said, adding “Whole Foods likes to stick with the same developer, when they find one they like.”
“They like to stick with a winner and Charter definitely fits that category,” Flickinger said.
Plans also call for a hotel and a gas station/convenience store to be built as part of Stone Bridge Crossing. Charter’s website lists the hotel as “under contract and the gas station/convenience store as already leased
Mike Glidden, Cheshire’s town planner, said Eastpointe’s apartment complex plans will be formally read into the record Monday night with a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 24.
Construction of the town homes, which is named The Reserve at Stone Bridge, got underway earlier this year. The developer of the project is Southbury-based EGHome and models are expected to be available for prospective buyers to tour early next year, though sales are getting underway this fall.
Information on The Reserve at Stone Bridge website has town homes with tandem two-car garages priced from the high $400,000 range. Carriage homes, with a primary suite on the main floor, start in the high $500,000 range.
When asked about which grocery store chain is going into Stone Bridge Crossing, Glidden said “we’ve heard a lot of things, but we can’t really comment.”
“My guess is you will see the gas station/convenience store built first,” he said. “Once they have a bunch of anchors in place and are ready to build, it could really pop out of the ground at a quick rate. But every one is waiting to see that first residential roof right now.”
luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
