As Enfield officials mull struggling mall’s future, former MassMutual campus could see new life

Enfield leaders continue to grapple with the uncertain future of the town’s sprawling mall property, just as a promising new vision for the vacant MassMutual campus has shed light on the town’s broader economic development aspirations. The Capitol Region Council of Governments recently launched a traffic study of more than a dozen intersections around the 548,683-square-foot Enfield Square mall along routes 190 and 220. Nelson Tereso, Enfield’s director of economic and community development, said the study is not meant to serve as a master plan for the Elm Street mall. Instead, it’s a needs and options assessment for any future development. Town officials are hoping a second act is on the horizon for the Enfield Square mall, a once-vibrant northern Connecticut retail center now plagued by hundreds of thousands of square feet of vacant space. A 2021 market analysis by New York economic development consulting firm Camoin Associates concluded there is significant potential for mixed-use multifamily residential development at the mall property. The area, which includes numerous buildings subdivided into more than a dozen parcels, could absorb 138 new rental units and 20 to 30 condos annually over five years, according to the study, which even laid out a first-phase, two-year development plan for 276 apartments and 60 condos. One major roadblock to revitalizing the struggling property, a town official said, is that it’s under the private ownership of New York-based Namdar Realty Group, which has a history of buying distressed malls. Namdar and New York-based Mason Asset Management purchased Enfield Square at auction in 2018 for $11.4 million. The mall had lost anchor tenants Sears and Macy’s leading up to the sale. Just over a decade earlier the mall traded hands for $82 million in 2006, town records show. In March 2021, Namdar sold the mall’s anchor Target store property for $8.9 million to a New York City investor. Above is the leasing plan for the Enfield Square mall, which shows significant vacancies across the property. Enfield Town Manager Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said she and other town leaders have been hearing persistent yet unverified rumors of an imminent mall sale, which could lead to a new redevelopment partnership. Namdar, which also owns Connecticut malls in Meriden and Trumbull, didn’t return calls and emails seeking comment. The perimeter around Enfield mall is showing signs of life after a few parcels have landed new tenants, including a Popeye’s Chicken fast-food restaurant and Starbucks. The vacant Outback Steakhouse property at 98 Elm St. is being targeted for a recreational cannabis dispensary, Zoppo-Sassu said. “There are percolating projects that will be really good in the long run, but with the mall in the middle, the centerpiece is dormant,” she said. In the shifting retail market, large commercial centers like malls “have become a very difficult entity to manage,” she said. ‘Weak malls die off’ David Cadden, professor emeritus at Quinnipiac University’s Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, said retail forecasting shows that of the roughly 1,000 remaining U.S. malls, about 20% to 25% might close in the next three to five years. David Cadden “The weak malls die off but the stronger ones are doing fine,” given their location and marketing strategies, he said. The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor, retail outlets in Canton and Westfarms mall in Farmington have been successful because they are more destination-based retail centers, able to draw in large crowds. For others, the changing retail landscape combined with overbuilding that occurred decades ago means that some malls in small states like Connecticut can’t compete, he said. Malls in Enfield, Bristol and Meriden have struggled to stay afloat as owners look to sell or re-imagine new ways to make them profitable. Revamping them into entertainment, restaurants, medical, housing or even industrial use, “to maintain some kind of tax base” are all viable options, Cadden said. ‘Shot of adrenaline’ Enfield residents at the December traffic study meeting agreed that the mall property needs a boost, something to bring people in, and the town needs the tax base. A developer’s vision for the 430,000-square-foot MassMutual office campus has that potential, Zoppo-Sassu said. Andy Borgia from Fast Track Realty and Anthony Ardolino from All Sports Village want to turn the 65-acre MassMutual campus into a large-scale indoor/outdoor sporting venue with fields, hotels, retail and restaurants. Ardolino said a sports facility could bring upwards of 3,000 participants daily in peak summer months, and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact to Enfield. “This is an opportunity to give that property a shot of adrenaline,” Zoppo-Sassu said, but it requires a mutual effort from the town and developer. To make the project viable, the developers said they need to lease about 9 acres of heavily wooded land in the town-owned, 32-acre Brainerd Park. This stipulation has raised concerns from some residents. “We are not selling the land, we’re leasing it. The town will always own the land,” Zoppo-Sassu said. Terms of the drafted lease agreement will go to a public hearing March 6. In exchange for the lease, Borgia has offered to fund park improvements. If he takes ownership of the MassMutual campus, Borgia would also enter into a fixed tax agreement with the town, details of which have not yet been disclosed. If the deal falls through, Zoppo-Sassu said town leaders “don’t want an empty campus there. MassMutual pays a $1.2-million tax bill, and if they don’t sell” to the sports developer, options may include demolition and an industrial building. It’s a delicate balance for the town, developers and public, Zoppo-Sassu said. Part of the equation in revamping properties is town leaders’ ability to sell a new project to the public, and getting residents to accept the changes so that new development can take hold. Enfield will also soon be grappling with the departure of LEGO, which announced in January it’s relocating its U.S. headquarters, and 740 jobs, to Boston by 2026. LEGO’s current and longtime Americas headquarters at 100 Print Shop Road in Enfield is owned by Massachusetts-based Winstanley Enterprises, which has already hinted at plans to eventually convert the space to industrial use. Zombie malls Adam Winstanley, a principal of Winstanley Enterprises, has also been involved in many retail turnaround projects, including the transition of the Norwich town mall into an open-air shopping center. He said many struggling malls, including Enfield Square, would be ideal for mixed-use residential redevelopment, but they are among the most difficult turnaround projects, mainly due to the crippling hold created by anchor store leases. Mall anchor tenants often pay low rent on long-term leases that remain in force even after a store closes, Winstanley said. Lease language often gives mall anchor tenants power to prevent or block any property sales or redevelopment without first looking for an “exorbitant” payout — potentially in the tens of millions — on their lease, Winstanley said. The leases contain “controlling language that forces (owners) to operate a zombie mall. … It’s a cheap option that gives (anchor tenants) a seat at the table and they have power” when it comes time to talk redevelopment, Winstanely said. Zoppo-Sassu said Namdar recently announced a lease renewal at Enfield Square mall with Sears, even though its nearly 108,000-square-foot former department and auto store location has been closed since 2017. Terms of that lease are unknown to town officials, Zoppo-Sassu said. Zoppo-Sassu said such leases should springboard money into the hands of mall owners, to reinvest back into the property. “That’s not happening here,” with Namdar, she said. “We are in constant contact with them and none of it is very positive. They have not been very communicative or collaborative.” After repeated requests and warnings to Namdar to fix a crumbling entrance at the old Macy’s went unanswered, the town fixed the structure in June 2022, and put a $100,000 lien on the property, Zoppo-Sassu said. Meantime, before Borgia made a pitch to Enfield leaders for the MassMutual campus, he was eyeing a spot in Windsor Locks, but also looked at the Enfield mall property, only to be rebuffed by the owners, Zoppo-Sassu said. Some hope Despite the challenges in Enfield, Zoppo-Sassu said she has seen successful mall redevelopments. The city of Bristol around 2005 bought the 17-acre downtown Bristol Centre Mall. Zoppo-Sassu was a Bristol city council member at the time and said the goal of the purchase “was to control (the property’s) destiny since the condition of it and tenancy rate had deteriorated significantly.” The city funded infrastructure, remediation and demolition work, and navigated multiple failed attempts at private redevelopment. Roughly 10 years ago, the parcel was subdivided to better appeal to developers, and Bristol Hospital purchased a corner lot, opening its downtown medical complex in 2018. The area continues to show signs of renewal. Wheeler Health is about to break ground on a new project, Zoppo-Sassu said, and Carrier Development purchased three parcels with plans to break ground on mixed-use apartments in the coming months. The town of Enfield buying its local mall property is an unlikely option, but Zoppo-Sassu is still hopeful about its future. “It’s a stone’s throw from 91, it could be anything, and that’s the beauty of that property,” she said.