A Minnesota-based developer has filed a formal zoning application with Farmington seeking to build a 237-unit residential community along the Farmington River.
National Land Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Crown Equities LLC, is asking the Town Plan and Zoning Commission to accept the application at its meeting on April 27, and schedule a public hearing, tentatively set for July 13.
The proposal would rezone several parcels on Bridgewater Road and Farmington Avenue from business restricted, senior/active adult, residential and earth excavation designations to the Mid-Point Development District, which allows mixed-use residences.
The project, called the Enclave at the Farmington River, would be built on roughly 80 acres on three parcels that would be combined. The largest is 1179 Farmington Ave., a 48.5-acre former sand-and-gravel quarry now used for equipment storage and material processing by Plainville-based Mizzy Construction.
The other parcels — at 2 and 3 Bridgewater Road — are owned by Waterside Ten LLC, a company controlled by PKT Development President Peter Fishman.
The development would consist of 79 owner-occupied single-family homes situated along the riverfront, 158 townhomes available for rent or purchase, and a clubhouse and other amenities including riverside gazebos, kayak and canoe storage, walking trails extending to the Farmington River Canal Trail, and picnic areas.
Interior roads would link Bridgewater Road with Central Way and Melrose Drive — a connection Farmington has long sought to improve traffic circulation near Route 4. All construction would be set back at least 100 feet from the river, and a substantial portion of the site would be conveyed to the town or placed under a conservation easement.
Attorney Robert Reeve of Unionville-based Scully, Nicksa & Reeve, filed the application on April 15 on the developer’s behalf.
In the application, he says the project addresses strong demand in Farmington for multifamily housing, driven by demographic shifts away from large single-family homes.
A fiscal impact study prepared by Goman+York Property Advisors says that the development would generate roughly $2.33 million in annual real property tax revenue for the town along with smaller amounts from motor vehicle taxes and sewer fees, for a combined annual revenue of about $2.54 million.
Annual expenditures, covering education costs and general government services, are estimated at $895,459, leaving a net annual fiscal benefit to the town of about $1.65 million, according to the study. The developers would also pay an estimated $1.1 million in one-time permitting and development fees.
The study argues that concerns about school enrollment impacts from new housing are overstated given demographic trends. It projects the development would house about 100 school-age children, of whom 50 would be new to the Farmington district — with about 18 new school enrollments at Noah Wallace Elementary.
Farmington currently has 4,194 school district enrollments across 10,963 occupied households, the study notes.
Crown Equities, which has completed projects in Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kansas, is currently developing a 72-unit apartment complex and a 54-unit townhome rental development in Simsbury.
The Farmington project, estimated to cost about $225 million, was first reviewed informally by the town’s zoning commission in June 2025.
