Sardilli Produce & Dairy Co. Inc. may be leaving Hartford but FreshPoint, a division of Houston-based food distributor Sysco Corp., is still looking to expand near its current 40,000-square-foot facility at the Hartford Regional Market.
Sardilli Produce & Dairy Co. Inc. may be leaving Hartford but FreshPoint, a division of Houston-based food distributor Sysco Corp., is still looking to expand near its current 40,000-square-foot facility at the Hartford Regional Market.
The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) last June recommended FreshPoint's $39 million bid to build a 145,000-square-foot distribution facility on unused land near the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority's waste-to-energy plant on Reserve Road.
FreshPoint's proposed project was part of an open-bidding process that Sardilli bowed out of weeks before CRDA made its recommendation.
However, several hurdles need to be cleared before FreshPoint's Hartford plans can move forward. MIRA must first decide how it plans to upgrade and operate its trash plant before it can free up the 20-acre lot and award FreshPoint's bid to redevelop there, according to CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth.
MIRA has been in drawn-out negotiations with a private company — Sacyr Rooney — that has proposed to overhaul and operate Connecticut's largest waste-to-energy plant as part of a $229 million project.
Meantime, the state Department of Energy and Environment Protection will also need to sign off on FreshPoint's bid. Freimuth said FreshPoint is looking to move forward with its proposal to add 75 full-time jobs at the new site, and retain its 185 employees at the regional market.
FreshPoint, which did not return calls for comment, would lease the land from the state and pay property taxes to the city.
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