🔒From Quiet Corner to mega-warehouse hub: How Plainfield became an industrial stronghold

The town of Plainfield, located in Connecticut’s “Last Green Valley,” might appear remote and rural, but it has still attracted a lot of attention from major corporate warehouses, with a slew of recent deals. The secret — relatively plentiful land and good road connections.

“The proximity on 395 is really what it’s all about for warehousing,” said First Selectman Kevin Cunningham. “You have access to 95. You have access to 295 in Worcester. You have access to Route 6 to get you either going over towards the Hartford area or to Providence. It’s easy access to get on and off.” A 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center for hardware chain Lowe’s has consistently been the top taxpayer in Plainfield since it was built in 2004. That siting was seen as unusual enough at the time that it warranted coverage in the New York Times. It also came at a fairly steep upfront cost to the town, which was on the hook for putting in an access road, water and sewer. But it wasn’t until more recently that other corporations saw the Quiet Corner opportunity — and according to Cunningham these newer deals are cash flow positive for the town from the jump, perhaps a factor in muting the sort of opposition that’s cropped up in other Connecticut towns over the mega-warehouse trend. An Amazon warehouse, located at 137 Lathrop Road — formerly a greyhound racing track — and first announced in 2021, is finally due to open this October ahead of the busy holiday season. It will be Amazon’s 17th distribution location in Connecticut. The building itself has been completed for some two years, and has been yielding $440,000 a year in tax to the town since it got its certificate of occupancy.

The opening of the 200,000-square-foot “last-mile” fulfillment center was delayed due to what the company described as industrywide supply chain and inflationary challenges. When it finally opens, Cunningham expects its tax value to the town to increase to over $1 million a year. It also expects to employ up to 200 local workers. Meanwhile, Uline — a Wisconsin distributor of shipping, packaging and industrial supplies to business customers — is in the midst of developing a 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center, which will employ 250 people initially and could grow its headcount to 500. The company says the facility will be completed by June 2026, and it hopes to be fully staffed and operational by October or November of that year. Like Amazon, Uline did not seek a tax abatement for the siting, and will also add substantially to Plainfield’s grand list. Finally, Plainfield officials expect to announce more details soon about a potential Costco warehouse on a site that straddles the town line with Canterbury on Norwich Road. That could be as big as 2.5 million square feet. “They’re going to do a public informational meeting sometime at the end of this month,” Cunningham said. “They also plan to do presentations in front of both towns for inland wetlands and also zoning. So, it’s got a long way to go for just the introduction portion of it for sure.” Costco would not share more details, saying it does not comment on future warehouse sites.

Uline, though, is happy to speak about its budding relationship with this rural Connecticut town. “Plainfield is the area we saw where the puck is going, and so we wanted to be ahead of that momentum of the expansion of the future supply chain,” said Dmitry Dukhan, Uline’s senior vice president of real estate and construction. “Specifically on the East Coast, the closer you are to the customer, the better the performance of the business will be.”

On-site building inspector

Currently, Uline is servicing its New England territory out of an Allentown, Pennsylvania distribution center, and the company had been on the hunt for a strategic location in the region for some time. Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, were also on the short list for the new facility before Plainfield won out. “It truly is one of the best locations in New England. And then obviously once we got to know the Plainfield community, we absolutely fell in love with it,” Dukhan said. He cites Plainfield’s position close to the core markets of Boston, Hartford, Rhode Island, New York City and upstate New York. The facility was approved by the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission in April 2024, and Dukhan says the town of about 15,000 residents has been easy to work with. One thing that First Selectman Cunningham says he offered to both Amazon and Uline is an on-site building inspector who works with the company on a daily basis to sign off on aspects of construction, speeding the time to completion.

Some limitations

Not every Connecticut town has been on board with building mega warehouses. Just a few years ago, residents in Willington and Cromwell rejected plans for distribution centers, and there was organized opposition to similar plans in Ashford and Middlebury. Planners in Windsor Locks have also rejected warehouse plans in the recent past, and the town of Enfield has faced lawsuits from residents. The concerns mostly center on noise, light pollution and potential congestion from truck convoys. Construction noise on the Uline site has prompted some complaints in Plainfield. Cunningham said there’s a limit to how many warehouses Plainfield can handle, particularly in terms of trucking volumes. For now, though, he welcomes the boost to economic development and the town’s grand list. “In our town we have one grocery store,” he said. “I’m looking to promote and market another couple of areas in town for another grocery store to come in.” He’s also hoping the influx of employment will stimulate more housing development in town. He points to a potential deal to sell the old Wauregan Mill building, on South Walnut Street, where a developer is interested in creating 230 apartments.