Farmington-based Konover Development Corp. has big plans for 600,000 square feet of retail and restaurant development on the north and south sides of Route 20 in Charlton, Mass. The proposed development would bring the town its first supermarket and home improvement chain store.
So far, Konover and town officials are in agreement that the location is perfect for large, big-box style commercial development.
The project is the culmination of the town’s “multi-year planning effort along Route 20,” according to Alan I. Gordon, Charlton’s town planner.
The project site takes part of two parcels totaling nearly 120 acres rezoned by the town last May for “community business” use. Gordon said Konover expects to take at least four years and several phases to bring the project to full build-out.
Konover’s development is planned for the northwest and southwest corners, and in addition to the supermarket and either a Home Depot or Lowe’s home improvement store, the project includes plans for two or three other big box retail stores, a few smaller retail stores and restaurants, Gordon said.
He said Konover’s project is the perfect thing for Charlton.
Konover explores sites for development that will help serve a community’s needs, said company spokesperson Lori Murphy. “The proposed site fits a set of proven criteria for success, including its easy accessibility from all major highways and its location on the improved section of Route 20. In addition, a number of our large, national retail clients indicated their interest to us in that market.”
Underserved Town
“The numbers in this town show, too, that Charlton is so underserved right now. The town has about doubled in size in about seven years,” Gordon said, and is now home to about 14,000 people. A year ago, it was projected that 50 percent of residential growth in Massachusetts over the next 30 years would be in eight towns, and Charlton is one of those eight towns, he said.
Also, “our proximity to the Pike and to I-84 … it’s a good time for a company to come in and build something like this,” Gordon said.
Gordon said there was only one house on the proposed project site, and its owner was the one who sold the development property to Konover. Since the town began its involvement with Konover, residents with property abutting the project site applied for zone changes, and a couple weeks ago received a change to commercial zoning for their residential properties as well. “So they could sell to those guys or do something else in the near future,” Gordon said.
For now, Konover is being tight-lipped about specific tenants for the Charlton development, and hasn’t discussed the project’s budget with anyone. Gordon said the town is expecting a wetlands filing from the company, and the town is planning an administrative site plan review. Konover will seek all its town permits over the fall and winter, and is currently conducting an engineering analysis of the site. The project will likely include improvements to Route 20 and the addition of an intersection just to the west of the project.
Konover expects to begin construction there in the spring.
