A prominent Connecticut gas station company wants to turn 86 wooded acres in Farmington into a sprawling travel plaza and warehouse complex, according to zoning documents filed with the town.
Hartford-based Noble Energy Real Estate Holdings LLC, the development arm of the rapidly expanding Noble Gas brand, is seeking approvals for its project at 8261 Fienemann Road — including a zone change and special permits.
The proposed development includes an 18,000-square-foot warehouse, 8,437-square-foot travel center, 16 standard fuel pumps, five high-speed diesel pumps for tractor-trailers, and a coffee shop, convenience store and outdoor seating.
The land has an unusual owner: the Municipal Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Hartford, which paid $5 million for the property in July 2017, according to town assessor records. The pension fund has held the parcel as vacant residential land — currently appraised at roughly $2.1 million — and Noble is now under contract to buy it.
Farmington’s Town Plan and Zoning Commission is set to receive the application and schedule a public hearing at its meeting at 2 p.m. Monday. The hearing will likely be scheduled for July 27, when neighbors and the public will have a formal chance to speak.
Bordered by Fienemann Road to the north, Slater Road and homes to the east, residential properties to the south and I-84 to the west, the parcel’s eastern boundary is also the dividing line between Farmington and New Britain.
About a dozen New Britain homes along Slater Road sit directly across the street.
Project engineer Solli Engineering, of West Hartford, outlined the plans in an application submitted to the town. Trucks would enter and exit only through the driveway closest to I-84, while passenger vehicles could use a second driveway farther east on Fienemann Road or a third on Slater Road.
The warehouse would offer 30 tractor-trailer spaces and 20 employee spots. The travel center would have 80 customer parking spaces.
According to the project narrative, the warehouse is meant to function as a short-haul hub, with trucks heading out in the morning and returning each evening. The travel center, meanwhile, is pitched as a quick stop for both passenger vehicles and trucks off I-84.
The design mirrors the new generation of upscale fueling plazas Noble has been building across Connecticut and into Massachusetts. Co-owner Michael Frisbie has previously said the company’s strategy is to blend traditional fuel sales with name-brand food, ice cream and quality coffee, plus rapid electric vehicle chargers, to keep customers coming back throughout the day.
Noble has already opened or broken ground on similar plazas in Enfield, East Lyme and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and recently paid $1.2 million for a site in East Hartford.
The Farmington site is currently split between residential zones that do not permit gas stations or warehouses. Noble is asking the town to rezone roughly 26 acres of the parcel to the B1 business district.
The remaining 75 acres, including wetlands and two vernal pools, would be placed under a permanent conservation easement, according to the project narrative.
Construction would disturb about 7.5 acres and affect 470 square feet of wetlands along Fienemann Road.
A traffic study estimates the development would generate 393 net new trips during the weekday morning peak hour, 357 during the afternoon peak and 316 on Saturday midday.
The project is targeted for completion in 2028.
