With a court challenge settled, Massachusetts developer Winstanley Enterprises plans to launch construction of an 819,000-square-foot warehouse in Enfield early in 2024.
Winstanley plans to partner with Kansas City-based NorthPoint Development on the roughly $135 million project, at 35 Bacon Road, which will be undertaken on speculation.
That means the project doesn’t yet have a signed tenant.
Adam Winstanley, a principal of his family’s company, is confident tenants will be interested given ongoing demand for logistics space between Hartford and Springfield.
Winstanley received local approvals last year to build on a roughly 188-acre parcel that was previously part of greeting card maker Hallmark’s Enfield campus.
Area residents concerned about potential impacts to two adjacent lakes filed court challenges. Winstanley announced this week a settlement had been reached with neighbors that will allow the project to go forward in the first quarter of 2024.
Details of the settlement were not released. Winstanley described it as an “amicable” agreement reached after repeated meetings with area residents.
“I have worked very closely with the plaintiffs to work through our differences,” Winstanley said. “And we are on a good footing at this point.”
Both sides released a joint statement announcing a settlement.
“The settlement allows the development by WE 35 Bacon Road LLC of the properties and endeavors to balance the interests and concerns of all of the parties with respect to their neighboring properties and the community,” reads a portion of the statement.
Winstanley had previously agreed to donate 22 undeveloped acres to Enfield as a conservation buffer.
The settlement makes no changes to previously approved development plans, which will see half of the site left undisturbed. Winstanley expects to complete construction within 15 months of its launch.
Winstanley said the project is likely to result in more than $1 million in annual tax revenue for the town and would support more than 400 construction jobs. The number of permanent jobs will depend on the eventual tenants, he said.
Winstanley has been active in Enfield since 2015, when it paid $12 million for Hallmark’s former 1-million-square-foot distribution complex and 324 associated acres.
Winstanley refurbished two Hallmark buildings at a cost of $41 million, filling them with three tenant companies in 2018. Winstanley also carved off the site that is the subject of the 819,000-square-foot development plan.
Winstanley operates several logistics spaces for rent in Enfield, including a 500,000-square-foot distribution center leased to Advanced Auto Parts; a 600,000-square-foot office, warehouse and distribution facility leased to Lego and Coca-Cola Bottling; as well as a recently completed 500,000-square-foot warehouse on North Maple Street occupied by Agri-Mark dairy products and life-science company Eppendorf.
Winstanley stressed his company has an ongoing involvement with Enfield, contributing to a nonprofit opera group, Independence Day fireworks and providing job opportunities. Being a good neighbor is important, he said.
“We are part of the community,” Winstanley said. “I want to do a good project. We are not a build-and-flip company that forgets about the projects it leaves behind. We are a build-and-operate company.”
