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November 2, 2020 Town Profile: East Granby

East Granby eyes apartment development

Photo | Contributed Nearly 8 acres at 73 Rainbow Road in East Granby is for sale for $925,000. The property owner wants to build a mixed-use residential building.
By Greg Bordonaro

A zone change is largely a mundane task that represents the basic blocking and tackling of most planning and zoning commissions.

But sometimes it can symbolize something of greater importance, including a vision for the future.

That’s the case in East Granby, where the planning and zoning commission recently approved changes to the town’s Commerce Park Transitional Zone, opening up 264 acres of vacant land to new mixed-use development opportunities, including apartments and retail.

Already at least two landowners in the zone are considering apartment projects, trying to take advantage of the multifamily development boom that has taken hold in Greater Hartford — and nationwide — in recent years.

The zoning change is part of a longer-term vision for the bucolic town of around 5,200 people to become more than just a bedroom community that hosts thousands of workers during the day who leave at night for homes in nearby suburbs, said Gary Haynes, East Granby’s director of community development.

“We want to hold onto that small town character, but at the same time no one wants to be that bedroom community either,” Haynes said. “The town wants to have an identifiable center and in order to do that you need people in that center.”

The transitional zone sits adjacent to a commerce park zone, which includes manufacturing, warehouse and other commercial spaces, and the town’s village center near Route 187 and Route 20.

East Granby’s small population makes it difficult to attract amenities like a grocery store or even a pharmacy so it’s looking to build population density in and around its town center, currently home to small shops, eateries and professional service firms, Haynes said.

The town’s housing stock is dominated by single-family homes so it’s eyeing new apartments with modern amenities to attract Millennials who are not ready to own a home, or empty nesters looking to downsize and simplify their lifestyle.

“Both demographics desire a lively village center area with shops and restaurants within walking distance,” Haynes said.

The town doesn’t have to look far away to see that modern multifamily developments can work even in rural communities.

Neighboring Granby, which has around 11,000 residents, has become an apartment-development hot spot in recent years with nearly 400 rental units that have either come online, or are in the planning pipeline. In May, the 130 units at Granby’s The Grand at Ridgewood apartments sold for $33.3 million, or $256,000 per unit.

“The housing market has changed,” Haynes said. “We already have a lot of single-family residential stock. We are looking to encourage a diversity of development to help suit the needs of the community and help make the economic viability of a village center zone come to fruition.”

Image | Contributed
73 Rainbow Road sits within East Granby’s Commerce Park Transitional Zone, which now allows for residential development.

Two properties within the transitional zone — 73 Rainbow Road and 13 Nicholson Road — are being considered for apartment development, Haynes said.

The 7.82 acre Rainbow Road property, owned by Ted Brown, is currently listed for sale at $925,000.

Brown, who runs the Peter L. Brown Co., a home-improvement construction business founded by his father, said he started having conversations with a developer about building apartments on his land before the pandemic hit.

One of the attractions is renting units to nearby companies so they can house business travelers who fly in and out of nearby Bradley International Airport.

COVID-19 has slowed the momentum a bit, but Brown has hired an engineer to do a site plan, which estimates the land could accommodate about 110 apartment units. Since his property sits on Route 20 — a busy thoroughfare — the town also wants him to add a retail component to the project, which Brown said he is less bullish about given the struggles small merchants and restaurants have faced since March.

“I don’t think retail is a bad thing in general, but with COVID-19, who really knows what the future is going to bring,” he said. “I think having retail today is less desirable than it was before because of COVID.”

He said he’s also curious to see how the pandemic will impact the apartment market. Despite those concerns he’d like to present a formal site plan to the town this winter and potentially break ground on a mixed-use residential development next summer or fall.

Selling points

The transitional zone, which has about a half-dozen privately owned sites suitable for apartment development, allows numerous other uses including medical, manufacturing, warehouse/distribution and even office space.

However, the new regulations also added some restrictions on certain developments. For example, distribution facilities in the zone are now limited to 300,000 square feet or less, while manufacturing buildings can’t exceed 150,000 square feet. The aim is to limit the size of those types of properties located close to the town village center zone, which was created more than a decade ago.

Apartments are attractive near the town center, Haynes said, because they will put feet on the street, hopefully creating demand for more restaurants, shops or even a grocery store — amenities that are key to developing a definable town center.

In terms of selling East Granby, Haynes said the town is: close to Bradley International Airport and major highways; home to a strong advanced manufacturing base and highly educated population; and has many outdoor amenities like hiking trails, whitewater rafting and mountain biking.

The town recently approved its first brewery — Almost Famous Brewery, which is set to debut at 17 Kripes Road this winter — and has a popular winery, Brignole Vineyards on Hartford Avenue.

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