Griffin to sell 90 CT acres for Amazon facility

Contributed Photo An Amazon fulfillment center in Phoenix, Ariz, similar to one planned for Windsor.

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By Gregory Seay

Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc., a New York landlord with substantial Connecticut holdings, said it has reached an agreement to sell for $9 million cash 90 acres of undeveloped Windsor land right where online retailer Amazon.com wants to erect a regional fulfillment center.

The land is part of a 268-acre parcel straddling the Windsor-Bloomfield border, in the shadow of sprawling Griffin Park and the New England Tradeport -- both Griffin Land developments.

Griffin said Monday the buyer doesn't want to be publicly identified.

However, the 90-acre tract is almost exactly the same size as the 89.5 acres that Amazon says in land filings with Windsor for its proposed 1.5 million-square-foot facility off Day Hill Road. Amazon's Connecticut expansion plans were first bared in early August.

According to Griffin, the buyer must construct roadways connecting the parcel with existing town roads.

According to development mylars on file with Windsor's planning and development office, Amazon wants an entrance road for trucks installed on the west side of its parcel, connecting onto Blue Hills Avenue.

Another public right-of-way is proposed for the property's east side, opposite Iron Ore Road, that would extend to the front of the proposed fulfillment center, mylars show.

Griffin said the land sale is contingent on the buyer obtaining permits for its development plans and receiving municipal and state economic development incentives it deems adequate.

Neither Amazon nor its representatives could be immediately reached Monday for comment.

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