MERIDEN — For the past decade, retail scouts have told Dennis Ceneviva that East Main Street east of Interstate 91 didn’t have enough zip for their clients. The lack of traffic explains why Stop & Shop Supermarkets picked Broad Street over an East Main Street site 10 years ago, said Ceneviva, a real estate attorney.
MERIDEN — For the past decade, retail scouts have told Dennis Ceneviva that East Main Street east of Interstate 91 didn’t have enough zip for their clients. The lack of traffic explains why Stop & Shop Supermarkets picked Broad Street over an East Main Street site 10 years ago, said Ceneviva, a real estate attorney.
But Ceneviva and others sense a strong stirring as East Main Street readies itself for a revitalized Meriden Parkade anchored by the only big box within 5 miles — a Lowe’s home improvement center.
“You’re seeing the creeping of some development,” Ceneviva said.
The home improvement center is expected to draw an additional 5,000 cars daily, said Paul Giacobbe, owner of Jacoby’s Restaurant at 1388 E. Main St.
Giacobbe shares Ceneviva’s optimism for the area and he, like others, hopes to build on the synergy. He has invested $1.2 million to build a six¬bay car wash at 1336-1376 E. Main St. and hopes to be open later this summer.
“They’re going to be coming from miles away to see that car wash,” Giacobbe said. Possibly so, but it doesn’t hurt that another developer, Sundad LLC, is going before the city’s Planning Commission this week with plans for a 12,000-square-foot plaza. The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission approved the strip mall in March. The site at 1371 E. Main St. is the former home of The Spot — a raucous bar in its heyday, and in the last eight years a dilapidated shell.
Sundad partners Henry Silvestri and his son Joseph Silvestri have razed the old bar and want to build the plaza on the two-acre site with a possible bank drive-through and restaurant. Ceneviva, who represents Sundad, praised the project for its architecture, landscaping and potential.
“The East Side is moving up a little bit,” Henry Silvestri said. “There is an opportunity to improve it. Being that Lowe’s is going up, it’s going to create an opportunity.”
Giacobbe doesn’t even care if Silvestri builds another restaurant, as long as it brings traffic. City officials are also hopeful.
“Mr. Silvestri’s plans are exciting,” said city Economic Development Director Peggy Brennan. “He was in a couple months ago to show us the plans and vision for the building. His building is very attractive and he should do well attracting smaller retailers, professional offices or eateries.
In other developments …
News of Silvestri’s plaza also heartened Donna Bandecchi, who is busy rebuilding the Spoon Shoppe Brook Deli at 1320 E. Main St. Arsonists destroyed the deli and farm operation in September and it’s taken the family seven months to rebuild. She hopes to reopen in late May.
“When we first came in there, we were hoping people would try to fix the place up,” Bandecchi said of the site owned by the Silvestris. “Meriden is an ideal location.”
Giacobbe has four more acres of vacant commercial land, and said interest in it is buzzing.
“Eventually, it’s going to go,” Giacobbe said. “And I’ll be too old to enjoy it.”
City Planner Dominick Caruso expects to see smaller commercial activity spread all the way to Preston Avenue, where East Main turns to office and residential before reaching the Middlefield line. He said there are plans in the works for property across from Silvestri’s, owned by Kevin Curry and Kevin Danby, but he was mum on the details.
More growth will come from Diversified Physical Therapy, which is replacing the former Garden of Eden Building, another eyesore, Brennan said.
Ceneviva also points to activity around the plaza on Pomeroy Avenue. Lido’s Pizza Restaurant is expanding, Rockfall Co. of Middlefield is building 13 office warehouse condominiums and tenants at Newbury Village apartments have helped fuel development. Traffic coming into Meriden could also be affected by decisions made even farther east.
Traffic from Middlefield
The widening of Route 66 and the commercial impact in Middlefield is likely to bring traffic over the city line. Predictions and rumors of commercial retail at the Red Dog Saloon property have even reached Ceneviva and are so strong that saloon owner John Baulski gets phone calls daily. “They think I sold to Target for $3.5 million,” Baulski said.
Baulski said he hasn’t, and doesn’t plan to sell unless the offer is really good. However, Konover Development Corp. has been taking options on property along Route 66 since the road was widened, Baulski said.
The farm behind Baulski is owned by James Kolman and consists of 24.5 acres in Middlefield with more crossing into Middletown. Buying the whole parcel or parts of it could be a major coup for any developer of a big box or shopping center.
Kolman has been approached and so far has only allowed some state Department of Transportation use on the property, said Kenneth Hamilton, chairman of Middlefield’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
Harrison calls Route 66 development jagged. Three years ago, he warned town officials that unless they revamped their 45-year-old zoning laws, Route 66 development could destroy the town’s rural character. The commission is working on a three-phase study of its zoning laws with the Midstate Regional Planning Agency. The goal is to construct a plan of development that generates tax revenue, but maintains some control over who can build there.
“It’s been 45 years since anyone has looked at this corridor,” Hamilton said. “Will Red Dog be here another 40 years from now? Doubtful. But it is our responsibility to plan that far ahead.”
In the meantime, residential growth at the city’s border is likely to expand, and Middlefield is bracing itself to grow to the next level. Both could bring big changes for both towns, in terms of tax dollars and increased traffic. “Whether it’s Middlefield expanding or Meriden expanding, what you’ll see is the expansion coming together on East Main Street, which has typically been ignored up until now,” Ceneviva said.
