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Renderings show a planned 230,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center proposed for West Broad Street in Stratford, Conn.
Renderings show a planned 230,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center proposed for West Broad Street in Stratford, Conn.
Renderings show a planned 230,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center proposed for West Broad Street in Stratford, Conn.
STRATFORD — A Boston-based developer has been given the green light to build a 230,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center on the site of an old factory.
The Stratford Zoning Commission voted Wednesday to approve plans from GFI Partners to construct the massive commercial building on a West Broad Street site between Interstate 95 and the New Haven line of Metro-North.
The warehouse, which will be large enough to accommodate up to two tenants, is expected to create more than 120 jobs, including distribution center workers, office staff and truck drivers, according to William Buckley, an official with GFI.
“We are excited about the opportunity to redevelop this underutilized industrial site,” Buckley told Hearst Connecticut Media last month.
The warehouse is the latest storage facility to be approved amid rising demand across the state for places where companies can store and distribute their goods. Industry officials have attributed the boom to the growing e-commerce market.
The multi-acre site at 1255 West Broad St. is currently home to a 77,000-square-foot bottle and can redemption center. An old manufacturing plant once sat on the eastern portion of the property but the structure has since been torn down, according to town property records.
As a part of the project, the developer intends to demolish the existing warehouse and clear the site of toxic contaminants left over by the since-demolished industrial facility. Buckley has told town officials that GFI plans to spend up to $2 million removing the contaminants and up to $32 million on the redevelopment project as a whole.
The warehouse was designed by applied Form + Space, a Boston-based architectural firm. According to site plans, the facility’s exterior will largely be made up of insulated metal panels and the base will feature concrete blocks painted to resemble bricks.
An office in the southeastern corner of the building, which will also serve as a storefront, will be clad with wood-colored fiber cement panels, the plans show. Buckley has said GFI has not yet identified tenants for the building.
The warehouse will also feature more than 230 parking spaces and nearly 40 loading docks. The application states the docks would be situated on the building’s western and eastern sides to help hide the sight of tractor-trailers from motorists on the nearby interstate.
“The building is situated towards the rear of the site,” Buckley wrote. “This provides the maximum visual distance between the existing 1-story building on West Broad Street and the I-95 corridor.”
Richard Chumney can be reached at richard.chumney@hearstmediact.com