$4M Cleanup Could Clear Way For 156 Enfield Apartments

ENFIELD, CT — A long-vacant industrial property along the Connecticut River could receive $4 million in state funding for cleanup work as its new owner prepares to build 156 apartments.

The Town Council will consider accepting and transferring the brownfield grant Monday for the former Eversource property at 33 North River St. The money would be used to remove contamination from the 3.24-acre site, according to the council meeting packet.

Subscribe

The property once housed a power plant that served the Bigelow Carpet Manufacturing Co. It has since been approved for a development called Enfield Station Apartments.

Plans call for a 156-unit apartment building designed to resemble a renovated mill. The project would also include a public riverwalk along the property's 811 feet of Connecticut River frontage.

The site is next to the planned Enfield train station, a roughly $35 million project that will restore passenger rail service near the town's Thompsonville section.

Connecticut awarded the cleanup money to Enfield in December 2024 through the state's brownfield remediation program. The town is serving as the grant recipient, with the funding intended for cleanup work by developer HGRE LLC.

The grant was among more than $26 million awarded for contaminated properties across Connecticut. State officials said the Enfield project would support the proposed apartments and riverfront improvements, according to the governor's office.

The property has since sold for $2.56 million, according to Chozick Realty, which represented the seller. The firm said the apartment development has received all required land-use approvals.

Monday's council action would put the grant money in place for cleanup-related work. Because the project is funded through the state award, the appropriation would not draw money from Enfield's local budget.

For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.