New CVS Store, Technical School Coming To Hamden

HAMDEN, CT — A new CVS Pharmacy and a Porter and Chester technical school are coming to Putnam Place on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, officials recently announced. The CVS will be built at the corner of Putnam and Dixwell Avenue, replacing the current building on site. Construction for the new CVS was approved on Dec. 11 at the Town Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

Two tenants from the existing building on site will relocate to other locations in Hamden and the third tenant will retire, according to a news release. The new 14,000-square-foot structure will open later in 2019 and officials say new jobs will be created for this location.

Porter and Chester technical school will open in the early part of 2019 and will bring “hundreds of students and over 70 jobs to Putnam Place, including up to 10 new teaching positions,” according to the news release. Porter and Chester, which offers programs in automotive technology, computer and networking, heating and ventilation, and more, will relocate to Hamden from their Branford campus and almost double their size. Porter and Chester was once the Connecticut School of Electronics in New Haven. They will operate three shifts of classes, “bringing life throughout the day and evening to Putnam Place,” the release states.

“I am very pleased to welcome both Porter and Chester Institute and a new CVS location to our wonderful town, and to thank each for their strong confidence in Hamden’s economy,” Mayor Curt Balzano Leng said in a statement. “I know our residents, students, and families will greatly enjoy the benefits of additional educational, job, and shopping opportunities here in town. I look forward to celebrating the grand opening of each location in the New Year, along with the announcement of a few other exciting economic development opportunities which are coming up very soon.”

After years of negotiation and coordination between DLC Management, the Town Economic and Neighborhood Development Office, the State of Connecticut (through its Business Express Program) and Porter and Chester, the redevelopment plan can finally begin, officials said.

“We have worked hard to bring forth a development that is realistic and provides needed jobs and services for the community,” said Dale Kroop, Director of Economic and Neighborhood Development. “Working with Lindy Gold from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development was also critically important to making this important project happen. It’s been a long time coming, but this plan is a huge win in terms of job creation and tax base growth for the Town of Hamden.”

Putnam Place is owned by DLC Management based in Tarrytown, New York, which operates numerous shopping malls throughout the Eastern United States. Putnam Place was originally the “Acme Mall,” an indoor shopping mall that featured establishments like Kenny’s Pumpernickel Pub and King’s Department Store. The Acme Mall went under a major transformation in the 1970s when the indoor mall was torn down and the space was turned into a strip mall called Putnam Place.

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