Manchester Parcel Targeted For Company's First CT Plasma Center

MANCHESTER, CT — A vacant former discount supermarket in Manchester is about to be turned into the first Connecticut location for a company that collects blood plasma.

Florida-based CSL Plasma has submitted an application to put a 15,000-square foot, 38-bed donation facility in a portion of the old Save A Lot supermarket vacancy at 425 Broad St.

And it all could happen quickly. Megan Pilla, the senior planner for the Manchester Planning and Economic Development Department, said the area is already zoned for medical facilities, so all CSL needs is a site plan review and administrative review by herself and the local zoning enforcement officer.

No formal timetable has been submitted, Pilla said.

The facility could be employing up to 60 people in three years, according to the application. The closest CSL facilities are currently located in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Pilla said if a person is looking at the building from Broad Street it's the left side of the facility.

"We're certainly happy to see a facility like this come to the area," Pilla said. "It certainly fits a need."

A plasma donation center collects plasma for use in treating medical patients suffering from a host of life-threatening conditions, including hemophilia, shock, or trauma, immune deficiencies and other blood disorders.

Plasma donors typically are compensated. Eligible donors include people in good health, age 18 to 65, who weigh at least 110 pounds.