Home Depot On Track For South Windsor Business Parcel

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — Home Depot has been named as one of three major business tenants due to arrive in South Windsor. Both the town manager and the property owner confirmed that a new distributiom center is on its way to a 46-acre tract of land along sections of Route 5 and Ellington Road.

Construction began about three weeks ago on the 421,000-square-foot facility.

Depot is also an appropriate term because the faclity will accommodate train service right up to the building, South Windsor Town Manager Michael Maniscalco said.

He said the hope is that Home Depot can open "within the year." Several retail outlets are nearby, including Manchester, Glastonbury and Enfield.

Questions to owner Scannell Properties about the Home Depot building were referred to the project manager, who was unavailable for comment Friday morning.

The town council has approved a seven-year tax abatement plan for the building, but, in turn Home Depot will invest approximately $50 million into the distribution center, town officials said.

The abatement plan is highlighted by an assessment reduction of 50 percent — a tax benefit totaling an estimated $309,925 a year, or $2.7 million over the seven-year agreement, according to town records. Tax revenue will be an estimated $300,000 per year, officials said.

When vacant, the property accounted for about $19,000 in tax revenue each year, records show.

The Home Depot property is across the street from a Coca-Cola sales center at 329-359 Ellington Road.

Scannell's third project in town involves a 200,000-square-foot facility nearby for which no tenants have been named.

Maniscalco said a good portion of a recent meeting with Standars & Poor's focused on $288 million in ongoing projects in town. He said it was an amount the financial ratings service was happy with. Maniscalo said the town could potentially benefit from $150 million more in future development.