A new Hartford Line rail station in Windsor Locks downtown commercial district ignites development activity

Windsor Locks, CT The state’s decision to build a new Hartford Line rail station in the center of the Windsor Locks downtown commercial district has ignited a burst of development friendly activity in the historic riverside mill town.

Boston-based Beacon Communities, LLC is in the process of converting the long-abandoned Montgomery Mill, which for years has loomed abandoned over Main St. like a dark cloud, into 160 one and two-bedroom apartments adjacent to the new rail stop.

In 2016, Windsor Locks became the first municipality in the state to approve a Tax Increment Financing District under the new law passed in 2015. The district encompasses the entire downtown commercial area and makes it easy for town officials to negotiate incentives with developers, which can include everything from property tax rebates to marketing assistance. The town also approved a Main St. overly zone that relaxes the strict zoning requirement that had previously been an impediment to redevelopment and replaces them with a much more flexible reasonableness standard.

 

 

Recently the town received the go-ahead from the Department of Transportation to begin spending a $3.5 million Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program (LOTCIP) grant to rebuild its Main St. to include on-street parking, wide sidewalks, traffic calming measures, new street-lighting and many other pedestrian friendly improvements.

Windsor Locks first selectman Christopher Kervick, has been particularly aggressive in seeking opportunities for Windsor Locks. “All the planning has been done and now we are starting to see the results,” he said, “So now we are seeking commercial, restaurant, mixed-use and residential developers to take advantage of the new opportunities Windsor Locks offers.” 

Plans for the downtown area also include a public market adjacent to the new transit center which will serve as a community gathering place as well as a year round indoor space to find locally sourced fresh produce and meats and prepared foods.

The efforts of Windsor Locks to position itself for transit oriented development growth have not gone unnoticed. The town was a recipient of the Capitol Region Council of Governments 2018 Sustainability Award for a decade of leadership in Transit Oriented Development Planning and Implementation.