Costco breaks ground for South Windsor store

Olivia Regen, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·2 min read

Apr. 22—SOUTH WINDSOR — Construction has begun on a new 163,404 square-foot Costco wholesale retail store in the Buckland Road Gateway development area.

State Sen. M. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, said Costco would become an anchor store for the entire region.

WORK BEGINS

WHAT: Construction began this week on a new Costco store on Tamarack Avenue, near Evergreen Walk, in the Buckland Road Gateway development area.

OPENING: Store is expected to open in November.

Residents in "neighboring towns can apply for jobs," he said. "It will result in a lot of people from outside of the region coming to do their shopping locally."

Anwar added that Costco is already known for its $16 per hour salaries, which is well above the $12 minimum wage.

The store will be located at 1220 Tamarack Ave., neighboring a group of medical buildings and offices, west of LA Fitness and Evergreen Way and north of a senior living facility. The Costco store was first proposed for the Evergreen Walk area, also known as the Buckland Road Gateway development zone, in 2017.

Mayor Andrew Paterna praised the project.

"It has taken a lot of work and effort by the people, the Town Council, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Inland Wetlands Commission," he said. "This has been such a team effort."

Paterna said that Costco treats its employees fairly, and that he was excited to welcome them to South Windsor.

The PZC approved the site plan for the store on Nov. 10, 2020. Alan Lamson of FLB Architecture & Planning Inc., which represents Costco for the project, said during that meeting that there were no plans to provide electric vehicle charging stations at the site, as customers aren't there long enough to charge their vehicles.

At the time, PZC member Stephen Wagner said it was "a huge missed opportunity.

"I would hope that Costco would seek an early opportunity to provide EV charging stations at their facility," Wagner said today.

The PZC on Tuesday unanimously approved modifying its regulations to permit electric vehicle charging equipment as an accessory use in all zones throughout town, and to require new businesses and multi-family developments to provide the wiring and equipment for charging stations.

However, this modification does not apply to Costco as their site approval predates the recent zone change, and they are therefore, not considered a new business, officials said.

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