$10 Million Grant To Aid Redevelopment Plans At Enfield Square Mall

ENFIELD, CT — For more than a decade, the Enfield Square shopping center, once a hubbub of activity, has sat in a state of disrepair and continues to decline. Those days may be nearing an end, however, as the town of Enfield has been awarded $10 million from the Community Investment Fund 2030 (CIF). The grant, approved at Tuesday's CIF meeting, will aid in the redevelopment plans at the beleaguered mall.

Redevelopment of the mall, which will be known as Enfield Marketplace, will include 300,000 square feet of new anchor retail in addition to the existing Target, 9 acres of restaurant and lifestyle shops. In addition, the project will create hundreds of new jobs for the area, increase sales tax revenue for the state, provide a new inventory of affordable housing and remediate environmental issues associated with the property.

Enfield officials have committed about $16 million in tax concessions to make the project feasible. The town has given its maximum contribution.

"Absolutely fabulous news for Enfield," State Sen. John Kissel said. "This major injection of funding will address longstanding infrastructure issues at this property and prepare it for an economic renewal. We are grateful to the Community Investment Fund board for listening to - and acting on - our request for this funding."

State Rep. John Santanella said, "Since the day after my election, I have been working with the Department of Economic and Community Development to turn the vision for the mall into reality. Over the last several months, I have met with a number of legislators, 15 of whom have signed a letter of support for this project. I have met with leadership in the House and Senate and countless other presentations to members of the CIF committee. Today, all that hard work has paid off for Enfield."

"This grant is incredible news for the town of Enfield," State Rep. Carol Hall said. "Despite some application hiccups that occurred last September, the developers understood that these types of things take some time, and they remained one hundred percent committed to seeing this project through. We are pleased these funds have been approved and thank the Community Investment Fund board for prioritizing this project."