Electric Boat Purchases 'Final' Waterford Mall Property

WATERFORD, CT — Submarine manufacturer Electric Boat has completed its purchase of the full Crystal Mall property. Parent company General Dynamics announced this week that it purchased the mall's Sears property.

"The Sears location is an important addition that will facilitate Electric Boat's ability to accelerate submarine production," Mark Rayha, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat, said in a statement. "This is our third and final acquisition of property at this location, which will address the increasing demand signal for submarines by our nation."

The sale price was not revealed.

Related: Electric Boat Makes Decision On Waterford Mall's Holiday Season

The Groton-based company paid $25 million for the mall property, minus Sears, in October. The previous owner, Namdar Realty Group, paid $9 million for the mall in 2023.

The property was sold after an exodus of tenants from the mall in recent years. Claire's, Forever 21, Zales Jewelry, and FYE are some of the more recent closures at the Crystal Mall.

The last remaining anchor store at the Crystal Mall, JCPenney, closed last year.

Electric Boat also bought the mall's Macy's space in June. That 121,000-square-foot space will be refurbished and is expected to accommodate about 700 employees by March 2027.

The purchase of the rest of the mall property will allow Electric Boat to expand its engineering, training and software development work in support of Columbia- and Virginia-class submarine production, according to a statement from the company.

Four to five thousand employees are expected to work at the location. Electric Boat will occupy 542,000 square feet of space on the 42-acre plot of land on Route 85.

The spot is 5.5 miles from Electric Boat's shipyard in Groton.

The company plans to refurbish the space for a range of functions related to its submarine production and anticipates employees will start working there by the middle of 2027 at the earliest.

General Dynamics Electric Boat designs, builds, repairs, and modernizes nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. The company employs more than 24,000 people.