Navy Working With Developer To Create Shopping Center On Route 12

A development company is working with the U.S. Navy to create a shopping center that would include retail shops and a restaurant on 4 acres near the Naval Submarine Base on Route 12 in Groton.

 The development team has received letters of intent from three tenants and may ultimately have a dozen businesses, said Tim Londregan, the local real estate broker working for dck worldwide, a global construction company with headquarters in Pittsburgh.

“It’s all conceptual right now until we finalize a few more of the tenants,” he said Monday, but added, “We’re getting some serious interest really quickly.”

He declined to name the three tenants, but said the group hopes to secure others.

The project was advertised in the Jan. 21 to 27 issue of the New England Real Estate Journal, and is being advertised this month.

Dck also plans to feature the project in March at an exhibit at the International Council of Shopping Centers in Hartford, Londregan said.

The design of the shopping center will depend on who locates there, but the space is an area of about 4 acres at the entrance to the Naval Base at the intersection of Route 12 and Crystal Lake Road, Londregan said. The area is inside the wrought-iron fence; the plan is for the Navy to relocate the fence further back on Navy property so the retail area would be outside the gate and accessible to the public, he said.

 “The whole concept behind it is that the Navy would like to have some retail and some service businesses that aren’t already satisfied on base, that are also that going to attract (business from) the local community,” he said.

The real estate advertisement describes the development as the “Naval Sub Base Shopping Center”, says it would include 1,500 to 40,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, and would be occupied by spring of 2012.

Londregan said the timetable for the project is still being developed.

Groton Town Manager Mark Oefinger said the project has been in the works for about a year and a half.

Dck has a history of working with different branches of the military on various developments, and built and managed projects including the child development center at the Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va.

Business owners on Route 12 in Groton said they would welcome it.

 “As far as we’re concerned, we think it would be a boon to the area and a big advantage to the Navy population,” said John Wenrick, who owns Bumper to Bumper, an auto parts and accessories store across from the base.

He said a number of people spend three to nine months training at the base, and are there without families or cars.

“They walk,” he said. “So I think it makes a lot of sense to have things that are close and safe, and attract people to this side of the base, as opposed to just a gate.”

Steve Woodruff, owner of Woody’s Service, agreed.

“It’s a great idea,” he said. Woodruff said a business like Dave and Busters - a combination bar, restaurant and video game arcade - would work well at the site, for example. “It’s a sports bar, you’ve got a combination of things. You could bring the kids there,” he said.

Londregan said the retail project could be exciting addition. “Everybody involved wants it to happen as quickly as possible,” he said.