Bloomfield might soon be the home of a new 690,000 square-foot distribution facility for Trader Joe’s.
The proposed project would cost about $78.5 million and be located near Amazon’s fulfillment center off of Blue Hills Avenue Extension in Bloomfield.
Jose Giner, Bloomfield’s planning and economic development director, received a letter on Tuesday from KPMG, the company Trader Joe’s contracted to negotiate the deal.
According to KPMG, the warehouse would bring approximately 675 new jobs to the area, including 150 transportation positions.
“Very optimistic because they’ve been talking about submitting applications to planning and zoning, those type of things that would indicate they’ve done their due diligence,” Giner said.
But Giner said this is not a done deal.
Trader Joe’s is considering another location in New York. The company is asking for a 100 percent tax abatement for seven years, as well as a full building permit and a waiver for MDC water and sewer.
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Giner said he does not think the town council would approve those requests, but they would be willing to negotiate to come up with a competitive package.
“We’re not a very large region so we have to keep that in mind -- that to be competitive, sometimes we do have to offer some types of incentives or else other towns will,” Giner said.
The town council is working on a new policy for tax abatements.
Council members received a lot of backlash for their most recent abatement deal with Niagara Bottling.
Despite the possibility of a tax break, some Bloomfield residents are in favor of a Trader Joe’s warehouse.
“I think it’s a good idea. Whatever it takes to bring jobs into Bloomfield and the state of Connecticut,” said Columbus Woodard Jr., who has lived in Bloomfield for more than 40 years.
A town council meeting is scheduled for Dec.12 to discuss the details of Trader Joe’s proposal.
