West Hartford Business Buzz: October 10, 2022 – We-Ha

A round-up of openings, closings, and other news about West Hartford businesses.

By Ronni Newton

If you’ve got today off for Indigenous Peoples Day or Columbus Day, I hope you have a chance to enjoy what looks like some fairly nice fall weather!

While schools are closed Monday, and so is Town Hall, there is no trash delay this week and I have confirmed that the Yard Waste and Recycling Center on Brixton Street is open.

John Lyons and I will be hosting statewide Democratic candidates Stephanie Thomas (secretary of the state) and Sean Scanlon (comptroller) in a We-Ha Roundtable show today at 10 a.m. on West Hartford Community Interactive and Facebook Live. Please tune in if you can, or look for the recording later. We’re hopeful that several Republican candidates will be joining us in the next week or two for a show as well.

I have a second TV/streaming appearance this week when I will be providing post-debate analysis on Tuesday evening for CT Public following the 1st Congressional District debate between incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. John Larson and Republican challenger Larry Lazor. The debate, moderated by Ray Hardman, will take place live at Manchester Community College, and begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11. It will be broadcast/streamed on all Connecticut Public platforms, including CPTV, ctpublic.org, YouTube and Facebook Live, as well as the League of Women Voters of Connecticut website and YouTube channel.

I’m still a bit sore from Saturday’s half marathon. It was my 19th half marathon, and I completed it in just over 2 hours and 12 minutes – far from my fastest time, but quite a bit faster than the last half marathon I ran, which was a virtual race in 2020 that I did by myself on a day where winds were gusting our 30 mph. I did not quite stick to my plan of starting out slowly on Saturday, and then got even more excited when halfway through I was keeping up a sub-10-minute-per-mile pace. As a seasoned runner I should know better, but the weather was great, the crowd support was fantastic, and it was hard to keep the excitement at bay … at least until I started running up the hill on Albany Avenue and my pace was suddenly 30 seconds per mile slower. Everything about the day was inspirational, however, and I am so thankful to my coaches from Fleet Feet, and my running partners (especially Laurie and Kitty) for motivating me to do this race, and for their constant support. On my ascent out of Elizabeth Park on Saturday I swore this would be my last half marathon, but by the time I reached the beer tent in Bushnell Park we were already talking about next year, so who knows …

My sister ran the half marathon as well (Ted skipped it this year, but provided great crowd support!), and we had our traditional post-race celebratory burgers (the wrap was Ted’s) at Beachland Tavern on Saturday night, preceded by cauliflower tempura.

A few housekeeping notes … I got a notice this week informing me that We-Ha was a winner in the 2022 West Hartford Award Program. Other businesses have received the same type of notice and please be warned that this is a SCAM and please do not fall for it. The Best of West Hartford is an actual contest, operated by 2020Media, with an actual awards ceremony that involves actual West Hartford companies in attendance, and voting is currently underway. The so-called “West Hartford Award Program” is just a ploy to get businesses to purchase a meaningless award for display.

Also, this past week someone emailed a business I was working with on a story and told the contact that they partnered with We-Ha.com for covering West Hartford, and provided a link to “My Site 1.” I didn’t want to click on the link and I’ve reported this to our IT specialist, but although I don’t yet know what this is all about, I assure you it is not coming from us. Someone also recently told a business owner (in person) that any content that goes onto We-Ha.com has to be funneled thought them – which is also untrue. Unfortunately we haven’t yet figured out who the person was who made that statement. As managing editor, please know that I manage the content that is on the site – whether it is being produced by me, or a freelancer, or an intern, or submitted by a member of the community. If you get a strange request, please email me at [email protected] and let me know.

On Tuesday, Kristen Gorski will deliver her annual Economic Development Update. Look for lots of forthcoming business news from that report!

There were 44 positive cases COVID-19 in West Hartford over the past seven days (as of Saturday), and a positivity rate of 8.7%. The numbers have gone up and down a bit over the past few weeks, but over the past week have remained fairly steady in West Hartford as well as statewide. One day I hope to be able to delete this paragraph completely, but in the meantime, please continue to have patience since not everyone has the same level of comfort, continue to look out for each other, support our local businesses – and stay safe and healthy.

If you’re looking for news about West Hartford in print please note that many stories from We-Ha.com, as well as other local news, is published in the twice-monthly issues of the West Hartford Press.

If you have information to share about local businesses, please provide details in the comments or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

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Connecticut Physical Therapy Specialists is the sponsor of this week’s Business Buzz!

Here’s this week’s Buzz:

• Central Rock Gym (CRG) has announced that construction is now underway for their West Hartford location, which will be opening in early 2023 in the former Workout World (WOW) space at 99 Shield Street. “CRG is very excited to bring its proven expertise in creating world class climbing facilities to the West Hartford area climbing community,” the company said in a news release. “The facility will provide members with a modern climbing space that is open and community centric. The terrain will have all the features of a best in class bouldering gym from amazing overhangs to delicate slab climbs. There will be climbing specific training stations with hangboards, campus boards, and several other complimentary cross training exercise stations. There also will be a fitness room with weights and cardio equipment, as wells as a yoga room.” The overall space is 22,000 square feet, of which 10,000 will be dedicated to climbing, with terrain that is targeted to a variety of skill. “The facility will boast 400 linear feet of bouldering terrain. All of the climbing routes will be reset regularly by our full-time route setting staff, giving members a constant flow of new climbs to try,” the news release states. There will also be programs, events, parties, and competitions held at the facility, CRG said. Membership, which starts at $75 per month, will allow access to all Central Rock locations, and day passes ($22 and up) will be available. Currently there are 17 CRG facilities in the Northeast, with the nearest in Glastonbury. A virtual tour and construction and opening plan updates can be found on the website.

• A very large real estate transaction in West Hartford has recently taken place – the sale of the Bishops Corner Crossroads Plaza shopping center where Big Y is located … to Big Y. Town of West Hartford real estate records indicate that Springfield, MA-based grocery store chain Big Y Foods, Inc., which in 2010 took over what had been a Waldbaum’s store in that shopping center, under the management of Edens, has purchased 714, 772, and 774 North Main Street for $22.4 million from Sea Crossroads West Hartford LLC, based in Columbia, SC, which had purchased the property in 2002 for $9,698,000. The deed was filed with the town on Sept. 30. The 8.44-acre property includes the roughly 110,000 square foot multi-story building that houses Big Y as well as the Crossroads Plaza businesses on the east side lower level, and the separate building where the Webster Bank is located. Big Y did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the transaction.

• Plans for the redevelopment of 1051 and 1061 New Britain Ave. are moving along, with the Ashley HomeStore Outlet having completed liquidation. West Hartford Economic Development Coordinator Kristen Gorski reported at the Elmwood Business Association meeting last week that the existing buildings on the property may be demolished by the end of the year. Sami Abunasra purchased the 2.97-acre property in 2020, and the town obtained a $953,646 Municipal Brownfield Grant earlier this year for remediation of environmental hazards. Abunasra has had several informal study sessions with the town’s Design Review Advisory Committee (DRAC) regarding plans to pursue construction of a roughly $34 million mixed-use residential and commercial development on the site. The property, which is less than a quarter-mile from the Elmwood CTFastrak station, falls within the Transit-Oriented Development zone adopted by the Town Council in June 2022, and following the receipt of a state permit as a TOD project can be approved administratively by the town planner, rather than undergoing the Special Development District process.