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Electric Boat proposes Crystal Mall conversion into training and R&D campus; DRB signs off
Summary
General Dynamics Electric Boat presented plans to convert Crystal Mall at 850 Hartford Turnpike into a phased workforce development and research campus anchored by a Sears-based training facility; the Design Review Board approved the site and landscape plans as presented.
General Dynamics Electric Boat told the Waterford Design Review Board on Feb. 24 that it plans to adaptively reuse Crystal Mall at 850 Hartford Turnpike into a campus for workforce development, training and research and development functions. The board voted to accept the site's design and landscape plans as presented.
John Casey, partner at Robinson & Cole representing Electric Boat, said the project will transform an underutilized shopping center into a campus to support the Columbia-class submarine program, emphasizing training and hiring. "We're gonna transform this underperforming mall into a real, state of the art, center for Electric Boat," Casey said. Applicant Jim Waldron, who manages real estate development for Electric Boat, framed workforce development in the Sears building as the project's top priority: "Our customer we have 1 customer. It's the navy," Waldron said, describing pressure to train and hire for program schedules.
Presenters emphasized that the reuse occurs within the existing footprint with no new building construction proposed; the team described multiple site improvements including parking reconfiguration, new landscaping, roundabouts to improve circulation, and controlled entrances. Architect Chris Boxall said most modifications are interior and that life-safety and egress studies show existing components meet current requirements; the applicant plans to remove retail signage, power-wash facades, and modify storefronts to control primary access.
