When a listing near Somersville Center mentions the "planned redevelopment" of the old mill, what has actually been planned? As of late October 2026, the town owns a cleared 5.38-acre lot at 40 Maple Street, split by the Scantic River. It has no developer under contract, and the cleanup grant it once had approved no longer counts as available money. The question for a buyer is which link in the redevelopment chain has to close first. In Somersville, the two key links waited on each other.
Two Commitments, Each Waiting on the Other
The Somersville Mill Site Progress Update the town released in September 2026 sets out the mechanism plainly. In December 2023, Somers received a conditional letter of approval for a $995,000 state brownfield grant to finish cleaning up the mill site. The condition was that the site's developer first had to receive the Low Income Housing Tax Credits and other Connecticut Housing Finance Authority funding it had applied for. Only then would the Department of Economic and Community Development fund the cleanup.
That developer was WINN Companies. From 2023 through early 2026, town officials worked with Winn on an 80- to 100-unit, four-story mixed-income residential building for the site. The town's update says the proposal "did not advance beyond the conceptual planning phase," and Winn formally withdrew in 2026. The update gives no reason for the withdrawal. CHFA's published list of 2026 applications for 9% tax credits does not include a Somers project.
So the arrangement worked like this. The cleanup money depended on the housing financing. The housing financing depended on a developer carrying the project far enough to compete for it. When the developer stepped away, the cleanup money had nothing left to attach to. At its September 29, 2026 meeting, the Somers Economic Development Commission put the result on the record:
"He said a prior $995,000 DECD grant was contingent on a developer plan and should not be treated as funds currently available to the town."
That line comes from the EDC's September 29 minutes, summarizing remarks by commission chair Shawn Curtis. The same minutes say that "development economics, the number of housing units, and remediation responsibilities remained unresolved."
The Site Has Been Here Before
Winn was not the first plan for this site to stall before construction. The town's update lists each earlier attempt.
- 1969: Textile manufacturing ends at a site first developed around 1760 as a grist mill and sawmill.
- 1988: Corbin Gentry buys the property and proposes about 100 condominium units. The town gives tentative approval, but legal disputes delay the project, and the company withdraws its lawsuit in 2006.
- 2007–2008: The town expands its Water Pollution Control Facility to support future redevelopment and drafts a request for proposals. Tibor Orosz buys the site in March 2008, and redevelopment talks don't succeed.
- June 2012: Fire destroys the mill complex. The property goes to Venture Capitals, LLC at a tax sale that November.
- 2016–2018: Somers receives a $1.8 million DECD grant, acquires the property through a tax sale on October 26, 2016, and creates a Planned Development District for the site. Costello Dismantling carries out demolition and cleanup from July 1, 2017 to May 26, 2018.
- 2021: A $200,000 U.S. EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant through the Capitol Region Council of Governments pays for repairs to the southern river wall and pre-design engineering. A Phase III Environmental Site Assessment is completed late that year.
Since the town issued a request for qualifications in September 2018, three development firms have shown interest, and Winn was the most recent. Somers has already paid for the hardest physical work: demolition, abatement, and river wall repairs. The remaining step needs a developer and a funding source to commit at the same moment.
Why Outside Money Carries So Much Weight in Somers
The town's update states that residents "have consistently opposed tax increases to support redevelopment efforts." That puts state and federal grants at the center of every plan for the mill, and it explains why a conditional grant tied to a developer's tax credits mattered so much.
This year's budget took several tries. Patch reported that Somers voters approved the FY2026–27 budget on the fifth referendum, held July 14, 2026. According to the Journal Inquirer's coverage in CT Insider, the $41.6 million budget passed 807 to 608. The mill rate was set at 23.46 in June, 1.06 mills higher than the year before. The update says town leaders met with the Office of Community Development in September 2026 to ask for cleanup funding.
What Is Actually Moving in Somersville Village
The mill is the largest site in Somersville, but it isn't the only town-owned property in play. The September 29 EDC meeting covered the village as a whole, and some of that work has firmer dates than the mill.
55 School Street. The town has issued a request for proposals for adaptive reuse of the former Village Players building, which earlier served as a Legion Hall. The RFP was issued September 24, 2026, included a site tour on October 10, and set the proposal deadline for October 21 at 11:00 a.m. Finalist interviews run through December 2026. The town is asking for a reuse concept and a financial plan, and the tenant would cover operating utilities and other specified costs. The EDC noted limited parking and a lack of ADA accessibility as constraints, and it mentioned a shared-workspace model in Manchester as an example, not a decision.
A business district vision. Curtis urged the commission to consider uses that add to the commercial tax base within a wider Somersville Village Business District vision. Any proposal for the mill will be measured against that idea.
Connecticut Main Street Center. The EDC has started an application to the Connecticut Main Street Center. Curtis described the initial engagement as costing about $1,000 and fitting within the existing budget.
The mill itself. The same minutes mention conversations with the New York firm Kershaw during the mill discussion, with housing as the concept under consideration. The town's own update says only that talks with a new prospective development partner began in June 2026 and remain preliminary. It does not name the partner. Eastern CT News summarized it on October 15: cleanup funding and a replacement partner "remain unresolved."
Reading the "Planned Redevelopment" Line on a Listing
For a buyer comparing homes in and around Somersville Center, the useful question is how far each piece of the chain has advanced. Here is where each piece stood as of late October 2026, based on the town's published records.
| Piece of the chain | Status, late October 2026 | What would move it forward |
|---|---|---|
| Site ownership | Town-owned since the October 2016 tax sale | Already settled |
| Demolition and initial cleanup | Finished May 2018 | Already settled |
| Remaining remediation funding | Not secured; the $995,000 conditional grant is not considered available | A new state funding commitment |
| Development partner | Preliminary talks since June 2026, partner not named by the town | A named partner and a public agreement |
| Project design and unit count | Unresolved per the September 29 EDC minutes | An application under the site's Planned Development District |
The top two rows are settled facts. Everything below them is a step that has failed before, at a site where tentative approvals date back to 1988. A listing that describes the mill as "coming" is describing the bottom three rows. 55 School Street is a separate property on its own timeline, with finalist interviews running through December. Until a partner is named publicly and an application reaches the Planning and Zoning Commission, an accurate description is a cleared, town-owned riverfront parcel with a redevelopment goal.
A Few Direct Questions
Will the mill site become housing? Housing is the concept currently under discussion, according to the September 29 EDC minutes. Public discussion over the years has favored mixed use, which could combine residential, commercial, office, recreational, and light industrial space. No unit count has been set.
What steps are still missing? Three things are still missing: a publicly named development partner, a state commitment to fund the remaining cleanup, and a filed application under the Planned Development District. The town says it will keep posting updates as talks progress.
Is the planned Route 190 and Route 83 roundabout connected to the mill? No. It is a separate state project. The Connecticut Department of Transportation's plan would realign South Road and Springfield Road into a roundabout with pedestrian improvements. CTDOT lists design completion for May 2028 and construction anticipated in spring 2029, subject to funding, right-of-way, and permits.
If you are weighing a home near Somersville Center and want to know how the mill's status, and any news from the 55 School Street selection this winter, fits into your pricing or offer strategy, Pam Moriarty Real Estate can walk you through what the town's records show and what they leave open. Schedule a free consultation.
