Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • September 7, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Mitchell Auto Group expansion leads construction uptick in Canton By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com T he COVID-19 pandemic has led some businesses to re- think expansion plans but in Canton, where construction permits are actually up 10% from last year, Mitchell Subaru plans to build a new 27,000-square-foot facility. Mitchell Auto Group owns dealer- ships in Windsor, Hartford and Simsbury, in addition to the cur- rent 19,000-square-foot Subaru dealership at 71 Albany Turnpike in Canton. The family business for 15 years has owned land a couple doors down at 95 Albany Turnpike where it plans to build the new dealership, owner Mark Mitchell said. "We have outgrown our current facil- ity," Mitchell said. "We need more space [to expand our] ability to service cars." The Subaru dealership opened in 1982, a decade after Mitchell Auto Group became one of the United States' first exclusive Subaru deal- ers. The company has been in Mitch- ell's family since 1922, and now runs eight dealerships that sell brands including Saab, Dodge and Land Rover. Mitchell declined to disclose the company's annual revenue. Business has been stable at Mitchell's dealerships, he said. Customers on the lots have to follow social distancing and mask regulations, but aside from that not much has changed about the way they're going about buy- ing cars. "They generally still want to test drive and per- sonally engage before making a buying decision," Mitchell said. Mitchell is currently seeking town approval to move forward with what he expects will be a multimillion-dol- lar project, and is shopping around for a construction company. However, he noted the process seems to be moving a bit slower than in the past, since the pandemic has made organizing deals more difficult. "COVID makes things a little bit more difficult regarding communi- cations and trying to put business deals together," Mitchell said. But regardless of coronavirus complications, it hasn't stopped new construction proposals in Canton. Between March 1 and Aug. 25, Canton saw a 10% spike in new con- struction permits compared with the same period last year, said Neil Pade, the town's director of planning and community development. On Albany Turnpike alone, there are two new businesses under construc- tion — 110 Grille and an Aldi grocery store — and the Kilburn Live drive-in movie theater recently debuted at The Shops at Farmington Valley. Multiple businesses in town are also expanding. The town's second- largest employer Favarh—The Arc of the Farmington Valley Inc. — a nonprofit serving people with intel- lectual disabilities — is in the final permitting process of adding nearly 15,000 square feet of facilities on its Commerce Street campus. "A contributing factor may be that as a community we spent a consid- erable amount of time several years ago engaging the public, businesses, and residential and commercial property owners to discuss how the town may grow and change over the next 10 years," Pade said. Those conversations led Canton to adopt a new plan of conservation and Up Front Continued on page 4 >> TOWN PROFILE: CANTON WE FOCUS ON YOUR FACILITIES— SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON YOUR BUSINESS. The company that builds and installs the critical systems in virtually every type of facility is the same company you can rely on to maintain them. For over over 50 years, our clients have trusted us to deliver end-to-end facilities solutions, so they can focus on their core business. We design, install, and maintain systems in: Industrial, Manufacturing, Commercial, Higher Education, Healthcare, and Pharmaceutical facilities. 860.871.1111 Toll Free: 800.741.6367 nemsi.com MECHANICAL | ELECTRICAL | PLUMBING | SHEET METAL | BUILDING AUTOMATION | FACILITIES SERVICES License #'s: E1-0125666 S1-302974 P1-203519 F1-10498 SM1-192 MC-1134 NEMSI HBJ_QtrPg Ads_200117.indd 4 NEMSI HBJ_QtrPg Ads_200117.indd 4 1/17/20 1:31 PM 1/17/20 1:31 PM Mark Mitchell, owner, Mitchell Auto Group Mitchell Auto Group is seeking approval to move its Canton Subaru dealership into a larger facility the company wants to build on Albany Turnpike. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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