Costco targets 2027 opening at former Fox Run Mall site

Costco officials revealed plans to open an 820-parking space membership warehouse club, 16-pump fuel station and tire center at the future Seacoast Landing, the first known tenant of Torrington Properties’ plan for the former Mall at Fox Run and Newington Park Shopping Center.

Mark Marchisano, Costco’s director of development, and Michelle Carlson, a civil engineer with BL Companies, laid out Costco’s goal to open its next membership-based location just off the Spaulding Turnpike.

Pending town land-use and permitting approval, Costco aims to open its newest superstore by November 2027.

“We’re looking at taking the parcel down on the bottom left … right off the highway,” Marchisano told the Newington Planning Board Monday, April 27.

The new warehouse store would include a pharmacy, optical and hearing services, a food court and potentially a seasonal gardening section. With the exception of wine and beer, liquor will not be sold.

Marchisano said Costco warehouses are all opened within five months of construction starting, with stocking beginning less than three months after construction begins.

“We’ll still have construction happening, but at that same time, the inside is done and safe enough where we can have products starting to come in. We have our employees training in different facilities, then (we) get it open,” Marchisano said.

Each Costco warehouse averages a dozen truck deliveries and roughly 6,000 customer vehicle trips per day, the company executive added.

“We always get asked that question related to traffic and related to our parking lot size. We never shy away from our business because we’re proud that we’re successful, but we also have to tell it how it is, because otherwise we can’t build the infrastructure or have the infrastructure built around to be able to accommodate us,” Marchisano said.

Monday’s presentation was a preliminary consultation with the Newington Planning Board. Marchisano stated Costco’s official proposal to open at Seacoast Landing is expected to be filed with the town in late May or early June.

Gregg Mikolaities, an engineering consultant for Torrington, reported that demolition of existing structures, including the Mall at Fox Run and several former Newington Park Shopping Center properties, is now tentatively set to start June 1.

The prospect of Costco joining Seacoast Landing marks the first time a potential tenant has been identified. Non-disclosure agreements have kept representatives of Torrington quiet about the company’s negotiations with possible operators, leaving the public guessing.

Costco is attempting to open its second New Hampshire location in Newington after operating a store in Portsmouth in the past. Costco’s only current location in the state is in Nashua.

Approximately 170 trees are proposed to be planted at the site, and a second pond will be added to capture storm drainage.

The 152,000-square-foot membership discount club is one of the key components of Torrington’s marketed site plan for Seacoast Landing.

The Chick-fil-A restaurant already located on property owned by Torrington is noted in the Seacoast Landing plan. An anchor tenant with two free-standing pad sites is also featured, while a separate building would hold 236,000 square feet of retail space.

An additional lot on the property calls for 16,200 square feet of medical office space, while the sixth lot with four pad sites would be designated as office and retail space.

Atlantic Retail has listed Seacoast Landing’s various buildings for lease, though Mikolaities has stated in the past that they could be rented out or sold to business operators.

The Planning Board last month approved Torrington’s subdivision plan for the company’s existing commercial lots. Each of the buildings on them — the 43-year-old Mall at Fox Run and the old JCPenney, Sears, Macy’s, Savers and Party City stores — will be razed, then the nine current lots will be subdivided into six parcels.

Residents of Newington will vote on whether a tax increment financing district for the Seacoast Landing plan should be approved.

Town officials and Torrington have negotiated the terms of the proposed TIF district, which leverages future property tax revenue to fund infrastructure needed for projects that will financially benefit the municipality. The TIF district would surround the 80-plus-acre property currently inhabited by the Mall at Fox Run and the Newington Park Shopping Center.

The agreement calls for a warrant article proposing $9 million in public upgrades under a nine-year TIF structure that would conclude in March 2035. The Newington Budget Committee approved the proposed article on Thursday, April 23.

The TIF district question will go before voters at a special town meeting scheduled for Saturday, May 30. Torrington’s proposed TIF district would be the first to ever be established in Newington.

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