The project will be located across the street from the $30 million Chicopee Crossing development.
Employees for Gomes Construction of Ludlow start work on the Chicopee Crossing project in December. A new discount grocery store and tire store is to be built across the street from the project.
CHICOPEE – A discount grocery store and a tire dealership will be part of a new development that is expected to be constructed on Memorial Drive.
Building plans were submitted this week to build an Aldi supermarket and a Firestone Tire store at the site of the former Casey Chevrolet dealership at 505 Memorial Drive, City Planner Catherine L. Brown said.
If approved, the project would be located across the street from the about $30 million Chicopee Crossing project, which includes a hotel, about 23,000 square feet of retail space, three additional restaurants and a stand alone bank. Both are located near the exit to Interstate 90.
“It would be a nice addition to Memorial Drive. We are excited to have people come off the (Massachusetts Turn)pike and see all the development here,” Brown said.
The plans have been submitted by Columbus Avenue Realty LLC. Records at the Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office list James E. Belise as the manager of the company. Hampden County Registry of Deeds records show the company purchased the land from Orr Realty Associates LLC and Sterling A. Orr II for $2.2 million in 2007.
The project calls for about 3.5 acres of the property being used for a 17,886 square-foot Aldi store and parking. The Firestone building to be constructed on another 1.75 acres. A third building is expected to be constructed on about 35,187 square feet of land, Brown said.
There is no information about how the third building would be used, she said.
“It could be just about any type of retail. It could be a store or a bank,” Brown said.
Because there are wetlands on a corner of the about 6-acre parcel, developers will have to get approvals from the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board before building, she said.
The company plans to work with the owners of the Chicopee Crossing project to install a new traffic light on Memorial Drive. The light will allow access from the north and south sides of the road, which is now prevented because of a barrier. The two projects will also have entrance roads that will line up on either side of the street so customers can drive straight from one to the other, she said.