ANSONIA – Six years after Big Y left the downtown Ansonia Shopping Center, the property’s owner is putting the plaza out to auction.
According to a real estate listing, an auction for the 177,320-square foot property at 403 – 495 Main St. is scheduled to take place from Sept. 15 through Sept. 17. The news was first reported by Hearst Connecticut.
The commercial plaza is currently home to a Marshalls/HomeGoods store, Ion Bank, Mattress Firm, Cutting Crew Hair Salon, and an office of the Social Security Administration. Another 127,163 square feet of the property – about 70 percent of the total area – is currently unoccupied, according to a sales brochure.
The property was last sold for $3.45 million in 2016, according to land records.
Closures have battered the retail plaza in recent years. Big Y, the plaza’s former anchor tenant, relocated to Derby in 2019, while Bob’s Stores closed last year after its parent company filed for bankruptcy. Rite Aid also shuttered a store after filing for bankruptcy in 2023.
Alan Schwartz of New York-based Glen Equities, which partially owns the shopping center, said times have been tough for the retail industry, both across the country and within the Naugatuck Valley. He said the decision to sell comes amid “a great deal of uncertainty” in the market.
Meanwhile, city officials say they’re excited to see new ownership. Members of Mayor David Cassetti’s administration have criticized Schwartz in the past, accusing him of not doing enough to fill the plaza’s vacant space.
“We’re anticipating a new owner, a new vision for the site, and a new energy towards the redevelopment of this really critical parcel,” said city corporation counsel John Marini.
Marini said the city would like to see a grocery store come to the plaza, especially after the closure of Stop & Shop on Division Street last year left Ansonia without one. Former economic development director Sheila O’Malley, who now works as president of the Shelton Economic Development Corporation, said Ansonia had previously sent a letter to Price Chopper/Market 32 about the property.
Marini acknowledged that the retail industry is struggling. However, he said the city could offer tax incentives to interested developers.
“While times are tough, we think this parcel is a great opportunity for the right owner,” Marini said.
O’Malley said the city is open to all commercial and retail uses.
In December 2024, Marini authored a proposed city ordinance which would have fined storefront owners whose properties were vacant for six months or more. It was a measure city officials began talking about after Bob’s Stores announced it was closing. Schwartz criticized the measure at the time, saying that it was counterproductive.
A public hearing on the proposed ordinance was held in March, but the Board of Aldermen never voted to pass it into law.
Another attempt to tackle the problem of vacant retail space kicked off at the state level this year.
In May, state lawmakers passed a bill which provides $50 million over two years to revitalize commercial “greyfields” – defined as retail and office space in need of redevelopment. State Rep. Kara Rochelle, whose district includes Ansonia, said the new law includes ideas she had proposed in another bill earlier this year.
The state legislature “rolled (Rochelle’s bill) into the grey field concept,” according to a message from Rochelle.
According to data from the US Census Bureau, in-store retail sales increased by 1.5 percent between May 2024 and May 2025. In-store retail sales increased by 1.9 percent between May 2023 and May 2024.