Berlin, Connecticut now has its second McDonald's, with a new restaurant open at 466 Deming Road, at the corner of Deming Road and Berlin Turnpike. The 3,690-square-foot restaurant includes a drive-thru and joins the existing McDonald's location at 185 New Britain Road, giving the town two outposts of the chain for the first time.
The new restaurant is the most visible piece of a larger mixed-use development taking shape at 337 Berlin Turnpike, on a former industrial property that had sat underused for years, according to the New Britain Herald. The site is owned by 337 Berlin LLC, according to CTInsider, and Farmington-based Calco Construction and Development Inc. proposed the project, per the Herald. The development is expected to cover roughly 60,000 square feet of building space across approximately 10 acres, according to Summit Realty Partners figures cited by the Herald.
A Years-Long Path Through Town Review
The project's review process began in September 2024, when a proposal called for the 3,690-square-foot fast-food restaurant alongside retail and warehouse space, as reported by The Hartford Courant. Before that proposal reached the town's planning board, it needed sign-off from Berlin's Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission. The Courant reported the wetlands commission unanimously approved the motion at an Aug. 6, 2024 meeting.
The Berlin Planning and Zoning Commission then gave the project its unanimous approval at a Nov. 14, 2024 hearing, according to town records cited by CTInsider. The commission's vote cleared the way for construction on a site that had sat largely idle, with the development ultimately bundling a fast-food restaurant, retail space and warehouse components into a single footprint off the Turnpike.
Goodwill Still Taking Shape Next Door
While the McDonald's drive-thru is now serving customers, a Goodwill store planned for the same property is still working toward an opening, with no official date announced. Goodwill has secured 23,680 square feet of space in the retail portion of the development, according to The Connecticut Scoop. Additional retail and industrial space remains available for lease at the property, the Herald reports.
Reports on the project's exact acreage have also varied. The Courant described the proposed site as 12.2 acres, while the Hartford Business Journal put the combined properties Calco owns at roughly 12.3 acres.
Filling a Gap in Berlin's Fast-Food Options
Town officials have framed the project as a long-term economic win for Berlin. At the time of CTInsider's report, a town economic development official identified only as Edge said the area around the site lacked any fast-food options, making the new McDonald's the first in that stretch of the Turnpike corridor. The new restaurant brings another fast-food option to Berlin Turnpike and gives the town its second McDonald's overall.
The redevelopment arrives alongside other projects reshaping the Berlin Turnpike corridor. Riverwalk Berlin, planned for 414 Berlin Turnpike, is set to include 200 apartments along with a clubhouse and other amenities, Bristol Press reported. Nearby, roughly 30% of the units in a complex planned for 55 Steele Boulevard are slated to be affordable housing, and The Kensington, an affordable senior housing development at 143 Percival Ave., is expected to open in 2027 with 70 apartments for seniors, according to the same report.
