NASHUA – The 41-acre former Hampshire Chemical site in South Nashua has been proposed as the new location for a large development which will include a new Costco Wholesale Club, a gas station with nine fueling stations and a three-story self-storage facility.

Commercial real estate developer Dick Anagnost of Anagnost Investments and The Landing at Nashua LLC are planning on resuscitating the large parcel at 2 East Spit Brook Road, which has remained vacant for almost 20 years.

The site sits down East Spit Brook between Old Navy and a Gulf station.

“This proposed Costco Warehouse would be a relocation of the existing Costco that is currently in Nashua,” Matt Bruton of BL Companies, one of the engineering firms involved with the project, told Nashua city planners in April. “They have outgrown that current location and are looking to create a new store to their current standards.”

Anagnost said when he acquired the land at 2 East Spit Brook Road in 2018 for $7.1 million, there was no plan to move Costco there.

“When we originally purchased that land, I didn’t have as much a plan as it was still contaminated,” he said. “We’re the ones who got the Brownfields clean-up done and got the Brownsfields designation. I had to do that before I could figure out a development scheme.”

Previously, Anagnost told The Telegraph that the parcel “was the last property of its size in that area – the last major parcel on Daniel Webster Highway in South Nashua.”

The proposal calls for a nearly 157,000 square-foot Costco store, 800 parking spaces, a Costco gas station with nine fueling stations to accommodate 18 vehicles and a three-story, True Storage facility.

Anagnost said the concept for that land has always been “twirling around in the back of my head” and he is a big proponent of commuter rail in the region.

“It’s very close to the Mass border,” he said. “It’s only nine miles from the Lowell transit station for trains. And it has the side spur so I’ve always had the multi-modal kind of development idea there, that would put the first train station in New Hampshire essentially just across the Nashua border.”

It’s built for it, Anagnost said, adding, “I was building in my head a design around the train station.”

Costco did approach Anagnost at one point, but the time schedule that they wanted was “too aggressive” for AI at the time. Later, Costco’s schedule eased and they and Anagnost began negotiations again.

“They became the centerpiece of the development,” he said.

Additionally, developers said the site allows for restaurant with retail and office space.

Several years ago, the former Hampshire Chemical site, also the former W.R. Grace property, was listed in a study as one of three possible commuter train stops if commuter rail returns to Nashua.

“As you can see, this is a very large project,” Fuss & O’Neill’s Brian Pratt told the planning board. F&O and another engineering firm.

Anagnost said that traffic issues have never been a problem with the new proposed location for Costco, which is set down East Spit Brook road several hundred feet.

“No,” he said, “Everybody has welcomed us. There was concern about the size of signs among the neighbors but then they realized we’re 650 feet down the roadway.”

The only “neighbor” to raise a traffic concern was BJ’s Wholesale Club, located down the DW near Lowes; BJ’s is planning on opening a members-only gas station on Allen Mello’s property, located on Adventure Way.

“We have solutions to what they’re talking about,” Anagnost said. “But other than that, we’ve not had anybody talk to us to complain about traffic issues.”

In fact, for anyone who’s tried to access Costco at their current location at 311 DW Highway address, right next to Long’s Jewelers, they know traffic congestion when they’re sitting in it.

“Actually, our plan would alleviate a bunch of the problems at that intersection,” Anagnost said. “When you take out the Costco, what replaces it won’t be as traffic-heavy as Costo’s. So, that intersection will become better.”

Anagnost said once they get city approvals, within 30 days, site work will begin. It will take six to seven months to complete that, pushing the timeframe to January or February of 2022.

According to the plans on file at Nashua City Hall, improvements that are proposed at the East Spit Brook Road and Daniel Webster Highway intersection will aim to increase vehicle capacity in that area, and the project will also improve the municipal storm water system at the east end of East Spit Brook Road.

“This property has been vacant for over 15 years,” Fuss & O’Neill senior project engineer Amy Sanders said. “The development of the gas station, Costco Wholesale and the self-storage facility will increase the property value and promote future economic development, including future pad sites and a municipal train station. This development will provide a strong economic community that will foster additional future development.”