Charter Oak To Plant Its Roots In Waterford

will build its headquarters in Waterford, at the intersection of Industrial Drive and Route 85.

The credit union has been successful over the past few years, allowing it to build a modern, 60,000 square foot building as its corporate headquarters, Chief Executive Officer Brian Orenstein said. But the credit union, which relies completely on local businesses and local residents, is not forgetting where it got the money to build that building, which could cost up to $16 million.

“We are going to use as many local contractors as possible and have local unions building this,” Orenstein said. “It is definitely going to cost us more money. But we have to depend on our local community, so it is the right thing to do to hire local people.”

The application to install the building at 1055 Hartford Turnpike is pending before Waterford’s conservation commission and planning and zoning commission. The Waterford Utility Commission already approved a request by Charter Oak to extend the sewer line from Route 85 north to the property.

Why

When Charter Oak Credit Union built its current headquarters in Groton at 32 Chicago Avenue in 1970, it was a $25 million credit union, Orenstein said. Now, it has nine full-branches, two high school branches and a small branch at Electric Boat in New London, and is a $700 million credit union, he said.

That has forced the credit union to have its corporate offices spread out in three different locations, Orenstein said. Once this new, large corporate office is complete, it will all be in one spot, he said.

“We’ve outgrown what we’ve had in Groton,” he said.

The credit union will move its corporate offices out of the Groton location, but will keep the branch there running, Orenstein said. The top floor of the building will be left vacant, but Charter Oak hopes to rent that out, he said.

The Building Itself

The new building will be “in a well-traveled location,” with “a lot of visibility” on Route 85, Orenstein said. There will be a massive aluminum oak tree on the side of the bulding, the company’s logo, according to building plans.

“It will be a statement building,” Orenstein said. “A lot of people still don’t know about us… It is going to be a marketing statement for Charter Oak.”

The build will have a new branch on the first floor, with four drive-through lanes. The basement will have a community room for public use and the second floor will be the corporate headquarters, including the boardroom for the credit union, according to building plans.

The new branch will mean 10 new jobs to the community, Orenstein said. The building will hold about 80 people originally, but most of those people will be just moved from other offices, he said.

Although about 80 people will be at the office, there will be office space for about 115 people, according to building plans. That is to ensure the building meets the company’s needs in the future, Orenstein said.

“You have to build for the future,” he said. “You don’t want to have to add on another wing in five years.”

Cost/Timeline

The cost of the building is going to be between $14 million to $16 million, Orenstein said. It is good Charter Oak can build that kind of building, even in a tough economy, he said.

“I think its good that we can show we can build a $14 or $16 million building,” Orenstein said. “It shows we have been doing well and are doing well.”

The project still has to get approval, and the sewer line needs to be extended, he said. Groundbreaking probably won’t happen until this fall, and then construction will take 14 months, so it will be be finished around the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014, he said.

“We are very excited,” he said. “It is going to be a great building for the Town of Waterford.”

Charter Oak bought the property from It is a 10-acre plot, with no wetlands. The property currently has a house and garage on it, which will be demolished as part of construction.