Genesis Of Milford Aims For 2024 Opening, Building To Include $1M Worth Of Glass

MILFORD, CT — “So far, so good,” Chuck Dortenzio said when asked how the Genesis of Milford project was progressing.

“Rain pushed us back a little bit; it was a rainy summer, but we are making up ground now. It’s been great so far,” Dortenzio, director of operations for Key Automotive Group, said.

In April 2022, the Milford Planning and Zoning Board approved the plans to construct a Genesis of Milford dealership at 1052 Bridgeport Avenue.

“Genesis of Milford is currently in the Key Hyundai of Milford building,” he said. “This will be an exclusive standalone Genesis for everything: sales, service and parts. It’ll all be here.

The current target for Genesis of Milford is to open officially at the end of January 2024.

“We should be right in the timeframe, give or take two weeks,” he said. “If the rest of the work goes fast, it could be the end of January; if it goes slow or we get held back, it could be the second week of February. But it’s going to be somewhere in that timeframe.”

Dortenzio said the Genesis of Milford will be the only stand-alone Genesis dealership in Connecticut, and is one of the few being built in the northeast.

“We felt like we had the right piece of property; it’s absolutely in the right location, and we felt like the car line demands it,” he said.

The building’s shape is coming along, but Dortenzio said there will be $1 million of glass in the building.

“We had trouble initially being able to source the glass to the spec that Genesis wanted,” he said. “But it’s worked out well, and we expect glass next month. We hope to get it closed for the weather shortly to keep working on the inside of the building.”

There will be nine buildings with walls, including two of them on the second floor looking out to the showroom. It will also feature a floating staircase with a small garden underneath it.

Dortenzio, the project has been moving quickly when they can, but they’ve been held up in some cases where we need to be quick.

“The things that have slowed us down have not been personnel or subcontractor-related. It’s all been weather-related,” he said. “It seems like whenever we needed to do something weather-critical. We got the wrong weather, and it was like that all summer.”

Dortenzio said the feedback he’s gotten from customers is positive, and they enjoy the fact the eyesore is no longer there.

“Generally, we’ve gotten positive feedback,” he said.

Dortenzio said they have a great relationship with the Athenian Diner and expect their relationship to grow once the facility opens.

“Once we open, we’ll probably have 15 to 20 employees, and having good food a short distance away is convenient,” he said.