Hello, and welcome to the Hartford Development News thread.

All Greater Hartford development will go on this thread from now on. I have been asked to split Hartford, and it will happen now. I WILL continue to post in the parent thread, Connecticut Development News (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=376106), but that will be development articles outside the Hartford Area.

Thanks for reading! I hope that this thread is a success like the Connecticut thread!

Some background information:


Hartford, Connecticut

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o137/HartfordBlog/HartfordSkyline.jpg

http://www.comstockferre.com/images/map_reg.gif

Hartford is the capital of the State of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 121,578, but a July 1, 2005 Census estimate put the city's population at 124,397. It is the third largest city in the state, after Bridgeport and New Haven. Greater Hartford is also the largest metro area in Connecticut and 44th in the country (2004 census estimate) with a population of 1,184,241.

Sometimes referred to as the "insurance capital of the world," Hartford houses many of the world's insurance company headquarters, and insurance is one of the region's major industries.(The State of Connecticut is sometimes still known as "the land of steady habits.") The region has a relatively low population of adults between the ages of 18 and 25, although Hartford itself has a relatively young population.

More information on Hartford can be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford

All from the Capital City Economic Development Authority:

Adriaen’s Landing

The 30-acre Adriaen's Landing site includes the new Connecticut Convention Center and Downtown Marriott Hotel. Two additional components are under development: The Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration and a residential/retail district. Tying together acclaimed destinations such as the Connecticut River and the Wadsworth Atheneum, the development is part of a comprehensive effort that is re-energizing Connecticut's Capital City of Hartford and the region.


The Connecticut Development Center:

http://www.thisisct.net/photos/hartford13.jpg

Already Completed in 2005. All info below is from the website at http://www.ctconventions.com/

About the Convention Center:

The Connecticut Convention Center is the Northeast's newest, most ideal location for trade shows, conventions and business meetings - or any occasion that demands a dramatic riverfront setting. The Connecticut Convention Center is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Hartford, overlooking the beautiful Connecticut River and Adriaen’s Landing, the city’s exciting new riverfront district.

THE VENUE.
With over 140,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 40,000 square foot ballroom and 25,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, it is the largest convention facility between New York and Boston, featuring exceptional highway access at the crossroads of New England, where Interstates 84 and 91 meet. Already a prominent visual addition to Hartford’s skyline, the Connecticut Convention Center’s 110-foot glass atrium dramatically rises ten stories above a grand public plaza and a tree-lined riverfront esplanade.

THE AMENITIES.
A pristine new venue, the Connecticut Convention Center has been constructed to spare no detail in making every function accommodating. From state-of-the-art rigging, wiring and WiFi to flexible spaces, abundant pre-function areas and on-site sheltered parking, the facility has taken every facet of hosting an event into consideration.

THE SERVICE.
The Connecticut Convention Center offers total coverage from start to finish with every event. Our SALES STAFF will ensure your event’s success and exceed your expectations for personal service from planning to follow-up for EVENT PLANNERS, EXHIBITORS and ATTENDEES alike. The EVENT MANAGEMENT STAFF takes a hands-on approach to client service, developing a reliable partnership by offering comprehensive event planning information designed to minimize the complexities and maximize the success of each event. Additionally, our COMMUNICATIONS STAFF, BUSINESS CENTER and exclusive CATERING SERVICES will enhance the experience of having an event take place with the greatest of ease.

It was time for this thread. I've been looking at the "Connecticut Development News" thread recently, and it has some good activity. Hartford is too big of a city to get lumped in with the rest of the state, and there is too much going on in other parts of the state to let Hartford get mixed in with all of this. So, I told Rotten777 to spin off Hartford.

I'd prefer if Rotten or someone made a list of the projects in Hartford, and gave other information: height, usage, status (proposed, under construction, etc), location, and so on. Try to have that somewhere on the first page so that everyone can see it without having to look around everywhere.

Let's limit this to things going on inside Hartford's city limits. East Hartford, New Britain, suburbs, etc can go in the Connecticut thread. Also, let's do a good job of keeping discussions about developments in Hartford out of the Connecticut thread.

I think this thread will do well.

Connecticut Science Center:

Under Construction, completion projected for 2008. Here's a rendering:

http://www.ctcase.org/bulletin/ctcse/pellimodel_color.jpg


Official Website: http://ctsciencecenter.org/


Facts & Figures:

-Located in Hartford, Connecticut’s capital city, on the banks of the Connecticut River

-Part of the exciting 30-acre Adriaen’s Landing development and the downtown Hartford renaissance

-144,000 square foot building

-40,000 square feet of exhibit space

-3D Science Theater – 200 seats

-The “Aerie” – an observation platform extending over the river from the building with dramatic views of the Connecticut River and surrounding landscape

-An accessible, planted roof which adds to the energy-efficiency of the building while allowing visitors to relax outdoors, view the night sky, and attend special functions

-Pfizer Science Education and Discovery Center – Four specially equipped classrooms, including a Forensic Science Lab

-Outdoor plaza providing easy access to the Connecticut River waterfront via direct connection to the Riverwalk Promenade and the brand new Connecticut Convention Center

-Parking for approximately 470 vehicles

-Conference and facility rentals for private, corporate and community use



Construction Progress Photos as of May 2007:

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7922/99854915ce2.jpg

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/8558/92422658uk6.jpg

It was time for this thread. I've been looking at the "Connecticut Development News" thread recently, and it has some good activity. Hartford is too big of a city to get lumped in with the rest of the state, and there is too much going on in other parts of the state to let Hartford get mixed in with all of this. So, I told Rotten777 to spin off Hartford.

I'd prefer if Rotten or someone made a list of the projects in Hartford, and gave other information: height, usage, status (proposed, under construction, etc), location, and so on. Try to have that somewhere on the first page so that everyone can see it without having to look around everywhere.

Let's limit this to things going on inside Hartford's city limits. East Hartford, New Britain, suburbs, etc can go in the Connecticut thread. Also, let's do a good job of keeping discussions about developments in Hartford out of the Connecticut thread.

I think this thread will do well.

I will make a complete list of the developments in a few hours, when I come back.

Sorry for that, I thought when you were talking about a list, you meant to show all the developments going on all at once, one by one. A definite list will come soon.

I don't quite understand the rationale for the decision to split off the threads. At CT Devo News we only have 5 regular contributors (me, StamfordCT, tyork, rotten and VOR), of whom only the last two are in the capital region. This is barely enough participants to get one thread going and the conversation flowing, not to mention two threads.

Also, there really isn't enough going on in the city of Hartford to warrant its own thread (perhaps if you include W Hartford and E Hartford, it may be different, but still).

What I suggest is forming a "Connecticut Development News 2" (incl. Hartford) thread where we can outright list the current projects in the state on the first page, along with heights, status, renderings, etc. This should all be in one or two posts; I can contribute the info for southern CT; then we can continuously update it to add pics or new projects.

I don't quite understand the rationale for the decision to split off the threads. At CT Devo News we only have 5 regular contributors (me, StamfordCT, tyork, rotten and VOR), of whom only the last two are in the capital region. This is barely enough participants to get one thread going and the conversation flowing, not to mention two threads.

Also, there really isn't enough going on in the city of Hartford to warrant its own thread (perhaps if you include W Hartford and E Hartford, it may be different, but still).

What I suggest is forming a "Connecticut Development News 2" (incl. Hartford) thread where we can outright list the current projects in the state on the first page, along with heights, status, renderings, etc. This should all be in one or two posts; I can contribute the info for southern CT; then we can continuously update it to add pics or new projects.

agreed,

I appreciate seeing my city up there but Stamford has more going on right now :(

anyhoo i gotta sleep Im sick

Woonsocket, if you are willing to make that thread, it would be a great idea.

If it is made, I will repost this data in the new thread.


Anyway, here is the list for Hartford's high-rise projects (note: some have been completed). I have added pictures and renderings to make it more visible to see what is going on.

More on the other projects, like residences (including in the suburbs) tomorrow!


Downtown:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/1688/snoopsmhot8.gif



Marriott Hotel at the Convention Center: Completed in 2005.

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9498/irepdetroit1lf1.jpg

It is 22 stories tall, with 700 rooms. It is also linked to the Convention Center which I already talked about above.




Hartford Civic Center, with Hartford 21 development

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/9445/irepdetroit1np9.jpg

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/6224/irepdetroit1xw9.jpg

The Hartford Civic Center has been renovated greatly, with the demolition of the failing Civic Center mall inside. What has taken it's place is a 37-story residential tower which will contain apartments (tallest building built in Hartford in over 20 years), with street-level commercial development. While it's completed, I don't think it's finished yet.

I heard they finished it....though it fits well with Constituion Tower

They did, but there's still some work being done inside, I think.

It didnt look open yet when I saw it, but then again I never go there. :dunno:

The Hartford Civic Center has been renovated greatly, with the demolition of the failing Civic Center mall inside. What has taken it's place is a 37-story residential tower which will contain apartments (tallest building built in Hartford in over 20 years), with street-level commercial development. While it's completed, I don't think it's finished yet.


Looks like Hartford is really beginning to catch the development wave! This residential towers is very impressive. Certainly there's more than enough development underway in Hartford to warrant a seperate local thread.

The land has been purchased by the developer but a shovel won't go in the ground for least a year.

http://www.courant.com/media/photo/2007-06/30210803.jpg

Although it's nice I'm skeptical that this project will be completed by the end of the decade, if it gets off the ground. It seems that everything in this city is done at a snail's pace. In the four years I lived in Vancouver, dozens of highrise condos went up. Is it the bureaucracy that holds things up in Hartford? After being here a year it seems that lots of projects and renderings come out but they either never get built or are much smaller and unimpressive once completed.

How many storeys is it?

This is a project by Northland Corp. They just finished a 35-floor apartment building a few block away. It's already 2007 and this is a big project so the end of the decade is not out of the question. Projects of this size also go through revisions, that wouldn't be a surprise. But Northland has a track record of following though on their ideas. As I said, they have already bought the land.

That's a sharp tower! I hope it gets built.

The land has been purchased by the developer but a shovel won't go in the ground for least a year.

http://www.courant.com/media/photo/2007-06/30210803.jpg

Woah! How did this escape my mind? :shocked:

Although it's nice I'm skeptical that this project will be completed by the end of the decade, if it gets off the ground. It seems that everything in this city is done at a snail's pace. In the four years I lived in Vancouver, dozens of highrise condos went up. Is it the bureaucracy that holds things up in Hartford? After being here a year it seems that lots of projects and renderings come out but they either never get built or are much smaller and unimpressive once completed.

Vancouver is in a totally different position than Hartford.

There, they really don't need to attract people to come downtown, because people already do. They are in a total different time stage than Hartford, which is still trying to attract people to move in.

Bureaucracy isn't that big of a problem here, as the government is the main player in all this revitalization, it's the fact that developers and politicians aren't thinking big enough. They are afraid of a White Elephant.

That Condo is planned for the YMCA residential towers location on the Park.

I wouldnt hold my breath for 2010 because I am sure the plan was to get Hartford 21 up close to full occupancy before starting another hundred million dollar project downtown. The City likely could sustain it now as they are condos and not apartments, But Northland wants to be in a better position I'm Sure. Hell they have a great deal of retail space that needs tennants at the Civic centert mall area that would act as indicators of Hartfords downtown health.

This is the first rendering I have seen of the project and Its very nice. I am not sure though if I would like something a little more historic looking in that location however. you have to remember this building will mirror the capitol building. So for my money it has to either "fit in" or contrast so greatly that it works (like the John Handcock tower in Boston)

The Building would be built here
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=100+Jewell+street+hartford+ct&sll=41.765106,-72.676635&sspn=0.010051,0.025234&ie=UTF8&ll=41.766238,-72.677833&spn=0.005682,0.014269&t=k&z=17&om=1

and if the 43 story rendering is any indication, It will likely be Hartfords tallest building.


There is another condo project that has been stalled located here
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1200+main+street+hartford+ct&sll=41.768255,-72.674217&sspn=0.011363,0.028539&ie=UTF8&ll=41.77056,-72.675033&spn=0.005681,0.014269&t=h&z=17&om=1
This project has 2 versions, one being 6-8 stories IIRC and the other 20+
my details are vague merely because this project was already rejected by the city over paving a parking lot and well its on a "cursed" property

So that's the project for the YMCA? I did not think that it would be so tall...Don't think that it would fly.

You're right...it would be Hartford's tallest. City Place is ~38-39 stories, I believe.

Here's a editorial on Hartford's (and Springfield's) still deficient PT system.

I agree with the article, Union Place could be MUCH better. It leaves something to be desired...

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-plccaruso0603.artjun03,0,3373730.story?coll=hc-utility-opinion


Station Upgrades Needed To Make Rail Line Work
June 3, 2007

By NICHOLAS CARUSO

Here it is 2007, and the Harford metro area and Massachusetts's nearby Pioneer Valley still are fully dependent on automobile use, a pattern that has continued for decades since trolley lines were removed, commuter rail service was scrapped and bus service was marginalized.

This is a major reason this area of more than 1.7 million is still decaying as a viable business, technology and cultural center. The latest sign of this autocentric decay came when MetLife confirmed in April that it was moving 1,300 jobs from downtown Hartford to Bloomfield, due in large part to lack of ample parking in the city.

This is a textbook example of why region must have a strong transit system and why the state's effort to bring back commuter rail service to the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line can't happen soon enough (it is scheduled for 2010).

But the trains are only part of the answer. To make the most of the investment, the region must bring people to the train service. We must expand stations, develop the areas around stations and link this development to the urban fabric in each city. There are still numerous gaps between tracks and town centers.

In New Haven, the new, centrally located State Street station is a good addition but only works as a secondary (and usually closed) platform for the city's larger Union Station a mile south of the downtown area.

In Meriden, there are plans to build up the area around the city's existing rail platform, but the concept encourages low density, almost suburban infill between Main Street and City Hall.

Springfield's massive yet mostly abandoned Union Station sits primarily within a suburban industrial park with a very unsafe passage linking the existing open station area with the downtown region south of the complex.

Finally, the largest gap along the line is Hartford's Union Station, which is centered between downtown Hartford, the campuses of Aetna and The Hartford and the state Capitol grounds. It has the capacity to bring in thousands of commuters into the city's large financial center. However, the station is not prepared to take this new service, nor are the parcels around the station being developed into transit-oriented design blocks that link the station with the $1.3 billion in downtown development. To put it another way, there is way too much surface parking around the station.

When it comes to strong examples of station work, the state can look at places such as Yonkers, N.Y., and Trenton, N.J., for inspiration. The Yonkers train station was renovated and the parcels around the facility were built up, spurring an additional $3 billion in development across the city. Trenton's train station is being renovated and expanded. It is already linked with the downtown region and sits next to the northern terminus of a light rail line.

Today, Union Station is Hartford's most underused asset. It's time to link it with the rest of downtown.

The second issue is connecting the rail service with all of the communities in the corridor. The line will of course pass through active town centers such as Wallingford and Windsor. But as presently conceived, it misses at least two places that would greatly benefit from a rail connection.

If the line were extended just a few miles north of Springfield, it would tap into the academic and industrial centers in Chicopee, Holyoke and Northampton; a region that forms the upper half of the Hartford-Springfield "Knowledge Corridor."

Within this region is an urban population of 250,000 with dense neighborhoods, beautiful industrial adaptive reuse potential and academic centers such as Smith, Mount Holyoke and Amherst colleges, as well as the University of Massachusetts.

In Holyoke, there is a massive new "green" industrial reuse project in the city's historic Canal District known as "Open Square" that uses local hydroelectric power. The mixed-use project is touted as the region's premier mixed-used center of art galleries, entrepreneur businesses and urban lofts, all of which sits right next door to the rail line, the city's abandoned H.H. Richardson train station and the rest of the district's beautiful untapped industrial architecture.

Northampton and Amherst are hip and bustling urban academic and retail centers, easily accessible from Hartford by rail. Yet, though discussions have begun, there are still no plans to bring commuter service back to those communities.

The other area in need of service is Bradley International Airport. The state Department of Transportation quashed a proposed link between Hartford and the airport along the "Griffin Line" a decade ago, in part because of the cost and challenge of adding new track from the Griffin office park in Bloomfield to the main Bradley terminal in Windsor Locks.

However, when the MBTA completes its Rhode Island commuter line extension from downtown Providence to T.F. Green Airport and rail links to the New York airports are finished, Bradley will be the last major airport From Boston to New Jersey in 2007 without a transit link.

The state has to link Hartford and Bradley. The advantage of the Griffin Line is that it would also connect Bloomfield center and the University of Hartford with downtown offices and amenities.

By dealing with these issues and creating a strong foundation for future transit service, the region will be poised to grow its economy and become a stronger link in the Northeast Corridor economy.

Nicholas Caruso is a designer at Centerbrook Architects and Planners in Essex and an incoming Yale Master of Architecture II degree candidate.

Good stuff...the North End needs all it can get. Revitalization has bypassed it.


City, Businesses Share Vision
June 5, 2007

By JEFFREY B. COHEN, Courant Staff Writer

A plan called Hartford 2010 has goals big and small, from turning huge swaths of downtown real estate into a nationally marketed site for major development to transforming a North End criss-cross of roads into a nexus of neighborhood retail.

But just as significant as the details of the vision - slated to be unveiled today - is the fact that the city and its business leaders share it. Together, they say, they can better sell the city.

"We've got now some specific things in the city that we can say offer you a true urban option with some specificity to it, and not just say, `Come in and look at this parcel,'" said R. Nelson "Oz" Griebel, head of the MetroHartford Alliance, the regional chamber of commerce. "It's, `See how this parcel fits in the broader scheme of things.'"

Urban designer Ken Greenberg - whose 1998 city study created a discussion about the viability, accessibility and future of downtown Hartford - has completed a $250,000 study with an eye toward better connecting the various development projects in the city with one another, and with the region. The fee was paid by the city and a broad spectrum of businesses and community organizations.

The mission statement was clear from the beginning: "What actions can we take to make the neighborhoods, including downtown, more attractive for incremental private-sector development," Griebel said.

So Greenberg and his team decided to look at six major city intersections - some ripe for small changes, others ripe for big ones - brainstorm ideas, and then test them in the marketplace. Those six intersections, or "tridents," are: Terry Square, Upper Albany/Blue Hills Avenue, Asylum/Farmington, Downtown North, Downtown and South Green.

On the bigger impact side, the plan sees Downtown North - the area just north of I-84 - as a major development opportunity with national potential. It also sees Main Street downtown as a "central address" for the city, with new developments as well.

Areas such as South Green and Upper Albany/Blue Hills stand to benefit from mixed-use plans-in-progress to bring in new retail and residential opportunities, while the west-of-downtown area called Asylum/Farmington has the potential for development that would serve to better connect the city to West Hartford and beyond.

Finally, Terry Square, in the city's North End, could be a new retail hub.

"By doing things in these highly visible settings, with critical stakeholders for each of the tridents, these are likely to have a pretty strong multiplier effect that will be more than the sum of its parts," Greenberg said.

Perez and Griebel said the plan commits the city and the business community to each other.

"It's not only getting [corporate] buy-in," said Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez. "It's knowing that they're going to have to help us sell."

Greenberg said the key to the sell job is the common message "that the city is prepared, that it has a vision, that it can get its staff in all ranges of departments and agencies working in the same way, and that the community is behind it."

"Having all those opportunities will really be very effective in positioning Hartford to take advantage, to take a sailing analogy, of every wind that blows," Greenberg said.

One small but important next step for the city and its business leaders will be to implement the various streetscape and traffic improvements that will make these changes possible.

When it comes to Downtown North, Griebel also said he hopes to host a national design panel on the best way forward.

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

Some developments in Unionville, which is a neighborhood of Farmington, which in turn is a western suburb of Hartford. I've never actually been to Unionville.

Link: http://www.courant.com/business/hc-unionville0605.artjun05,0,4791241.story?coll=hc-headlines-business


Transformation Of Former Factory Seen As Key To Unionville Renewal
June 5, 2007

By ROBIN STANSBURY, Courant Staff Writer

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/2415/irepdetroit1rx4.jpg
A FORMER MILL in the Unionville section of Farmington is being converted for housing, office and retail space. The old factory will be used for housing.
(ROBIN STANSBURY)

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/4778/irepdetroit1uv8.jpg
A new building is expected to house shops.
(ROBIN STANSBURY)


FARMINGTON -- A long-anticipated redevelopment of the downtown Unionville section has its first sign of life as the site of an old manufacturing company along the Farmington River is being transformed into new retail and office space, and housing that would be apartments or condominiums.

The first retail tenants could move in within the next few weeks.

The project, at the site of the former Pioneer Steel Ball Bearing plant on Mill Street, across from the Unionville Post Office, is one of a handful of projects planned for the heart of Unionville, including the expansion of a Stop & Shop grocery store and the conversion of a former felt factory into townhouses.

But only the Mill Street project is underway, nearing completion of its first phase. And that's a boon for the town.

"People are putting more emphasis on Stop & Shop, but this is the first project to get off the ground, and it's vital," said Jeffrey Ollendorf, the town planner. "It is a wonderful site right on the river, and it removes a manufacturing site that was closed that could have had a blighting effect on what we are trying to do."

Ollendorf said the housing component, which calls for a total of 26 new units, will also be the first test in the marketplace for new housing in this traditionally blue-collar section of town.

The housing is not expected to be high-end, although prices for either the apartments or condominiums haven't been set.

"It is going to set the trend for Unionville," he said. "It will determine how desirable Unionville Center is for new residents because we haven't had new residential building in that area for quite some time."

Towns and cities across Connecticut are trying to revitalize old factories for office, housing and retail to retain a connection with the state's manufacturing past while finding new uses for the often vacant structures.
When those buildings are near town centers, such as in Unionville, it is hoped that a combination of uses will add new life to downtowns. Housing, whether in converted spaces or part of new construction, is seen as key to revitalizing downtowns. But although many towns and cities in the state are pursuing the strategy, the extent of the demand remains unclear.

The project, by New Haven-based developer Regis Conlin, is being completed in several phases, according to town officials. The first is the completion of a retail building that will house some new businesses, including an Italian restaurant and possibly a dry cleaner and a hair salon. The second phase is the remodeling of a second building to house two businesses - a natural foods store and a jewelry store - that are being relocated to make way for the larger Stop & Shop.

After that, the third phase will be the renovation of two brick buildings into 19 housing units. And lastly, a fourth phase would involve the construction of a new building at the corner of Mill Street and South Main Street that would include retail space on the ground floor and seven housing units on the second floor.

Conlin has not yet told the town whether the units will be condominiums or rental apartments, and it is unclear how long it will take for the entire development to be completed. He did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment.

Unionville, which legend says was named for the junction of five roads that form its commercial center, was once a separate borough and a thriving commercial-industrial hub before merging with Farmington in 1947. But a devastating flood in 1955 destroyed portions of Unionville and led to haphazard suburban renewal.

Today, a small but growing group of Unionville boosters is working to redevelop this western section of the town, hoping to solve traffic problems, revamp outdated buildings and regain access to the Farmington River.

Patty LeBouthillier, a member of the Unionville Village Improvement Association, said the Mill Street building is the first concrete project to come out of the group's five-plus years of work.

"I've long said Unionville is a little gem, and someone finally realized it," she said. "It's wonderful to go by the building and see the work underway. When we see the final product with the landscaping done, I think we are all going to be pleased. Unionville is going to be pleased."

But LeBouthillier said the next two years could be difficult as the heavily traveled area of Unionville Center - where routes 4 and 177 intersect - becomes even more congested because of construction.

"Traffic will be bad, and we need to prepare people for that, but when it is all said and done, we will be better off," LeBouthillier said. "This will help the business people, the townspeople, and in a few years we will kick back and enjoy our town again."

Jessica Dahle, a newer member of the revitalization group, said she hopes this first project boosts the center's profile.

"It's important for people to see these changes happening," she said. "It's bringing back a sense of the old Unionville, which is bringing in new businesses and promoting Unionville as a thriving center where people can walk, shop and eat along the river."

Contact Robin Stansbury at rstansbury@courant.com.

The Griffin Line sounds like a potential waste of money. A shuttle link from Windsor Locks Amtrak station to BDL is a better idea. Griffin Line sounds even dumber than the Hartford-New Britain Busway (oh please won't that project die already?)

I've passed through Unionville once. It's basically a downmarket section of Farmington. Nothing special.

The Griffin Line sounds like a potential waste of money. A shuttle link from Windsor Locks Amtrak station to BDL is a better idea. Griffin Line sounds even dumber than the Hartford-New Britain Busway (oh please won't that project die already?)


They are making a shuttle link to Bradley, it's part of the commuter rail project.

Personally, I liked the Griffin Line better, because not only would it be LRT and use abandoned railroads, but it goes through some very transit-poor regions (Bloomfield) that have plenty of commuters who go do Downtown Hartford, with a few who commute to the Bradley area.

I do agree with you on the busway though. :lol:

PDF highlighting development in Hartford's neighborhoods.

Link: http://www.courant.com/media/acrobat/2007-06/30271700.pdf

here is a link to the Plaza Mayor project.
http://www.hartfordinfo.org/issues/wsd/neighborhoods/plaza_mayor.asp
I really like it and I like the location.
that could turn into quite a nice district

Can any of you guys get one of those renderings to show up here?

Its quite an asthetically pleasing project for that part of town.

I see the picture posted but I figured this article has never been posted, so I thought I would put it up here officially like.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctymca0601.artjun01,0,2662909.story?coll=hc-headlines-local


It's a pretty picture.

With more than 40 stories of residential units built atop the old home of the downtown YMCA, a glass tower of luxury homes alongside Bushnell Park, it's the kind of image that enthuses city enthusiasts.

But for now, it's just a picture.

"It's conceptual," said Chuck Coursey, a spokesman for developer Lawrence R. Gottesdiener. An illustration of the project was recently posted on the website of Gottesdiener's company, Northland Investment Corp. "It's what we'd like to do there, but we're still working with the city to see what can we do there."

Gottesdiener is in the early stages of planning the roughly $120 million Jewell Street project. He's also known as the developer of the Hartford 21 apartment tower, the owner of the Goodwin Hotel and tower, the future operator of both the Hartford Civic Center and Rentschler Field and the man who wants to bring the NHL back to Hartford

As his staff continues to lease out the 262 apartments at Hartford 21 - they recently rented their 100th unit, making the tower 38 percent occupied nine months after it opened - Gottesdiener is slowly working with the city to get between $5 million and $10 million in funding for the Jewell Street project. The original plan included 200 condos and 100 apartments. The current plan targets only those people who want to buy: 250 condos and 30,000 square feet of retail.

"At this stage, it's all condos," Coursey said. "There's a lot of rental product on the market right now. There's not a lot for sale. What we're finding from a lot of people at Hartford 21 is that there are people that do want to own something downtown.

Emphasizing that the project is still in its earliest stages, Coursey said that the architects aren't yet sure how many floors will be built, didn't know how much the project would cost and wouldn't put a timeline on the development.

But he wasn't shy about the vision. "These are going to be the nicest owner-occupied apartments in town," he said.

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

^ Nice!

Here's some thoughts on the redevelopment of Hartford 2010

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-plccondon0610.artjun10,0,7446148.story?coll=hc-utility-opinion



Key Points To Build On Hartford
June 10, 2007


The two things I like about Ken Greenberg's plans are these: I can understand them, and they make sense.

When the Toronto-based planner came to Hartford in 1998, he could have produced a weighty tome containing hundreds of important and complicated recommendations. And that plan would have gone straight to the shelf, where it would remain.

Instead he had the deceptively simple idea of drawing a circle - a shuttle bus circuit - around downtown and making the area inside the loop more lively and livable. He called for more apartments, mostly around Bushnell Park, along with streetscape and sidewalk improvements, some two-way streets, new parking garages and other amenities.

Many of his recommendations have been adopted, including shuttle bus service, more than $1 billion has been invested and downtown is again registering a pulse.

City and business leaders brought Greenberg back last year to continue the momentum, to connect the downtown development to the neighborhoods and contiguous suburbs. His new plan, Hartford 2010, was unveiled last week.

He again chose a seemingly simple approach. He looked at the "tridents" or "pinch points," the circles or intersections - often shaped like Neptune's three-pronged spear - where older arterial streets meet as they feed into a downtown. These are the routes people took to reach downtown in the era before the highways were built. They are traditional strong points, places where the stores are, in vibrant cities.

In Hartford over the past half-century, they've become, as the planners say, "underperforming."

Greenberg and his team of planners focused on a half-dozen tridents: the South Green area, where Maple, Wethersfield and Franklin avenues and Park Street converge; the "tunnel" area of Albany Avenue and Main Street; Albany Avenue and Woodland street in Upper Albany; Asylum and Farmington avenues in Asylum Hill; Terry Square, where Main and Windsor streets meet; and the convergence of streets on Main Street downtown.

They found these areas underperforming, but still performing. A lot of traffic passes through each trident, there are major employers near most of them, and each has the capacity for more commercial and residential development.

So that's the plan - revitalize these areas. The city and the MetroHartford Alliance will run a marketing campaign, and will pay special attention to a 28-acre parcel north of I-84 that the city's been trying to develop for decades. Officials may bring in the Urban Land Institute in the fall to do a charette, or planning session, with major developers for the site. Mayor Eddie Perez said he's been in touch with mayors of West Hartford, Bloomfield and Wethersfield about cooperative ventures on some of these routes. That would be a step forward.

So the plan is solid; the challenge is the implementation. On that, three thoughts.

When the first Greenberg plan was implemented, it was with the help of the Capital City Economic Development Authority, which was created in 1998 for the specific purpose of managing the state's investment in the Six Pillars of Progress, a series of major development projects.

The pillars are almost finished. When they are, CCEDA won't have much to do. The agency will continue as the owner, for the state, of the convention center, a small utility plant and about 3,000 parking spaces, which are managed by private contractors.

CCEDA - or something like CCEDA - should continue as a public-private development agent. There needs to be a direct state involvement in the rebuilding of Hartford. While there's not likely to be another $750 million investment in the near future, there'll be some state money available for smaller projects, and somebody ought to be going after it.

The city needs to engage the state Department of Transportation over the future of I-84. In perhaps the worst planning decision of the postwar era, I-84 was run through the heart of the city, causing untold damage. The highway affects at least two of the "trident" areas. The elevated portion, called the Aetna Viaduct, cuts off Asylum-Farmington from the Capitol grounds and downtown. The highway also separates Main-Albany from downtown.

The 40-year-old highway needs to be redesigned. This is the time to start.

If Perez wants building activity at the trident areas, he might consider bringing back his split-rate property tax proposal. The idea is to turn the property tax system around so that the land in an urban center can be taxed at a higher rate than buildings. Hartford now does it the other way around: Buildings are taxed about three times more than the land on which they sit.

The thought is that the land tax, pioneered by 19th-century economist Henry George, will encourage owners to get the most out of the land by building on it, or selling it to someone who will build on it. A bill to allow large cities to use the land tax died in the legislature last year.

I don't know if this would work everywhere, but downtown Hartford seems like a very good candidate. Speculators are still buying buildings and holding on to them - witness the awful Capitol West eyesore just off the highway. If owners had to pay higher taxes on land, this kind of bottom-feeding would be discouraged. Conversely, building in the trident areas would be encouraged.

Tom Condon is the editor of Place. He can be reached at tcondon@courant.com.

Thanks Rotten

I was looking for a release on the 2010 report. Good stuff, but well I would like a little more detail. I suppose I will have to wait untill the city decides wich direction to go with the studies findings.

I bought the Sunday paper and never got to read it.

The trident theory is nice but it's just taking an existing theory and laying it over the top of Hartford.

Just once I would like to see an original thought out of the guy.

You know I think it is very funy how a city can spend all kinds of time and money trying to figure out a plan.

To me it seems that if I city were to make an effort to say yes to developers rather than no, it would have plenty of success.

For example if Hartford were to be more accomodating in allowing that guy to tear down the butt ugly building and build condos, would not the city be better off?

Now sure there are all kinds of issues, I know that, but a city can afford to be picky when there are developers lined up (NY, Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami) but the Hartfords of the world should start saying yes a little more.

Let developers throw up condos till their hearts content. Hell they can tax the condos, or offices that are built.
get more people working and living downtown and business pick up and those tridents will pick up as well.

I can see the city 86ing that condo in place of the but ugly because they see it getting in the way of their large scale vision for north down town, but if no developer steps forward willing to spend a billion dollars on the project as a whole then stoping that one project over minor parking lot issues is just crazy.

every development in a down town area builds momentum for a stronger city.

I would like to see the city participate in helping Gruunburg, the owner of the BOA building build a garage underneath that building. He says it will cost 10 million but will allow him to attract more tennants. Lets make it easier to do business downtown.
Northland wants 5-10 million to build ontop of the YMCA building? ok give them the 10 but only if they build the full 43 stories or whatever.

The city should use their funds to encourage the development, but leverage that against the developer for larger projects. In the case of Gruunburg they could use that 10 million garage to demand that he develop a plot of vacant land.

Im just saying that this city has too much going for it to be in the place it is. and that if the city were to start saying yes more often, developers would concider coming here more often as well.

My major grip with the whole thing (and I mean EVERYTHING) is that while many of the developments and plans in Hartford look ambitious, the city overall loses ambiton and motivation before it happens.

It must be a CT thing, IMO...this is called the "land of steady habits" isn't it? Other cities would love our potential and location, but we sit on our feet and pretend that everything is okay, when it's not.

We can't be too picky, or the city will be even more desperate when developers finally find out how hard it is to business in Hartford.

Believe me rotten, there's a whole lot more places that seem to throw out the obstacles to development than just Hartford. It is a shame because many of the same cities could use the economic boost such new (and quality) developments would bring. As Vor said above your post, developers are looking for the easy route, and many other cities provide that. If Hartford (and Ithaca for one) aren't careful, they'll screw themselves out of the development picture all together.

Some good news for a change, when it comes to Hartford's business market.


UTC Extends Hartford Lease
11:22 AM EDT, June 18, 2007

By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN, Courant Staff Writer

United Technologies Corp. has extended the lease at its Hartford headquarters through the end of 2014, providing the prospect of some stability in the city's downtown office market.

The aerospace giant has extended its lease for 173,530 square feet at One Financial Center, the "Gold Building." UTC last extended its lease in downtown Hartford in 2004, agreeing to remain a tenant in the building through 2009.

UTC, which has 300 employees in downtown Hartford, has occupied the Gold Building since it was constructed in 1974.

The building's owner, Talcott Realty Investors, praised the decision to extend the lease as good for the Hartford region.

"It is so critical in Connecticut, an expensive place to do business, to retain highly-skilled, knowledge jobs and to create an environment where these employees and companies that hire who hire them can thrive," said Martin Kane, senior vice4 president at Talcott Realty.

Kane added: "UTC is a perfect example of a well-managed company with phenomenal earnings growth that is prospering in our region."

UTC has 26,500 employees in Connecticut, out of more than 200,000 worldwide.

You beat me with that UTC Article.

I was suprised however how few workers they have downtown, and how few SQ ft.

Honestly they likely just have 4-5 floors of that building is all.

Another article
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-schaefer0619.artjun19,0,6933144.story?coll=hc-headlines-business

In Shadow Of City's Giants
Parking A Key Issue in Marketing Of Smaller Downtown Office Buildings
June 19, 2007
By TERESA M. PELHAM, Special To The Courant The tall office towers in downtown Hartford get a lot of attention, their character defining the city's skyline. But nestled among the giants are those shorter in stature, but often richer in heritage, some built decades before their soaring, more modern counterparts.

These are the Class B office buildings - and their owners don't have it easy in a world that caters to the modern towers.

And now, in downtown Hartford, times could get even a little tighter.

With MetLife's move next year from 373,000 square feet in CityPlace to Bloomfield, owners of Class B properties will feel the sting as much as the lunch spots that served those suburb-bound employees.

CityPlace is a so-called Class A building - prime office space with open floor plans and the latest amenities - and it could now pose more competition in a market where Class B space has the highest vacancy rate in downtown Hartford, despite some improvement in the past year.

"MetLife moving will have a tremendous impact on Class B owners," said Ruth Schaefer, a principal with the Schaefer-Belmont Group. "Now we're competing with Class A space, which may be subleased at a lower rate."

Schaefer is clearly committed to the city - and its potential for lasting revitalization - and is a savvy marketer for her four properties in the city.

She walks the line between outgoing and acquiescent, between assertive and agreeable. If they could be bottled, these contrasts would be just the right mixture for any successful businessperson.

"This is gorgeous space," she said of the property at 11 Asylum St. known as the Corning Building. "This is the best corner in town."

But mention parking, and Schaefer's tone darkens. Parking, like no other issue facing Class B landlords, is a thorn in her side.

"I would be able to fill up this building if I had parking," she said. "Our rents have to be 30 to 40 percent lower than in the suburban markets because of the parking. Look at all the major corporations that have left Hartford because of parking."

Office tenants in downtown Hartford often must pay for parking, with companies splitting the cost with their employees. Suburban office owners typically offer free parking, which can give them bargaining power if a tenant is considering a lease in downtown Hartford.

Schaefer bought 11 Asylum St. - a six-story property in which her father, the late Allan Schaefer, had partial ownership for three decades - in 1998 and brought Burger King to downtown Hartford soon afterward.

"Parking is the greatest challenge for owners of Class B properties," Schaefer said. "Parking plans in Hartford were done with A buildings in mind."

Fellow B-owner Phil Schonberger concurs, noting the specific challenges Class B landlords have in terms of parking, attributing the problem primarily to a lack of public transportation. Schonberger, managing member of Albemarle Equities LLC, has managed to secure parking in all of his Class B deals, he said.

"I don't want it and I don't buy it if it doesn't have parking," he said. "Ruthie hasn't had that luxury. She does a lot with a little. If all you needed was Class B space, why would you come to downtown Hartford?"

Schaefer had the opportunity to take note of parking in other cities in 2005 and 2006 when she accompanied her daughter on a two-year, 28-city Broadway national tour of Les Miserables. Between keeping in contact with home and the office, Schaefer also managed to make note of the parking situation in other cities.

"In Washington, D.C., the office space is probably three times what it is here in Hartford, but the parking is cheaper," she said. "It was cheaper to park right near the National Theater and the White House than it is to park in downtown Hartford. It's ridiculous."

Schaefer believes that a property she bought in 1999 - 44 Capitol Ave., a building she describes as "boutiquey" - is successful because she is able to offer tenants parking and because tenants, including a few lobbyists, can walk to the Capitol.

"People are not going to work downtown unless they have to," she said. The only people who will take space in Hartford are those who have to be here."

Schaefer's other two properties are in a state of flux. The Sports and Medical Sciences Academy plans to move to its newly built larger facility in the summer of 2008. Schaefer has high hopes that another school will take advantage of both the facility and the location of the 35,000-square-foot building at 275 Asylum St.

The fate of the company's fourth property is unknown. The Department of Children and Families' Hartford Regional Office, the worksite of 300 employees, is now at Schaefer's 90,000-square-foot Parkville Business Center at 110 Bartholomew Street. For the past 11 years, DCF occupied 65 percent of the building. State government may move these offices to Colt Gateway's South Armory. According to Jonathan Holmes, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Public Works, the state is "in negotiations with the lease, but nothing has been decided."

"Parkville is a natural Hartford neighborhood," Schaefer said, noting, not surprisingly, that her Parkville property offers more than 400 parking spaces, something she said Coltsville would be unable to do.

"The Parkville office is a hub for community connectedness and improvement. It's not about me losing a tenant. It's about affecting a neighborhood."

Teresa M. Pelham is a free-lance writer who lives in Farmington.

Just wanted to pass on that on Google Earth, Hartford now has some buildings in the 3D buildings view.

Someone added renderings of Hartford 21, the candycane building, and something else I now forget. These are the ones with actual skins. they look pretty good.

Developers Break Ground

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ct1450main0626.artjun26,0,4310496.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
Dispute With Housing Authority Won't Stop Unrelated Apartment Project
June 26, 2007
By JEFFREY B. COHEN, Courant Staff Writer The developers at the heart of a sweeping, now-disputed deal with the Hartford Housing Authority broke ground on 57 units of apartment housing Monday.

The roughly $15.7 million, publicly subsidized development called The Gateway will turn a vacant, 3-acre parcel just north of Hartford's downtown into a horseshoe of apartments for those living on low incomes.

The developer - SOC Group LLC - is a partnership of the nonprofit Sheldon Oak Central Inc. and SRC Construction Inc. The former is run by Daniel O. Merida; the latter is run by Meriden developer Salvatore Carabetta.

Carabetta is suing the housing authority, claiming it reneged on a deal that began with redeveloping the Nelton Court housing project and would have remade much of the city's public housing.

In an unrelated project, Carabetta has yet to pay subcontractors more than $1 million for work done and paid for by the city at the Breakthrough Magnet School.

City attorneys say the Breakthrough issue is close to resolution. And on Monday, Perez said that Carabetta's housing authority troubles didn't bother him. The Gateway project is unrelated.

"They are two separate projects and this is a project that they successfully competed for," Perez said. "Sheldon Oak has a strong history in the city."

The new apartments at 1450 Main St. will go on a 4-acre parcel the city had long pushed for retail activity. Merida has long been interested in building apartments at the site.

In its most recent round of bidding on the site, the city issued a request for proposals in May 2005. Merida and Carabetta came back with a combination residential/retail plan. They were ultimately selected to move the project forward.

But getting retailers to commit to the site has been hard, Merida said. Two things stopped retailers from committing to the project to date: the lack of a suitable corner lot for a major retail store, and their reluctance to commit until the housing units were completed.

"The people who are interested in retail are saying, `Well, what are you going to do there?'" Merida said. "They want to see it."

In the end, the city decided to change its plans, split the parcel in two and let Merida and Carabetta move ahead with residential on the back portion, giving them a one-year, $150,000 option on the retail parcel.

"Sometimes you can't wait for the whole thing to be together in order to take the first step," Perez said. "We were convinced, after Danny did his market studies, that while [retail] would have been the highest and best use, it wouldn't have been the market-driven use."

Carabetta's disputed deal with the housing authority surfaced last fall amid allegations of corruption and bid rigging at the authority. The agreement was to have included work at the Nelton Court, Stowe Village, Westbrook Village and Bowles Park housing projects.

The authority had considered settling the suit with Carabetta, but that was before Perez forced its old board out and ushered a new one in. Earlier this spring, the authority's new board decided against settling the suit. It is pending in court.

Carabetta, who sat in the back row of Monday's groundbreaking while Perez sat in the front, declined to comment on the housing authority, alleged corruption, or the deal that caused him to file suit.

He did express optimism, though, about this new Main Street project.

"It is a great project for the city of Hartford and the residents," he said.

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-wfsb0717.artjul17,0,7610209.story

Will Broadcast House Face Wrecking Ball?
Some Look To Pair TV Channel's Old Quarters With Former Clarion Hotel Site For Redevelopment


KENNETH R. GOSSELIN, July 15, 2007
The new WFSB facility in Rocky Hill.


By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN | Courant Staff Writer
July 17, 2007
Article Tools
E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: In 1961, Broadcast House in downtown Hartford was hailed as a marvel of modern architecture and technology, the first structure to be completed on Constitution Plaza after the razing of the Front Street neighborhood.

The dedication of the television and radio studios was an event so momentous that a bronze sculpture and original symphony were commissioned for it. The music was later released as a record because so many wanted a copy.

This week, as WFSB-Channel 3 finishes up its move from Broadcast House to a new, $25 million facility in Rocky Hill, the once celebrated four-story structure with its scalloped cornice is now looking like a candidate for the wrecking ball or, at best, a total gutting.

Situated at the corner of State Street and Columbus Boulevard, the site is the gateway to the city for those entering from Founders Bridge and for travelers to the nearby convention center.

Some say Broadcast House, which is up for sale, should be redeveloped as part of a larger plan that should include the long-vacant former Clarion hotel just to the north. While that vision makes sense, the reality isn't so clear-cut: Developers who have approached the hotel's owner - the Maharishi School of Vedic Sciences - say negotiations are difficult and terms impossible to meet. In a decade, nothing has come of any negotiations over the hotel.

"If you could tie the hotel and Broadcast House together, you have some really exciting possibilities," said Matt Hennessy, chief of staff for Mayor Eddie A. Perez. The area could give rise to a new tower, perhaps a mixture of office, apartments or condominiums and shops and restaurants, Hennessy said.

Perez favors demolishing the hotel, which is outdated because of its small rooms, and creating a redevelopment zone that would encompass the two buildings. A proposal isn't imminent but is being discussed, said Mark McGovern, the city's economic development director.

The new zone would allow the city to work with whoever buys the WFSB building, and it would give the city the option of acquiring the hotel by eminent domain.

Brokers, city officials and other property owners in Hartford say Broadcast House is also a strong candidate for demolition.

Not only is it outdated and run-down, the building's configuration as a broadcast center would make it difficult to convert to another use. The costs would be high and couldn't be recouped at lease rates now being paid in downtown Hartford, they say.

What no one wants to see is another vacant building in an area where redevelopment has been surging ahead, particularly just south on Columbus Boulevard. There, the steel frame of the new science center is rising.

"You don't want to see another building in the central business district go dark," said Jay Wamester, a broker at Colliers, Dow & Condon in Hartford. "You need to tie it all together."

The success of redevelopment efforts involving Broadcast House and the hotel are critical not only to the riverfront, but to Constitution Plaza. The area, long considered an example of failed, 1960s-era urban renewal, has gained momentum in recent years after its tallest office towers were renovated by owner Capital Properties of New York. A restaurant - Spris - has been open for six years.

Broadcast House has been on the market for about two months at an asking price of $1.7 million for the 80,000-square-foot structure. The price is 40 percent lower, or $1.1 million, than the current assessed value of $2.8 million for the building and its half-acre of land, according to city records.

The price was set lower because any new owner will have to make a sizeable investment.

"At that price, it's a great opportunity to redevelop from the ground up or renovate what's there," said Jonathan K. Putnam, a broker at Cushman & Wakefield in Hartford, the listing agent.

Klarn DePalma, WFSB's general manager, said the station's owner, Meredith Corp., has two "very interested" parties.

"We're waiting to see how it plays out," he said.

DePalma wouldn't name the prospective buyers. But sources familiar with downtown commercial real estate say Northland Investment, downtown's biggest landlord, has expressed an interest.

A spokesman for Northland declined to comment except to say, "Northland is always looking for opportunities in downtown Hartford."

Northland redeveloped the old Civic Center site on Trumbull Street, which included the construction of the Hartford 21 apartment tower and street level retail space.

Six months ago, a prospective buyer, Calare Properties Inc. of Hudson, Mass., came close to buying Broadcast House. Calare, which purchased the old MassMutual campus on Asylum Hill with a partner last year, said the challenges of rehabilitating Broadcast House were too great.

"I don't think you can save that building," Calare's president, William L. Manley, said. "You almost have to start from scratch."

Among the myriad problems Manley noted: narrow hallways; aging fire alarm, sprinkler, heating and cooling systems; and the need for a new facade. The aging systems were apparent in May when a water pipe ruptured and dumped 100,000 gallons of water into a section of the building's basement. The break forced WFSB to hastily assemble a newscast from CPTV's studios on Asylum Street.

Developer and businessman Sanford Cloud Jr. said he once considered buying Broadcast House with strategic partners he didn't name. But Cloud concluded that the most workable plan for the area would encompass both Broadcast House and the hotel.

"If you got control of those two buildings," Cloud said, "you could really enhance that part of the city."

Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.

More articles

Did this get any of the rest of you guys a little excited.

Looking at the picture in the article taken from the Phoenix building I can see more potential for the site than I previously had.

Northlands involvement for me is a little bit of a double edged sword. I see it being good as they are generally all about Hartford and a great thing for the city. But my only worry would be them spreading themselves a little too thin. I do not pretend to know how much financing they have, but based on their market valuation, I would say they can really just afford one more big project at a time.

I just thing that building the Condo on the park is a more important project right now.

If I knew who the other interested developer is I would be more passionate about this, but if its some fool thats just going to sit on the property for 10 years and try and suck money from the city I will take Northland in a heart beat over that.

It would be interesting to see what would be built on the broadcast house/hotel property.

I would imagine it would be mixed use. That area is great of office, and I would not be suprized to see it include a hotel on the top floors.
Obviously there is retail potential. What is best about the retail potential is that a successful redevelopment here could tie adriens landing into the fabric of Hartford. With the Science center and the streetscape of the Mariott, a nice bit of class retail at this key corner could do wonders for downtown.

I would love to see some renovations done on the Phoenix plaza to incorporate street level retail as well, but I do not see that happening any time soon. PHX would have to expreience dramatic growth and need more space for them to change anything. and even that would likely only cause change to the plaza closest to the state house.

I blabber.

anyhoo I would be thrilled to see Northland build those condos on the park and either Northland or someone else redevelop this part of Constitution Plaza into, well, anything. But Ideally office with a hotel on top.

Another dramatic failure for Eddie Perez.

Yeah, that sucks...he should have lobbied more for them to stay. There is enough room to build all the space that they want. Yet another channel going suburban...and out of all places, Rocky Hill?? :bash:

After this, only FOX61/CW20 is in Downtown.

It would be interesting to see what would be built on the broadcast house/hotel property.

I would imagine it would be mixed use. That area is great of office, and I would not be suprized to see it include a hotel on the top floors.
Obviously there is retail potential. What is best about the retail potential is that a successful redevelopment here could tie adriens landing into the fabric of Hartford. With the Science center and the streetscape of the Mariott, a nice bit of class retail at this key corner could do wonders for downtown.


The Science Center may change things when it gets completed, but that's kind of an isolated part of downtown...the area is quiet during work hours last time I was there. I don't see it becoming viable unless they build more housing in the area, like what they have done in the Temple St area.

It has been busier down there. it is mainly due to it being summer and people like to walk towards the river.

Also Temple street gets a decent amount of foot traffic now, and that has opened up the area a little. If the hotel, and TV Studio are re-developed properly that would lead to even more connectivity along temple street to main street.

Also putting retail there would pull some of the many many people that spend lunch time at state house square.

Now that I re-think it, putting condos in place of the hotel would not hurt the area one bit. there is an unobstructed river view that I am sure would do well for sales. I would think that there would need to be an office where the TV station was.

Heck when it really comes down to it I just want to see a small handfull of actual retail in the downtown core. destination retail. sure they would be chains, but they would anchor the downtown shopping area and allow for smaller locally owned stores to flourish along side the big draws. Its nuts that all we have is places to get food. and a few small brave retailers.

I wanted to add..

I just got back from eating lunch in State house square plaza.

The science center is still growing... it looks like they are starting to put up the Architectural steel now. the building definately is large, and growing. From the renderings I have seen it will look very nice.

I am kind of suprised that it is not on any of the building web sites like Emporis, etc. it is definately part of the skyline.

Also the foot traffic out there, especially during lunch is impressive. people mostly coming from the constitution plaza area walking up towards the plaza. If they were forced more onto the street by the redevelopment this would bode very well for any street level retail over there. the streets are dead merely because everything is on cat walks.

Heck when it really comes down to it I just want to see a small handfull of actual retail in the downtown core. destination retail. sure they would be chains, but they would anchor the downtown shopping area and allow for smaller locally owned stores to flourish along side the big draws. Its nuts that all we have is places to get food. and a few small brave retailers.

Yes, this is one of the weaknesses of downtown, IMO.

Hartford has gotten much better on the retail front, but it still needs much more to be considered "alive". It would nice to see some more independent retailers and restaurants (I know that there are plenty, but still...) but that will not happen because rents are too high.

I think that Hartford should cool it on office development for a while. The vacancy rate is too high, we should concentrate on filling them up before thinking about building more offices. If the market wants it, there should more concentration on retail. There needs to be a big name retailer downtown...if Front Street goes on already, that could be the trick, but it's not.

Blue Back Square Progress as of June 2007:

It should be completed in the fall. It should do a good job strengthening West Hartford Ctr.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4913/98188908ab8.jpg

Yes, this is one of the weaknesses of downtown, IMO.

Hartford has gotten much better on the retail front, but it still needs much more to be considered "alive". It would nice to see some more independent retailers and restaurants (I know that there are plenty, but still...) but that will not happen because rents are too high.

I think that Hartford should cool it on office development for a while. The vacancy rate is too high, we should concentrate on filling them up before thinking about building more offices. If the market wants it, there should more concentration on retail. There needs to be a big name retailer downtown...if Front Street goes on already, that could be the trick, but it's not.


See I would have thought the same about office in hartford. but well I was wrong. it turns out that part of the problem in Hartford is apparently well parking, but just as importantly scale. the business community needs buildings that can host the entire company. ING Insurance took 2600 jobs out of Hartford because there was no place for them to move and be all in one building. they would have built downtown but the time line was too long for their needs. So they built suburban and got what they needed.

I work at ING so this is not here say. they wre actually looking for a building with room to grow.

Hartford could use a building with 1M sq feet. does not need it but could use it.

..

Link: http://www.courant.com/business/hc-aetna0724.artjul24,0,6882438.story


Aetna Project `A Bold Statement'
Parking Garage Part Of Sizable Investment In City Campus

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2015/7day640x480pm1.jpg
PATRICK RAYCRAFT, July 19, 2007
THE PARKING GARAGE, photographed from atop 55 Farmington Ave., will overhang a section of Flower Street, which has been closed to traffic from Farmington Avenue since June. Flower Street is expected to reopen in October.



By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN | Courant Staff Writer
July 24, 2007

The shortage and expense of parking in downtown Hartford and surrounding areas has long made it difficult to attract and keep businesses in the city.

The lure of free parking in the suburbs was a factor in MetLife's decision to move to Bloomfield next year and take 1,300 employees out of Hartford's central business district.

But in Asylum Hill, a $27 million project now underway will bring nearly 1,150 parking spaces to the corporate campus of health insurer Aetna Inc. The nine-level parking garage now rising above Flower Street is a prelude to the transfer of about 4,000 workers from the insurer's Middletown campus by the end of 2010.

Aetna's decision to build a parking garage has been welcomed by neighborhood groups that have been lobbying insurers in Asylum Hill to move away from surface lots in favor of garages. Surface lots can be unsightly and give an area a barren, deserted look when they're not filled with vehicles.

"This is what we want," said Bernie Michel, chairman of the neighborhood revitalization zone in Asylum Hill. "People in the neighborhood were pretty pleased with it. It's a nice-looking building, and they've made it fit into their campus."

Aetna has also addressed pedestrian safety, particularly at night, by making plans for 24-hour security, wider sidewalks and increased lighting, Michel said.

The parking garage is part of a $220 million renovation and consolidation project that already has included extensive exterior renovations to Aetna's Colonial Revival-style headquarters facing Farmington Avenue, such as the installation of energy-efficient windows.

The plans also call for the $40 million demolition and reconstruction of an existing 1,000-space garage behind the headquarters building that would add as many as another 600 spaces. That garage will use architectural elements - cupolas, brick and brownstone - that will mimic the style of the headquarters.

In addition, Aetna plans to renovate the Modernist-style addition to its main building. ING now leases the space, but is expected to move by the end of the year, when its new Connecticut headquarters in Windsor is completed.

Aetna will house much of its information technology operations in the space.

The state has approved as much as $6 million in relief from state sales-and-use taxes as long as Aetna maintains 7,466 employees in Connecticut after February 2010.

The parking garage now being built will overhang a section of Flower Street, which has been closed to traffic from Farmington Avenue since June.

Flower Street is expected to reopen in October, but it will take another two months to complete the parking garage, said Michael L. Marshall, who oversees Aetna's construction and renovation projects.

Construction of the new facility began in October, but progress has become more noticeable in the past two weeks. Cranes lift concrete sections into place, and the framework for the bottom parking decks is now in place.

A skywalk will connect the parking garage to the ING building. The skywalk, Marshall said, is less of a convenience for the Aetna employees and vendors that will use the new garage and more for their safety.

The skywalk in intended to separate pedestrians entering and leaving Aetna from the cars that are driving in and out of the garage, Marshall said.

Although Aetna needed the parking garage for its workers, Marshall said he also believes that the structure will improve the overall streetscape. Previously, the land was a surface parking lot that Aetna owned.

Marshall said the rosy-colored concrete being used is intended to help the structure blend with the neighboring building at 55 Farmington Ave., owned by another insurer based in Asylum Hill, The Hartford. The Hartford was consulted on the design of the parking deck.

"This was not an attractive area," Marshall said. "The idea was to make it look more like an office building, and not a parking garage."

The biggest challenge was fitting the parking garage into the triangular-shaped property because most parking structures "like to be rectangle" to get the most parking spaces out of the building, Marshall said.

That's why the garage had to extend over Flower Street so the facility could get the number of spaces Aetna needed as it brings more workers to Hartford, Marshall said.

Workers who park in garage space at Aetna now pay between $75 and $125 a month. But Aetna has been encouraging employees to use mass transit and carpools, offering monthly subsidies of between $20 and $30 a month per employee to reduce the number of employees driving into Hartford, according to Aetna spokesman Fred Laberge.

Work on the second parking garage is expected to begin in the spring with the demolition of the existing parking garage, which dates from the early 1970s. The new garage could be completed in a year.

John F. Palmieri, the city's director of development services, said Aetna's decision to invest in the parking garage and the rest of its Hartford campus is a vote of confidence for the city.

"A physical structure like that is a bold statement," Palmieri said.

Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.

In the courant

GLASTONBURY - The Gateway Medical Campus may be getting a little bigger, as developers are hoping to add two more medical buildings to the four already being built at the Gateway Corporate Park.

The potential development was announced during Tuesday's town council meeting. The town has owned the 98-acre corporate park since 1994 and started to actively market the land in 2001. Two years ago, developers Bill Mogensen and David Sessions purchased 11 acres - the town's first sale.

The men have returned and are interested in purchasing 13.29 acres directly across Western Boulevard. If the council approves the sale later next month, developers would build two medical office buildings on the corner of Eastern and Western boulevards.



"This is what we envisioned," Town Manager Richard J. Johnson said Wednesday. "The corporate ... development is consistent with the town's overall plan for the park."

According to Johnson, the proposal involves the sale of two separate parcels, 4-plus and 8-plus acre plots. With 6.4 acres of wetlands and conservation easements, there are about seven buildable acres. The purchase price would be $35 per square foot of building area, with a minimum purchase price of $1.5 million.

"The town has worked hard to bring this proposal forward," council Chairwoman Susan Karp said Wednesday. "The other buildings have been successful, and we hope these will be equally successful."

The current development consists of a 29,000-square-foot, two-story building, a 16,800-square-foot, one-story building and two 14,500-square-foot, one-story buildings.

Mogensen and Sessions purchased the 11 acres from the town for more than $2.1 million. Mogensen is known for the Somerset Square and Salmon Brook developments, and Sessions built the Hartford Hospital facility on Hebron Avenue.

Councilwoman Barbara C. Wagner said Wednesday that the developers have proved that they can do quality projects. And that's important, she said, since both projects will serve as a gateway for the remaining acreage the town is hoping to sell.

"It's a first-class project, and that's exactly what we hoped would happen. We still have a major portion left, and this project is enhancing what remains," she said.

A public hearing on the potential sale will be held Aug. 28 at 8 p.m. in council chambers at town hall.

Contact Peter Marteka at pmarteka@courant.com.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-sparta0803.artaug03,0,2911224.story


By DIANE LEVICK | Courant Staff Writer
August 3, 2007
Article Tools
E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: Hartford is getting a brand-new company to support its nickname as the Insurance City: SPARTA Insurance Co., a business insurer with a twist.

It's relatively rare for a new insurer to be created in Connecticut as an independent company, not as part of an existing insurer. So SPARTA's upcoming launch is welcome news in the city, which still has such household names as Aetna, Travelers and The Hartford but is trying to bolster its reputation as an insurance capital.

SPARTA, which completed private funding arrangements Thursday, will sell to groups of customers that have something in common, such as business associations and franchises, instead of selling to individual businesses.

The company will sell traditional commercial auto, general liability, workers' compensation and property insurance to such groups. But it will also sell alternatives to regular insurance that involve customers assuming at least some of the risk of claims, as the SPARTA name suggests: Specialty Program and Risk Transfer Alternatives.

The alternatives could include, for instance, SPARTA sharing a set percentage of the risk of claims with customers, or covering only the highest levels of claims.

In addition, SPARTA will also arrange a "captive" upon request - an insurance company that would serve only a particular customer group.

SPARTA customers would have to select a separate firm to handle claims up to a certain amount. The company's approach is to offer a wide range of services "unbundled" so the customer group can pick and choose.

"This is not your father's insurance company," said George L. Estes III, SPARTA's chairman and chief executive.

Estes, 59, co-founded and was chief executive of Farmington-based Discover Re, an insurer that was sold in 1995 to USF&G and is now part of The Travelers Cos.

"We hope our presence can add to the ongoing renaissance of the city and that other startup companies will call Hartford home," Estes said.

SPARTA currently has 21 employees in Hartford's CityPlace II, and will soon move from the second floor to 16,000 square feet of leased space on the ninth floor. Estes expects to have 50 to 100 employees in the first year, and believes the workforce could grow over time into the hundreds.

Parent company SPARTA Insurance Holdings Inc. has completed the raising of $279.1 million of private equity capital from a consortium led by New York-based Corsair Capital. Other investors include Goldman Sachs, York Capital Management, Primus Capital Funds, and KBW Capital Partners.

The $279.1 million exceeds the total of venture capital invested in Connecticut companies in 2006 - $250 million.

The amount of SPARTA's fundraising shows that its investors are confident in the company's ability to thrive in the Hartford area, Estes said.

He noted that insurers in Bermuda, an offshore haven for the business, often have difficulty finding the right talent. "Hartford," he said, "offers a huge advantage to insurance companies because it's an insurance town and there's nothing else like it in the United States."

Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez welcomed SPARTA to the city, saying, "Once again, companies are investing in our city, our workforce and our region. We anticipate and look forward to seeing more of this type of activity in Hartford in the near future."

SPARTA's management team includes co-founders Dawne E. Wareand Kevin G. Costello, both former Discover Re employees. Costello, 46, is president and chief operating officer of SPARTA, and previously was executive vice president and chief operating officer for Alea Alternative Risk, a division of Alea Group. Ware, 40, is SPARTA's executive vice president and chief financial officer, and before that, held the same titles at Discover Re.

SPARTA is believed to be the first start-up of an independent insurance company headquartered in Connecticut since 1990, when there were several, including Discover Re. Another was Connecticut Life & Casualty Insurance Co., an auto and homeowners insurer that was sold in 2001 and is now part of Response Insurance in Meriden.

First Connecticut Life Insurance Co., a Torrington-based health insurer, was set up in 1990, but collapsed in the mid-1990s, and state regulators accused the founders of plundering the company.

Darwin Professional Underwriters Inc., a relatively new specialty insurer in Farmington, joined the ranks of Connecticut's publicly traded companies last year. But it was started in 2003 as part of New York-based Alleghany Corp, which kept a substantial stake in Darwin at the initial public offering.

To get SPARTA started, SPARTA Holdings is buying American Employers Insurance Co., an inactive company, from Massachusetts-based OneBeacon Insurance Group. American Employers is useful as a vehicle for SPARTA's formation because it's already licensed in all states.

American Employers will be renamed SPARTA Insurance Co. and recapitalized with about $255 million, Estes said.

Originally, the name was to be DART, for Developing Alternative Risk Transfer, but more brainstorming led to the catchier SPARTA.

"We like the idea of discipline, commitment and collective purpose that ancient Sparta stands or stood for," said Costello.

Contact Diane Levick at dlevick@courant.com.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-eyesores0807.artaug07,0,5594844.story?coll=hc_tab03_layout

Sprucing Up The City's Blighted Gateways
Capitol West, The `Butt Ugly Building,' the Clarion Hotel Could Benefit From A Redevelopment Plan

By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN | Courant Staff Writer
August 7, 2007
Article Tools
E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: Marketing dollars can't erase the image of decay and desolation that vacant, rundown buildings have projected for years at some of the most traveled entrances to downtown Hartford.

But now, the city is developing a proposal that could boost redevelopment of the some of the most blighted commercial areas in and around downtown.

The proposal would create a redevelopment district encompassing some of downtown Hartford's biggest eyesores: "Capitol West," which hugs the Asylum Street exit off I-84 west; the H.B. Davis building on Main Street, nicknamed by city officials the "Butt Ugly Building"; the end of the Trumbull Street exit off I-84 west; and the long-vacant Clarion Hotel on Constitution Plaza near the Founders Bridge.

A fourth property - Broadcast House, next to the hotel - also could be included.

All ofthe properties are now empty and three - Capitol West, H.B. Davis and the Clarion - have been that way for years.

"It's fair to say blighted properties create a hardship for the city," said John F. Palmieri, the city's director of developmental services.

Over the years, there have been redevelopment proposals for at least two properties - Capitol West and the H.B. Davis Building - but they haven't gotten past the planning stages. The city hopes the redevelopment district will succeed where individual efforts have, so far, failed.

A proposal for the redevelopment district could be ready by early fall and would need approval by the redevelopment agency and the city council. If approved, the district would allow the city to acquire properties and later sell them to developers. The district also would give the city the option of using eminent domain laws, but that practice is controversial.

Although the state tightened up its eminent domain laws this year, towns and cities are still able to invoke the power to eradicate blight.

If the city acquires the properties, it may have to pay more than they are now worth or meet the asking prices sought by owners. And the city may, in turn, have to sell them at below-market rates to make tracts attractive to developers who may first have to demolish the structures on the sites.

In Asylum Hill, a plan by the owner of Capitol West, Joshua Guttman of Brooklyn, N.Y., to create 97 apartments or condominiums in the building has been shelved, the news coming as little surprise because the only change since the proposal was made last year has been more grafitti painted on the building.

Coleman Levy, an attorney representing Guttman, said his client believes that there isn't enough demand right now for more residential units in and around downtown Hartford.

When told of the plans for a redevelopment district, Levy said it was difficult to comment on a proposal that hasn't been written. "But anything that's going to make the area more viable is a positive development," Levy said Monday.

Tens of thousands of motorists pass by the Capitol West building daily and many use the Asylum Street exit to reach downtown or the city's insurance hub, home to companies with a national reach, Aetna and The Hartford.

It has long been a source of frustration for leaders in Asylum Hill.

"You can't get into Asylum Hill on the highway without seeing that building," said Bernie Michel, chairman of the neighborhood revitalization zone in Asylum Hill. Many in the neighborhood believe it should just be torn down, he said.

Mayor Eddie A. Perez said last year he believed the Clarion Hotel on Constitution Plaza, its layout outdated and its interiors deteriorating, should be torn down and perhaps replaced with a residential tower. Some say the best plan would be to redevelop the hotel and Broadcast House sites because they sit next to each other on the plaza.

That sounds attractive, but developers who have approached the hotel's owner - the Maharishi School of Vedic Sciences - say negotiations are difficult and terms impossible to meet. In a decade, nothing has come of any talks over the hotel.

On Main Street, a plan to raze the "Butt Ugly Building" and build condominiums on the site and an adjacent city-owned parking lot collapsed in April. It also turned controversial by an agreement to pay a $100,000 "lease termination fee" to the former operator of the parking lot.

Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.

Both of these articles are good news in my book.

The insurance company may be sold off down the road, but it is very good that wall streets finest ponied up 250M for a start up in Hartford.

Like the article says, 100 employees by year end, and if the company has any success will likely employ several hundred in years to come. Hopefully they will maintain close ties to wall street money, and be able to finance aquisitions down the line rather than being aquired.

this will do well to offset some of the loss associated with Met-Life leaving.

If the city continues to build correctly, and during the same time downtown does not loose too many jobs, I think we will be ok. Especially with most of the jobs being lost from downtown staying in Hartford.

The gateways thing is just great, and has been planned for a while.

If those 4 properties are re-developed, Hartford would be a great deal better off. I think they are all just so very important as far as locations. they act as billboards almost for hartford. right now the constitution plaa properties do the least damage to our image, but if they were used to their potential, the difference would be staggering.

the other two properties may never do anything on their own and likely will see the wrecking ball as a result of this move by the mayor, and to be frank.. thats still an improvement.

cheers!

Good to see Hartford trying to change the obvious blighted areas visible from 84. I've been waiting for the day those eyesores all dissappear, they really give the city a dumpier image than it should have.

I love Eddie Perez bragging about the start up. The city has lost 8,000 jobs since he has been in office. Not to mention the number of conventions he has caused the city to lose because of his knee jerk support of the unions. He's a walking disaster.

Wow, 8,000 jobs? Mostly from the fickle Insurance Industry, right?

I don't really like him either.

Just read that Hartford is doing a $6M redesign of Trumbull street between the park and 84. there will be nicer sidewalks, trees, it looked like a wider center divider that makes it more of a Boulevard.

there is a picture in the Hartford Courent.

check it out.

work to start in Sept, to finish early 2009

looks like a re-election ploy but I will take it, that street is sub par for being the main drag in town.

Cheers

^^ Trumbull Street is like dead during the workday, from what noticed.

Still, some beautification is always helpful.

It's busy for happy hour.

Blue Back Square opened last Saturday finally...I gotta check it out eventually.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/fv/hc-blueback1102.artnov02,0,3636863.story

Blue Back Takes Stage
Much-Anticipated Upscale Complex Opening By The Day

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By JANICE PODSADA | Courant Staff Writer
November 2, 2007

West Hartford's Blue Back Square looked like a bustling movie set Thursday - a little town rising within a big town.

There was still work to be done on the $159 million mixed-use development before the arrival of an expected cast of thousands - shopkeepers and shoppers, residents and the simply curious.

Window frames needed a final coat of paint. Electrical wiring had to be installed; a few storefronts were little more than steel beams and wooden posts; a restaurant manager asked his staff to dust the black trim overlooking cobbled sidewalks.

Stores are opening with each day, ahead of Saturday's ribbon-cutting ceremony - the official launch of this long-awaited, long-debated 600,000-square-foot development.

Four years ago, developers promised an upscale, mixed-use development combining stores, offices, apartments and such amenities as a movie house and health club. Now that Blue Back has begun to fulfill that pledge, and the final staging is unfolding, many people wonder: What, exactly, is it?

Blue Back is not a mall. It is a development in the new-urbanist style, geared toward pedestrians, with parking lots on either end. From the lots, or from either side of Memorial Road - which bisects the development - visitors step into a village of low-lying buildings, many of which look like something out of the 1930s.

The developers incorporated historic, brick municipal buildings and facades along Main Street into the complex. One building, the gleaming white Crate & Barrel store, stands out for its modern architecture along Memorial Road.

The retailers are national, rather than locally owned. Many are new to the state, such as Crate & Barrel, an anchor store that opened its first full-fledged Connecticut store at Blue Back last month.

Also making its Connecticut debut, the Cheesecake Factory restaurant wined and dined its first customers Thursday night.

Among those opening today are REI, the Seattle-based outdoor gear retailer, New York Sports Club and Criterion Cinemas, Blue Back spokeswoman Karen Jarmon said.

The staff at Lucy, an active-wear retailer, also said they hope to open today.

On Saturday, Homeward Bound, a home accessories store, JD's Cosmetics and Munson's Chocolates plan to throw open their doors, and Sovereign Bank opens in a temporary space.

Bookseller Barnes & Noble, and women's clothier Ann Taylor, plan a mid-month debut, and other stores and restaurants will follow.

Small trees and huge wooden planters dot the wide walkways at the central intersection. Black retro-style lampposts illuminate the scene.

Forty-three condominiums have been sold at prices ranging from $350,000 to $900,000, Jarmon said. The first residents move in in January.

To meet Saturday's deadline, workers have been toiling through the night. Jim Francis, the town manager, said the night work did not involve heavy machinery. The town had not received any complaints about nighttime construction or noise at Blue Back, Francis said.

Maureen Lantner, of West Hartford, said she can envision what the development will look like once the backhoes and the delivery trucks have left the area. "I was one of the people that supported Blue Back," she said.

Wheeling her 6-month-old daughter, Rachael, through the maze of construction workers to Memorial and Isham roads - as far as police would allow onlookers without hard hats to venture Thursday - Lantner liked what she saw.

"It looks beautiful," she said, gazing toward the Cheesecake Factory and a small fountain that burbled in front of its main entrance, as the cupola of a former town building jutted into the sky.

Contact Janice Podsada at jpodsada@courant.com

Interesting video that I found on the Courant's website.

It's about a trolley down Park Street! While, it's driven without tracks (it's basically a bus :lol:), hopefully it makes people demand the real thing! Other than the fact that I believe Park Street is too narrow for LRT, it would be a good idea! :)

Here's the video:
http://www.courant.com/video/?slug=hc-wn-hartford-trolley

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hr/hc-ctspiritus1025.artoct25,0,6303248.story


Upscale Wine Shop Picks Spot Downtown

By JEFFREY B. COHEN | Courant Staff Writer
October 25, 2007

An upscale wine shop has signed a lease to operate at the downtown apartment tower Hartford 21 and could be open within the next two months, a spokesman for the project's developer said Wednesday.

"Everybody is shooting for the end of November or early December," said Chuck Coursey, spokesman for developer Lawrence R. Gottesdiener.

The store - Spiritus Wines, currently located on Main Street just south of Capitol Avenue - and Gottesdiener's Northland Investment Corp. signed a lease last week.

"We are pleased to participate in the revitalization of downtown Hartford by moving to Hartford 21," Gary Dunn, owner of Spiritus, said in a press release.

The 2,000-square-foot liquor store will be 85 percent fine wines, plus beer, distilled spirits and other products.

Optimism about the city's resurgence has long been tempered by talk that new, resident-oriented retailers have been slow to set up shop downtown. Boosters like Gottesdiener argue that retail will follow residents, who are now starting to take new downtown addresses. He says his tower is roughly 60 percent filled.

In August, plans for a high-end grocery fell through, in part due to escalating construction costs. Gottesdiener then decided to move ahead and build a market on his own - paying $2 million for construction, buying the necessary equipment, and looking for someone to run the place. Coursey said two grocery store operators are in serious discussions with Northland. Construction could be complete this year.

As for the wine shop, Gottesdiener said it "will be a great new amenity for downtown residents and office workers."

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

I read on another web page that construction equipment was now the site.

Front Street plans on Friday. Still a rumor at this point.

Will become 30+ apartments with a couple of floors of biz/retail.

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hr/hc-ctpearl0103.artjan03,0,2032922.story

New Plan For Building

By JEFFREY B. COHEN | Courant Staff Writer
January 3, 2008

The city's first plan was to develop the 12-story former office building near Bushnell Park into luxury condos, but that didn't happen.

On Wednesday, city officials announced a second plan involving a new developer who now wants to convert 101 Pearl St. into retail, office space and apartments — and possibly condos later if the market improves.

"I wanted to do condos, but there's just no money out there," developer Carlos Mouta said Wednesday. "As soon as the market allows it, I can convert them into condos."

The partnership of Mouta, Capasso Mason Enterprises Inc. and Sheldon Oak Central Inc. — a nonprofit housing development corporation run by Daniel Merida — wants to have final approvals to move ahead on the $17 million project by the end of June.

"The previous preferred developer [proposed] luxury condos," said Mark McGovern, the city's acting director of development services. "These are not luxury condos. They are market-rate apartments that will be of high quality, but not of luxury, given the building and the rental market."

Mouta, who has been an active developer in the city's Parkville section, was the runner-up in July 2005 to develop the property. He lost out to New York developer Full Spectrum LLC, which sought to develop a few dozen luxury condos in the 42-year-old building.

That project fell through in August 2006, a victim of rising construction and remediation costs. The building was found to have an unexpectedly large amount of asbestos, which will require about a $2 million cleanup. Even though the city dropped its asking price from $1.2 million to $400,000, the original deal collapsed.

This fall, the city sought other interest bidders, not just condo developers, but those interested in all permitted uses — from offices to retail to housing.

Mouta's new development plans 36 apartments that will offer "workforce housing opportunities affordable to a mix of incomes," according to a city press release. He also plans 18,000 square feet of retail and office space in the lower floors. He will also redesign the exterior facade.

Mouta's partnership competed against proposals from Martin Kenny, owner of Trumbull on the Park; David Nyberg, owner of the apartments in the old SNET building called 55 on the Park; and a partnership involving the family of Sanford Cloud.

Adam Cloud, Sanford's son, was disappointed by Wednesday's announcement.

"I'm shocked and surprised," said Cloud, who said he didn't expect Mouta to be the last developer standing. "I really didn't."

Kenny, whose Trumbull on the Park apartments are doing well at 93-percent occupancy, said he thought his plan for 120 inexpensive rental units to cater to the young professional was responsive to the market.

The reason, Kenny said, is that the downtown rental market serves the high-end apartment renter well with supply but it lacks less inexpensive units for single young professionals who don't want to share space with a roommate.

His experience plays that out, he said. Of his 100 units at Trumbull on the Park, six of the seven units that are vacant are two-bedrooms. Conversely, he said, there's a waiting list for studios. "We have very fierce competitions when a studio comes available."

Mouta said that Capasso brings building experience and that Merida's company brings the ability to attract public funds to the project. Merida has developed a number of apartments in the city and this summer broke ground on another development on Main Street. A partnership he heads with Meriden developer Salvatore Carabetta surfaced in corruption allegations made over a year ago by the now former head of the Hartford Housing Authority.

In a press release, Mayor Eddie A. Perez said Mouta's plan would "invigorate Pearl Street between Main and Trumbull and help to continue to increase the energy and vibrancy that we are experiencing."

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

It's about damn time. :lol:

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hr/hc-twolibraries.artdec31,0,1804342.story

Libraries Unveiling Renovations To Kick Off Year
Hartford, West Hartford To Show Off Multimillion-Dollar Makeovers

By JEFFREY B. COHEN And DANIEL P. JONES | The Hartford Courant
December 31, 2007

Two of the region's most heavily used libraries will celebrate the New Year with activities and events showcasing multimillion-dollar makeovers.

The Hartford Public Library on Main Street will celebrate its $42 million new look with five days of events, beginning with a noontime ribbon-cutting today; West Hartford's Noah Webster Library has its reopening festivities planned for Sunday.

The capital city's downtown library has added more space for children and families, an adult learning center, a technology lab, a media center, a new book area, 100 additional computers, a seminar room, public meeting space, eight study rooms, a bigger Hartford history center, a reading place and a writing room, said chief librarian Louise Blalock.

It's not just the library's new glittering glass front that has Blalock excited.

"We've completely transformed this library," Blalock said. "The library was really a very interior building, and that's not who we are anymore. We're really out in the community, we're everywhere in the city. ¡K We need a building that expresses that.

"This is not the same library in terms of the building, and it's not the same library in terms of the services that it was a decade ago," she said. "It is truly a new Hartford Public Library."

Planning for the library's redesign began in 1995. The first phase, a 45,000-square-foot addition with a parking deck, was completed in 2002. The second phase was the renovation of the existing building. The price tag was $42 million, Blalock said.

She is particularly proud of the glass front.

"You can see the vitality, you can see the dynamism of the library that it's alive, it's working, it's active ¡K that people are in here and they're doing things," she said.

The library's completion is two years overdue. Final touch-ups probably won't be completed for another few months but won't interfere with library operations, Blalock said.

Visitors to the Hartford library have been able to use the new spaces since the summer. Details can be found at www.hplct.org.

The Jan. 6 reopening festivities for West Hartford's Noah Webster Library on South Main Street will take place from 1 to 4 p.m., with a 2 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Strolling balloon artists and magicians, and the Conard and Hall high school jazz combos will entertain.

The project adds 17,000 square feet to the library, bringing its space to about 60,000 square feet, nearly 1 square foot for each of West Hartford's approximately 64,000 residents, a commonly endorsed standard for libraries.

The $9 million library project, begun in September 2006, is being paid for - mostly with town money, about $6.8 million. A nonprofit library foundation, established years ago to support the library financially, is raising $1 million. The rest of the money is coming from a combination of state and federal grants, and private donations, according to library director Pat Holloway.

The renovated library provides increased space for teens, adults and library programs. It includes a redesigned main floor exclusively for public use, enlarged circulation and browsing areas, a climate-controlled local history room, a computer lab, a new room specifically for teens, and a gallery for art and cultural exhibits, according to library officials.

"What I would like to have happen on the day we reopen is that everyone walks in with mouth agape and a big smile on their face, and says, 'Yes, this is the library we deserve,''' Holloway said Friday.

See Thursday's Cal section for more about the redesigns of the Hartford and West Hartford libraries.

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-hfdreategui0109.artjan09,0,4372739.story


Developer Wants Building Returned

By JEFFREY B. COHEN | Courant Staff Writer
January 9, 2008

When developer Jose Reategui bought a city-owned building on Wethersfield Avenue two years ago, he said he was going to knock down the existing structure and put in elderly housing.

But financial pressures and opposition from historic preservationists seeking to save the building stalled those plans, Reategui says, and, in November, he defaulted on his contract and the city took the property back.

Now Reategui says he has revised his plans. He will retain the building, gut it, and build two-dozen market rate apartments inside. First, though, he'll have to negotiate a way to re-acquire the property.

"He was going to demolish the building," said Mark McGovern, the city's acting director of development services. "We are now evaluating his proposals for a renovated building and far fewer units of housing."

The city bought the two-story, 27,000-square-foot brick building at 990 Wethersfield Ave. in 1999 for $350,000. Reategui, a supporter of and donor to Mayor Eddie A. Perez, bought it from the city in 2004 for $150,000. Reategui also owned the adjacent 1000 Wethersfield Ave. — the former Marc Anthony's restaurant.

Reategui's latest plans call for 24 market-rate apartments inside — 10 of which would be reserved for senior citizens. The studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments would be roughly 500, 640, and 940 square feet, respectively. The building's exterior would remain as it is, and Reategui says that construction could take 14 to 16 months. The project will cost $1.9 million.

The problem he faces is that he defaulted on his 2005 contract with the city because the project was taking so long to materialize. In November, the city took the property back, and kept Reategui's $150,000.

Reategui and his attorney, former city corporation counsel Alexander Aponte, are working to negotiate a new deal.

At one point, Aponte made a claim that the city was responsible for mortgage payments related to the property and for reimbursing Reategui for the cost of remediation and planning work at the site. City attorney Ben Bare flatly rejected those claims in a November letter.

Now the two sides are negotiating the property's future.

"It's almost as if we were starting from scratch," McGovern said.

That's a good thing, if you ask the folks at the Hartford Preservation Alliance. They never did like the idea of knocking the building down, and Tomas Nenortas, the alliance's historic resources adviser, said it's a good example of colonial revival architecture.

"Our whole effort from a few years back was to preserve that building and have it as a sort of entranceway to the city of Hartford coming from the south," Nenortas said.

The plan also has the support of the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, which, in a letter to the city, said its only hope "was that this new project move along quickly."

Calls to Reategui and to Aponte were not returned.

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-plcuhar.artjan27,0,6142418.story

University Of Hartford Students Tackle Great I-84 Divide
By DANIEL DAVIS
January 27, 2008

We were heartened to see Mayor Eddie Perez, in his inaugural address, take on the challenge of remaking the north downtown area that was so badly obliterated decades ago by the construction of I-84.

As it happens, two of my University of Hartford Master of Architecture students recently took on the challenge of creating a hypothetical urban design for this part of the city.

The two students, Michael Varisio and Gilbert Ramirez, chose the project after reviewing aerial photos of the area taken before I-84 was pushed through in the 1960s. There was a real city there! They marveled at the network of streets and cohesive, fluid neighborhoods now divided by the canyon of the I-84 roadway. The students wondered, as many of us have in hindsight, why anyone ever thought running a highway through neighborhoods in a city was a good idea.

While much of the attention is currently on Front Street, Rentschler Field and other areas, the students were more excited about trying to address this problem. They saw an opportunity to connect the business district of downtown with the more residential district of Albany Avenue, better use downtown real estate and provide some of the amenities Hartford is lacking.

Their research started with tours of Hartford and various mixed-use developments such as Blue Back Square in West Hartford. They studied maps and historic aerial photographs of Hartford.

Their design started with some basic analysis of the neighborhoods. The students wanted to draw people from all directions to their sites and blur the boundary between Albany Avenue and downtown Hartford.

Their fundamental concept was to weave the neighborhoods together with connecting streets, walkways and views; while building over the crypt created by the highway. Roads disconnected by I-84 would to be reconnected; blocks developed with new construction would be traversed with pedestrian streets. They restore some of the fabric of the city by suggesting development almost entirely on vacant sites either abandoned or currently used for parking.

They envisioned a bus station above I-84 that would provide a sheltered place to wait for the bus but also become a sculptural gateway to the city for those entering by car on I-84.

They asked what brings people — people of all ages and from different ethnic backgrounds and financial strata — together. They concluded that everyone goes to the movies, everyone has to shop for food, everyone has to eat, everyone can enjoy a park, and virtually everyone can work or go to school.

They imagine a vertical urban market, adjacent to the G. Fox building, with a multistory atrium placed directly on an axis with Main Street. Other facilities would include a movie and performing arts theater, a restaurant alley, ground level retail, office space, residential units, a park, a community center, a magnet school for public safety (across from the soon to be renovated public safety facility on High Street) and more space for Capital Community College.

The students also felt the need to slow down the traffic on Main Street by providing two intersections with textured road materials such as cobblestone. Proposed traffic lights would stop cars a safe distance from the intersections and allow pedestrians to cross in both directions at the same time. Pedestrians in downtown Hartford should not have to risk their lives just to cross a street.

The architectural style of the proposed new construction is to be modern and forward-looking, not nostalgically historic, with buildings getting taller as they get closer to downtown. The architecture should speak to a happier, more integrated city for all to enjoy. The projects would be built in three stages, and only the third stage would require additional platforms over I-84.

The project reminded me that seasoned professionals can at times over-analyze design solutions, and sometimes young, less-experienced designers can suggest some obvious and more appropriate answers. This was the case here. We'd be happy to share the ideas with Mayor Eddie A. Perez.

Daniel Davis is a professor of architecture at the University of Hartford and the director of design in a Hartford architectural firm.

Sorry for the lack of news for several months...I've been lazy and there really hasn't been much important news lately...well, here we go.

Link: http://www.courant.com/business/realestate/hc-demolition0514.artmay14,0,3413943.story



The Hartford Insurance Expansion Plan Proceeding

Courant Staff Report
May 14, 2008

Demolition permits to tear down all but the oldest portion of the former MassMutual complex in Hartford's Asylum Hill have been issued by the city.

Securing the permits was a key step in The Hartford's plans to purchase the Garden Street property and initially use existing parking on the site for employees who work at the insurer's headquarters campus across the street.

The Hartford is exploring redevelopment plans for the site that could include office space for future expansion and, perhaps, a mix of stores and apartments. The insurer also plans to donate a portion of the site for a magnet school.

The insurer has said it plans to purchase the property — vacant for three years — in June for an as-yet undisclosed price. Demolition, expected to cost about $3.2 million, is expected to begin in mid-summer.

After talks with preservationists, The Hartford last month agreed to preserve the original, 40,000-square-foot structure, distinctive for its Georgian Revival facade and atrium. The building was eventually expanded to 250,000 square feet.

The Hartford said it would be too expensive to maintain at its current size while the insurer investigated future options. Preservationists and neighborhood groups fought to save all or more of the building.

Link: http://www.courant.com/business/realestate/hc-sheraton0506.artmay06,0,6388332.story

Waterford To Join In Sheraton Makeover
Firm Purchases 50% Of Airport Hotel


http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/184/87245255zf7.jpg
THE SHERATON HOTEL at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks will soon undergo a multimillion-dollar renovation by the Waterford Group, partnering with the Konover Hotel Corp. (KEN GOSSELIN / May 5, 2008)


By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN | Courant Staff Writer
May 6, 2008

When Waterford Group bought the downtown Hilton in Hartford four years ago, the aging hotel was in such bad shape that Hilton was close to pulling its name from the building.

A year — and $33 million — later, the renovated hotel opened and soon began playing a key role in attracting conventioneers and other visitors to the city.

Now, Waterford, headed by brothers Len and Mark Wolman, has set its sights on another hotel renovation project, this time at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.

Waterford will announce today that it has purchased a 50 percent stake in the Sheraton at the airport and will join with the hotel's original developer and current owner and manager, Konover Hotel Corp. of West Hartford, in an extensive makeover of the 237-room hotel.

The deal comes as Bradley nears the completion of $200 million in renovations and expansion in a terminal adjacent to the hotel. The airport also expects to begin work on the terminal on the other side of the hotel in 2011 and add another 2,500-space parking garage.

At the same time, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which owns the Sheraton brand, is working to revive one of America's largest and most recognizable hotel chains, which Starwood acknowledges has fallen behind other competitors in recent years. Starwood is in the second year of a three-year plan focused on new construction and renovations to existing hotels that is expected to total $4 billion.

Starwood does not own most of its hotels. Owners such as Konover and Waterford pay to upgrade and maintain buildings.

Neither Waterford nor Konover would comment on how much Waterford invested to purchase the 50 percent stake in the Sheraton, which opened in 1987. They also did not have an estimate on how much the renovations, expected to be completed by the end of next year, would cost, except to say it would be "multimillion."

Based on Starwood's estimate that $1.3 billion would be spent renovating 100 hotel properties in North America as part of the three-year initiative, the average cost would be about $13 million.

Waterford owns or manages 22 hotels in seven states, mostly in Connecticut. In addition to the Hilton, in downtown Hartford, Waterford built and manages the Connecticut Convention Center and the new Marriott.

The company's first development project in downtown Hartford, with partners in the late 1990s, was the Residence Inn by Marriott in the Richardson Building. Waterford has invested $140 million in the city since then, and still manages that location.

Len Wolman, Waterford's chairman and chief executive, said the renovation project at the airport is a natural extension of its holdings in Hartford and will allow Waterford to add the Sheraton to the lodgings it can market in connection with the convention center.

The airport hotel faces increased competition from a larger number of hotels in the area immediately surrounding the airport. Occupancy at the hotel generally is in the 70 percent range overall, said Simon Konover, head of Konover Hotel Corp., a number that's considered to be on par with better-performing hotels in the Hartford area.

Konover, a longtime figure in local development, said the hotel needed to keep pace with the latest amenities and the development of the airport overall.

The Wolmans and Konovers have known each other for 20 years but have not previously worked on projects jointly.

"We felt we could best do this together," Konover said.

Details of the renovation plan are still being worked out, said Mark Wolman, who oversees construction and development at Waterford. In addition to guest rooms, renovations will update the concrete-block exterior and redesign the lobby, he said.

According to Starwood, lobbies of renovated hotels will include free Wi-Fi and computer stations with access to the Web. This will allow guests to search the Web, familiarize themselves with local attractions and print up boarding passes.

"We're committed to being a prototype of this new initiative," Mark Wolman said.

Hoyt H. Harper, senior vice president of brand management at Starwood, said renovations are essential for Sheratons at high-profile locations, such as airports, because they create one of the first impressions for travelers as they depart from their planes.

"We are raising the bar for quality and consistency at Sheratons throughout North America and the world," Harper said.

Len Wolman said Waterford was attracted to the project because the airport is growing, having added its first regularly scheduled international flight to Amsterdam last year. Although the economic slowdown could mean an erosion in both business and pleasure travel in the near future, he sees strong long-term trends, including the strong likelihood of more international flights in the future.

"Clearly, this hotel has the best possible location," Wolman said.

Average room rates range from $150 to $250 a night, according to Konover.

The 164 workers at the airport Sheraton are not unionized. Waterford, which manages hotels with and without unions, has been at the center of a controversy at the convention center Marriott, where Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and union organizers want the firm to sign an agreement spelling out how and whether the hotel would recognize a union. Len Wolman has said he favors a federally supervised vote by workers.

Konover said no employees will lose their jobs as a result of the renovation at the airport Sheraton.

"There will be no changes there whatsoever," he said.

Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.

More articles

:ohno:

Link: http://www.courant.com/business/realestate/hc-office0513.artmay13,0,6160613.story


MetLife Move Echoes In Space
City's Vacancy Rate Could Take A Hit

By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN | Courant Staff Writer
May 13, 2008

No one likes these kind of numbers.

When MetLife finishes its move from downtown Hartford to Bloomfield later this year, the insurer will take 1,300 employees out of the city and dump 375,000 square feet of prime office space on the market.

That amount of vacant office space would represent a dramatic reversal of improving vacancy trends in the city's central business district outlined in a new report by commercial real estate broker Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut Inc.

In the first three months of this year, the vacancy in prime, Class A space was 13.7 percent, down from 15.5 percent for the same period a year ago, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

But if all the MetLife space at CityPlace comes back on the market, the vacancy in Class A space would jump about six percentage points, pushing it close to 20 percent. Adding that much space would erase all the recent gains made when Travelers leased 300,000 square feet in the city as part of an expansion.

"Statistically, that gets us back to the early to mid-1990s," said John M. McCormick, executive vice president at commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis in Hartford. "That doesn't help us."

The leasing of office space is a well-watched indicator of an area's economic health because it shows whether employers are adding or cutting jobs. In downtown Hartford, fluctuations in Class A vacancy are closely followed because Class A space encompasses three-quarters of the central business district office market.

Although downtown leasing remains active — a key difference compared with the early 1990s — the uncertain economy is a concern and tenants still generally have the upper hand in negotiations with landlords.

Some brokers are already factoring the MetLife space into their vacancy figures, but Cushman & Wakefield said it won't do that until the insurer's lease expires in October. Until then, MetLife is on the hook to pay the rent unless it subleases the space.

The prospect of higher vacancy rates downtown isn't welcomed in a market that has struggled for years to build leasing momentum. But McCormick and others say there are major differences between now and the early 1990s, when Connecticut and the rest of New England was stuck in a devastating recession.

Back then, office leasing slowed significantly. Now, office leasing remains relatively healthy, propelled by a series of smaller deals, including tenants such as law firm Cantor Colburn that relocated from Bloomfield to the 20 Church Street tower and are new to downtown.

Travelers remains active in adding space. On top of the 300,000 square feet, Travelers has signed new leases for another 36,000 square feet at State House Square and an additional 18,000 square feet at One Financial Plaza, the "Gold Building."

XL Insurance, which now has the naming rights for the former Hartford Civic Center, just took another 12,000 square feet at 100 Constitution Plaza, bring its total leased space in that tower to 81,000 square feet.

"The city already has had a chance to do a lot of leasing to mitigate the loss of MetLife," said Jonathan K. Putnam, executive director at Cushman & Wakefield's Hartford office. "There is very healthy leasing activity downtown."

The wild card is how deeply the state is affected by any economic recession. So far, at least, the city has been spared any major office closings or layoffs, though that has happened in a couple of instances in the surrounding suburbs, Putnam said. Nationwide Insurance, for example, announced that would close its office at Corporate Ridge in Rocky Hill.

"We haven't seen a big fallout from the economy," Putnam said. "I'm not saying it won't hit us, but we haven't seen it yet."

Despite leasing momentum downtown, it is expected to remain a tenant's market because the MetLife relocation will keep lease rates down. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the average rental rate for Class A space was $20.75 in the first quarter, essentially flat with the same three months in 2007.

In a recent report, commercial real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle said landlords are expected to continue offering concessions such as two to three months of free rent outside the term of the lease and tenant improvement allowances.

Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.

Link: http://www.courant.com/business/realestate/hc-massmutual0429.artapr29,0,7393266.story


Battle Over Historic Structure
MassMutual Building Conflict Continues

By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN | Courant Staff Writer
April 29, 2008

Not much except routine permits stands between The Hartford and its plans to demolish all but the oldest portion of the former MassMutual building on Asylum Hill.

But there is still a flicker of opposition that won't be snuffed out: those who want to see a greater part, or even all the historic building in Hartford preserved.City Councilman Larry Deutsch said the giant insurance company shouldn't have been allowed to apply for a demolition permit April 14 without first appearing at a hearing before the city's historic preservation commission. The hearing, he said, is required because the Garden Street property, which The Hartford may redevelop for office space or stores and apartments, has been listed on the state's Register Of Historic Places.

Deutsch's contention is backed up by a legal opinion obtained by the Hartford Preservation Alliance and sent to the city's corporation counsel.

City officials, however, see the situation differently. They say The Hartford began the application process in January by filing an "intent to demolish" notice well before the property was listed on the state register. The property was listed March 5.

Therefore, city attorneys say, the requirement for a hearing before applying for the permit does not apply, said Mark McGovern, director of development.

On the surface, the dispute may seem to be just about procedure. But the issue isn't only about this one building, which has its defenders and detractors, but also about upholding a process to save old buildings and consider other uses for them.

The process is crucial, preservationists say, because over the years the city has allowed so many historic structures to fall under the wrecking ball.

The demolition permit could be issued as soon as May 5. Work could begin in mid-summer after The Hartford completes the purchase of the property for an as-yet-undisclosed price.

The MassMutual complex wasn't on the register in December when The Hartford, which employs 7,000 in the city, said it had an agreement to buy the property and tentative plans to demolish it. The preservation alliance responded quickly by commissioning a $5,000 study to fast-track a register listing.

In a letter to the city's attorney that accompanied the legal opinion, alliance President Todd Doyle expressed concern about the implications for similar situations in the future.

Doyle said it is the alliance's belief that any building on the state register "must, in all cases, be submitted to the historic preservation commission before a demolition permit can be applied for and granted."

Peter B. Cooper, a New Haven lawyer who prepared the legal opinion for the alliance, said the two filings — intent to demolish and the demolition permit — are separate and distinct.

Those distinctions, he said, are clear in the ordinance: "No person may file an application for a permit to demolish any building or part thereof visible from a public street or way without having first submitted a notice of intent to apply for such permit."

"The notice of intent and the demolition permit are clearly identified in the section as different and distinct items requiring different and distinct filing," Cooper, an expert in urban studies and preservation issues, wrote in the opinion.

On Friday, the neighborhood revitalization zone for Asylum Hill also urged The Hartford to consider saving more than the original 1926 building, which expanded from 40,000 square feet to 250,000 square feet as its original occupant, Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., prospered.

The neighborhood organization said the wings added in the 1940s and 1950s should be preserved, at least until firm plans for the site are known.

"The reason we want to keep that building is because of its architectural value," said Bernie Michel, chairman of the revitalization zone. "And for most people, the center and structures to both sides is what we think of as that building."

Michel said a hearing before the historic preservation commission, which can approve or reject demolition, could be helpful, but the neighborhood group, the alliance and The Hartford also have to discuss the options again.

Deutsch said he is concerned about the demolition because no other alternatives have been publicly presented.

"We've seen nothing in way of feasibility studies," Deutsch said.

Two weeks ago, The Hartford said it would save the original structure — distinctive for its Georgian Revival facade — and was exploring how it might fit into redevelopment plans for the 16-acre site that could include office space and, perhaps, a mix of stores and apartments.

Joshua King, a spokesman for The Hartford, said the insurer's view hasn't changed.

"We think the outcome benefits the city, the neighborhood and our company. This is a win-win-win for all concerned. We plan to close on the property in June, assuming we can exercise flexibility over the site. The alternative would have it join the area's surplus of unoccupied, unproductive and unsold property."

Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.

Link: http://www.courant.com/community/news/ec/hc-theriver0513.artmay13,0,3244927.story


Goodwin College Project Opens River View In East Hartford
JOHN MCMANUS

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Construction of the Goodwin College extension is underway along Riverside Drive in East Hartford. (ROSS TAYLOR / May 9, 2008)

EAST HARTFORD — - Jessie Goodwill has been living in her home on Ensign Street for more than 40 years, and throughout that time she has never been able to look out her front porch and see the Connecticut River flowing just a few hundred feet away.

For decades, the view toward the river from Ensign Street and neighboring Riverside Drive has been little more than an industrial eyesore, with rows of oil tanks and fuel depots and intermittent clusters of dirt hills and trees making it impossible to catch more than a passing glimpse of the rolling river behind them.

But all that has begun to change in recent weeks, as construction crews from Goodwin College have removed many of the old oil tanks, torn down the brush and mounds of dirt and cleaned out contaminated soil to make way for a new branch of the college.

In the process, the crews have helped restore the long-neglected connection between East Hartford and the river that runs hard by its western edge.

"At my age, I'm not sure how much good it'll do me, but I think it'll be great for the young kids," said the 78-year-old Goodwill as she looked toward the recently opened vista to the river from her stoop on Ensign Street. "It'll be better than looking at a bunch of oil tanks, that's for darn sure."

The college, which is based off Burnside Avenue and serves mostly working adults trying to obtain a degree in their field, is building its new River Campus on a stretch of the river bank covering 11 acres south of the Charter Oak Bridge.

Goodwin president Mark Scheinberg said the college has committed more than $125 million toward the expansion and could invest as much as $200 million by the time the project is finished next year — about $12 million of which came from state funding sources.

The project will include classrooms, dormitories and a system of trails and small parks that will allow students and the public to take in the newly reacquired view. In all, the private, two-year college has purchased land that eventually will enable it to extend the trails more than 2 miles south to the Putnam Bridge in Glastonbury.

A $3 million grant from the Connecticut Development Authority is being used to remove the entrenched oil tanks and the infrastructure that went along with them, including a depot station where several decades' worth of leached oil had settled into the sponge-like soil, Scheinberg said.

"Basically, it's been sitting there for 50 years," he said. "It just became an area where you wouldn't want to go spend an afternoon by the water."

With the help of a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, most of the contaminated soil has been removed, along with the tanks. Although the skeletons of some of the new classroom buildings have been built, the view along Riverside Drive is now mostly a landscape of smoothed-out dirt sloping toward the river.

A couple of old docks, once used for commercial boat fueling, will remain as part of the campus project to allow for recreational boating. Scheinberg said he envisions college-sponsored concerts and other public events in which people will gather in the parks beside the river.

"Every time we see another rusted old hulk come down, we're surprised all over again by how beautiful it's going to be," he said.

Even for longtime residents like Goodwill, the prospect of once again being able to see the river as they take their evening strolls or drives through the neighborhood is something new.

"You really haven't been able to see much of it since I've been here," said John McManus, who has lived in his house on nearby Colt Street since the early 1950s. He said he and his wife, Martha, are excited about the campus project and the opportunities it will provide neighbors for reconnecting with the river.

"It'll be good to see it," he said. "The river is a big plus for East Hartford, and I don't think it's ever been utilized properly. I think it's going to be a big draw."

Goodwill pointed out that, despite the buildup of industrial buildings, she and other residents over the years could still gain access to the river by joining the Canoe Club on Riverside Drive, a social club that has maintained a view to the river. And next door, there's a nightclub where patrons can see the water, she said. Both of those properties will remain intact despite the campus expansion taking place on both sides of them.

"You could still see the river, but you had to go out of your way to do it," Goodwill said.

Despite the opening vista to the river on Riverside Drive, neighbors on Colt Street and other nearby streets will still have their views blocked by Route 2, which runs on an elevated bank parallel to Riverside Drive. The highway has effectively isolated Riverside Drive and the banks of the river from the rest of the neighborhood, except for a couple of underpasses on Colt Street and Ensign Street.

"It's not like I'll be able to look out my backyard and see the water," McManus said.

McManus said he also worries that the new campus may bring with it an occasional rowdy student who might disrupt life for neighbors.

But for the most part, he said, he is excited at seeing the neighborhood energized with an infusion of new jobs and new people and, especially, a new look.

"This area was really in danger of going down the tubes in the 1960s and '70s, and it's been slowly climbing back ever since," he said. "This could really jump start things."

Other neighbors said they are also excited for the children in the neighborhood, who could soon have a safe and scenic place to play.

"You don't want them to play in the street," said Candice Chaney, who lives on Ensign Street with her 4-year-old nephew, Jaelon Owens. "And now there won't be all those oil trucks going up and down the street, so that's good, too."

Linda Rosa, a young mother who lives on nearby Willowbrook Road, said she thinks the campus project will give the neighborhood a welcome new feel.

"It's just good to get rid of that eyesore," she said.

Contact Matt Burgard at mburgard@courant.com.

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-front0509.artmay09,0,5829319.story


A $7 Million Jump Start For Hartford's Front Street

By JEFFREY B. COHEN | Courant Staff Writer
May 9, 2008

The federal government has approved $7 million in funding that developers say will allow them to begin construction of retail space at Front Street this fall.

"This is good news," said Peter Christian, who works with the developer HB Nitkin Group. "We're in pretty good shape right now. This is the last piece of public financing we were waiting on."

Good news, though, is a relative thing when it comes to Front Street — an empty lot across from the Connecticut Convention Center that long ago was supposed to be turned into a destination spot for apartment dwellers, shoppers and fun seekers.

Developer Bradley Nitkin's original plans for the site called for using the entire swath of now-vacant land between Columbus Boulevard and Prospect Street. But that plan was downsized into two phases. For the first phase, the state and Nitkin agreed to develop roughly half of that site into 115 apartments and 65,000 square feet of retail. Architectural plans that showed apartments atop large, glassy shop fronts were completed late last year to a good bit of fanfare.

In March, crunched by rising construction costs and a slumping economy, the state and Nitkin changed course, jettisoned the apartments, and decided to move forward with roughly 68,000 square feet of retail space. The housing will have to wait until market conditions improve.

The city had federal approval to use $7 million for Front Street, a key component of the Adriaen's Landing project that also includes the convention center and the still-to-be completed Connecticut Science Center. After the initial approval expired in 2006, the city reapplied for the money. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., announced that the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development had approved the money — a $2 million grant and a $5 million loan.

"We're delighted," Nitkin said in an interview. "This will not look like an average shopping center. It's an architecturally attractive, Robert Stern-designed project that will be very much in keeping with the surrounding architecture in Hartford."

Stern's architectural firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, is the project's designer.

Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez applauded Thursday's announcement, even though he'd rather see a bigger project.

"My preference was that we would do everything at once," Perez said. "But I understand Mr. Nitkin has a motive to make sure this is a market-driven deal. The fact that he wants to stage it and take a little time to make sure the housing is built is a good thing."

Perez said he hoped, though, that planning for the housing would start in the next few months.

"If we need to change the size of the units and make them more worker housing instead of empty nesters," that would be OK, Perez said. But the development can't stop with retail alone, he said.

"I want the home run," Perez said. "But getting to second base is OK"

Contact Jeffrey B. Cohen at jcohen@courant.com.

Some pics of the construction of the Science center, kind of old (Feb/Mar).

Work on Science Alley
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4559/11yx5.jpg

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5363/11uh3.jpg


Work on the North Wall
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8589/11go7.jpg

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3171/11fv4.jpg


MY pic of the Science center in progress, it's on the right:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n101/rotten777/S6300021.jpg

Link: http://www.courant.com/business/realestate/hc-move0520.artmay20,0,4455588.story


Happy Office Surprise: Downtown Hartford

By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN | Courant Staff Writer
May 20, 2008

Scott H. Smith looked at office space in downtown Hartford last fall for his insurance brokerage and was surprised by how many people were on the street at lunchtime.

Smith ran into at least half a dozen people he hadn't seen in months.

He had hoped to sign a new lease in West Hartford Center, the location of his firm for 26 years. But finding suitable space there proved impossible. Two weeks ago, Smith signed a lease for the 15th floor in the 20 Church Street office tower — informally known as the "Stilts Building" — in downtown Hartford.

Smith's firm, which provides insurance for hard-to-insure commercial clients including corporate directors, expects to move in October and bring 75 employees downtown from its West Hartford office.

The move from suburb to city isn't unusual as an increasing number of companies, particularly in financial services, are leasing smaller spaces downtown — taking advantage of a tenant's market where many landlords are offering generous incentives.

What is out of the ordinary, however, is that downtown Hartford was Smith's second choice for his insurance brokerage, S.H. Smith & Co. Inc.

It's more typical for tenants moving to or staying in downtown Hartford to make that decision as their first choice, rather than as a backup plan. Then again, Smith didn't figure space in West Hartford Center would be so tight, even with new office construction at Blue Back Square.

Downtown Hartford won out because Smith didn't want the firm to move to an office park where you would have to jump into a car to get anywhere.

And he added, "Once we made the decision, there was the visceral appeal of doing something for the vitality of the city."

Over the years, the firm had come to see the walkable center in West Hartford as a perk for employees and a way to keep productivity up. Being close to restaurants meant not a lot of time was lost on the lunch hour, and it was easy to meet clients.

That, of course, was historically the draw for downtown Hartford, and Smith discovered it's still true.

"We wanted them in a place where they are not in the woods," Smith said.

The lease comes at a time when the downtown Hartford office market faces rising vacancy as MetLife moves to Bloomfield. Commercial real estate brokers say smaller leases like the one signed by S.H. Smith could help whittle away at the loss of MetLife, which is leaving 375,000 square feet in CityPlace I.

It's difficult to attract large tenants to downtown Hartford because there are few large blocks of space available. There hasn't been new office construction in the central business district in nearly 20 years because rents have not risen substantially.

That leaves openings for tenants such as S.H. Smith that are looking for smaller spaces at value pricing in a vibrant area. Average asking rents for prime office space downtown range from $20 to $23 a square foot, compared with $23 to $28 in West Hartford Center, said John M. McCormick, executive vice president at commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis in Hartford.

Blue Back Square is an exception. Average asking rents are approaching $40 a square foot.

The cost of leasing office space in downtown Hartford used to be much higher than in the suburbs, but new construction in the suburbs in recent years has created high-end options outside the city.

McCormick said the departure of MetLife and the prospect of vacancy for prime space rising from 13 percent to 20 percent has made landlords more aggressive with incentives such as months of free rent or allowances for space renovations.

McCormick, whose firm represented both S.H. Smith and landlord Hampshire Cos., said the story isn't just about the numbers. The leasing is about growing confidence, with the convention center and more people living downtown.

"There's a buzz about downtown," McCormick said.

Smith isn't a stranger to the city, having served on the board of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. He also flirted with the idea of moving downtown in the late 1980s, but he found the rents too high.

His company is just the kind of firm the city wants to attract. When Smith bought and renamed it in 1982, the company had three employees and $3 million in gross written premiums. Today, the company employs 112 — 75 of them in West Hartford — and last year had $220 million in gross written premiums.

Smith's lease at 41 N. Main St. expires in October. The company now occupies two floors, and he wanted all employees on one floor so time wasn't wasted. The new lease in Hartford is for 21,000 square feet, about 5,000 square feet more than in West Hartford.

Employees will have to pay for parking, which is now free. But Smith said the company has decided to pay 80 percent of those costs.

Most of the feedback from employees has been positive; one employee quit over the move. Several employees are living in new downtown apartments, he said.

Smith, a resident of Washington, Conn., said the move will add at least another 20 minutes during rush hour to his 90-minute morning commute.

"My wife thinks I'm out of my mind," Smith said.

Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.

I have some New Pictures of the science center that i just took today, its begining to look real nice.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9515/07262008241wb7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/696/07262008242xk3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Wow thats ugly.

I can't believe how long the Science Center has been taking to be finished.

I can't believe how long the Science Center has been taking to be finished.

Well they have ran into some problems like having to take off the roof and do it all over again.

I can't believe how long the Science Center has been taking to be finished.

Neither can I. Haven't been paying much attention to it, but I thought that it would finished and open by fall. I don't believe that it would be even close to finished by then.

CONNECTICUT SCIENCE CENTER
Rocket science wasn’t used to figure construction schedule
New facility falls several months behind

BY JACLYN BRENNING
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
HARTFORD — Four years and millions of dollars in, construction continues feverishly at the much-hyped Connecticut Science Center.
The grinding sound of heavy machinery echoes along the sidewalks at the intersection of Interstates 91 and 84. Workers perch on scaffolding high above the ground.
Below, a craftsman squeegees a giant sheet of glass to be raised to the museum’s gleaming superstructure.
Originally set to open in late 2007, construction has taken longer than planned. Officials blame themselves for setting what they termed an overly ambitious schedule. The opening is now set between March and April 2009.
Most of the exterior is done, although large glass windows still have to be lifted into place. The interior is the next step, with 140,000 square feet of space to be filled with escalators, elevators, nearly 200 exhibits and a 3-D digital theater.
“We’ve got incredible science to showcase here in the state of Connecticut,” said Aaron Wartner, the center’s director of communications.
Talks to launch the $165 million center — with $125 million funded by the state and the rest from private donors — began in 2000. Plans for the building materialized in 2003. The distinctive, sweeping cantilever design is by renowned New Haven architect Cesar Pelli.
Admission prices are expected to be $16 for adults and $13 for children under 18.
Matt Fleury, executive vice president of the center, said the construction progress is encouraging.
“To see it in real life on the skyline is tremendously exciting and rewarding for the many people who have invested so much in it,” he said.
The building is a major piece of the Adriaen’s Landing development near the Connecticut River. It will include, among others things, a gift store, cafe and exhibits on everything from physics to Antarctica. Building plans show a roof garden, forensics lab and an interactive area for tourists to test the safety of Connecticut's water.
Fleury himself looks forward to the new meteorology department where professional meteorologists and tourists alike may develop their own personal weather forecasts.
The center is intended to make science interesting and applicable to those who tour its halls, Wartner said.
“Our goal is to say science is all around us,” he said.
Although exhibits are still being created and workers are hanging drywall, Fleury is eager for next spring when the doors open.
“The reason we are here is to see the eyes of children open wide when they walk in and see the excitement of this building,” he said. “But more importantly, it’s the excitement of science.

It's not going to be open for a while.

Looks like the glass is mostly done on the Science Center, but it's still covered with scaffolding.

This will go up near the river and Constitution Plaza, katty corner to the new science center, and across the street from the iconic Phoenix "boat." The curved part of the new building is designed to compliment the curved sided of the Phoenix building. The scale fits the neighborhood pretty well.

It will be a platinum LEEDS building which is the highest rating for green buildings.


http://www.courant.com/media/photo/2008-12/43693140.jpg

http://www.courant.com/media/photo/2008-12/43693252.jpg

http://www.courant.com/media/photo/2008-12/43693094.jpg

I presume this is an office building?

http://www.courant.com/business/hcu-amsterdamflight-1209,0,3087277.story

Northwest To Resume Hartford To Amsterdam Flight

By CHRISTOPHER KEATING

The Hartford Courant

10:57 AM EST, December 9, 2008

In a surprise announcement to a business group, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Tuesday morning that nonstop, transatlantic airline flights will resume from Bradley International Airport to Amsterdam.

The once-popular flights had stopped in October because of skyrocketing fuel prices, but the recent collapse in prices has led to the resumption, officials said.

"When an airline cancels service, it is rarely resumed - especially one that is international,'' Rell told about 300 business executives at the Marriott hotel at the state's convention center in downtown Hartford. "I may have to take a flight to Amsterdam.''

Rell told the crowd that she had an announcement to make, and she called state transportation commissioner Joseph F. Marie and Bradley airport chairman L. Scott Frantz of Greenwich to the stage before making her statement.

"Not everything is doom and gloom. Trust me,'' Rell said. When the announcement was made, the crowd of business travelers burst into sustained applause.

The flights will run five times a week, except on Tuesday and Friday in each direction. The outgoing flights will leave Bradley at 5:40 p.m. and arrive in Amsterdam at 6:50 a.m. on the following morning.

"We refused to give up on this service, and our efforts have been rewarded,'' said Marie. "To have this service reinstated at a time when the airlines are going through a severe downturn is nothing short of miraculous.''

Frantz said, "There are an estimated 4.7 million travelers located within a 90-mile radius of Bradley International Airport, including the eastern portion of New York State and western New England, who deserve a hassle-free, on-time travel experience in contrast to traveling through the often-congested New York and Boston airports.''

The flights, Frantz said, will generate $37 million in direct and indirect benefits to Connecticut and western Massachusetts.

"Fly Delta and fly Bradley International,'' Frantz told the crowd before the breakfast meeting ended.

The flights started with much fanfare in July 2007, and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele was among the group on the first flight.

Joseph Brennan, the top lobbyist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said the resumption of the flights is good news for business.

"The lack of a direct flight was always a big concern,'' Brennan said.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant

Anybody have a clue what's going on in between the Aetna building and I-84 along Sigourney st? There's 3-4 cranes there, and my dad said he heard on the news that it was a 30-story mixed used building going up. Or is it just work on the busway station there?

Another parking garage.

Aetna is doing over 250M of projects around the HQ and this garage is nearly the last of them. they are trying to get away from flat lots and are trying to solve Asylum Hills ills byt building parking density etc...
there are lots of articles about it at various hartford web sites

Didn't Aetna lay off hundreds of people earlier this month? Who in the world will park in that parking garage?

With troubles at The Hartford and with the Hartford Steam Boiler Company sold to Munich Re, it looks like it will be downhill for downtown Hartford in the foreseeable future. :-(

the reality is much better than you imagine.

Munich Re is the best of the possible suitors, and plan on keeping the company independent. if the company from RI got them it would be trouble as they have existing lines of business that compete with HSB therefore there would be redundancies. also munich re will introduce new international opportunities, and could well base more operations in Hartford as they now have a shiny office tower here.

The Hartford is not in as much trouble as the markets made it look. they had refinanced all of their short term debt before the credit crisis(mind you by luck) and their stock price now indicates as much. there will be layoffs, but the company seems as though it will stay the cities largest employer.

Aetna laid off 1200. thats not much in the big picture. i think the number was only something like 250 or 350 in ct. so no problemo.

the parking garage is the 2nd phase as they prepare to shut down the middletown office and move some 5000 workers to hartford maybe it was 3000, i really can not recall, but its a large number. Also Aetna wants to get out of the surface parking lot game as they seee how it had hurt the city. there are a crap load of articlesd about all of this if you look for them from about 2 years ago. Aetna spent a lot of money in Hartford.

also it should be noted that they built a garage, then tore one down in the location they are currently rebuilding. this new garage will be larger, and over all the company will have a much improved parking situation, and a more consolidated campus. the first garage is very nice looking for a garage as well i might add.

Glad to see that the plans for the new parking garage also include accommodations for the future BRT line.

The garage is progressing nicely, and looks somewhat better than the old one.

I dont think it is anything special. It's just another parking garage in a city that has them all in the wrong places. I'm looking forward to the Science Center being completed soon. And it was nice to finally see an article about the green building being proposed. I saw the photos above some months ago but didnt see an article until one ran in the Courant just last month. Good stuff!!!

Beash, there is more info about 410 Asylum over on Urbanplanet in the Hartford section. they break cities down differently over there and any building can have its own thread to discuss it. I posted some pictures there too. Will be posting more some day in the next week or two as I want to take new photos of the Science center and the Hampton inn going up in East Hartford.

Regarding the Aetna garage...
It looks WAY WAY better.
way better.


Regarding what Aetna is doing over there I will link this PDF from the city
http://www.hartford.gov/news/Aetnaproject72407.pdf

you see its part of Aetna commiting to downtown and freeing up flat lots for development. I guess its Aetna saying.. hay were in a city lets act like it. while The Hartford is just knocking buildings down for more surface parking.


So, the first garge recently finished added 1150 parking spaces and put a building where a surface lot once stood. making the area safer and more usefull.

The garage currently being built ads another 600 spaces and will mimic the main building when done (as much as a garage can).
these 1750 new parking spaces eliminates the need for acres and acres of flat surface lots in asylum hill and are allowing the company to move 4000 workers downtown.

Also these 1750 news spaces are Aetna owned, so the Pro park or LAZ will have to compete harder to get customers as it will have lost quite a few. this makes parking more competative and hopefully we will reach a point if more companies were like Aetna, that it would be more profitable to develop land that to keep it as parking.

Fantastic!!! I really wasnt thinking about these garages in that sense. But it makes me really happy that a company is thinking like this. I look forward to changes in how these parking companies treat us. THanks for the info and I'll head over to check out your photos now. Thanks again!

Just wanted to let people know that final demolition of the WFSB Building has begun in preperation for the new AI Tech Center.

This is news simple because someone is actually building a new downtown office building in any city in America right now, let alone Hartford.

all reports point to 1 month of demo. today they took down just part of a corner of the building.

the developer says construction will either start after demo, or in the spring time.

I would bet on spring time because AI owns their current office, so there is no immediate pressure to move into the new building, just tight working quarters.


The final rnderings should be out soon as well, since a final architect was chosen on 08/06/09.

awesome news its great to see development contiuning in Hartford its a nice looking city though I have only been there once or twice.

Here is a note from Kyle B regarding a HYPE event he wanted me to help get the word out. This event should be a very good one.


Hello All-

We’re very pleased to confirm that this coming Thursday, October 15th, developer David Nyberg will be hosting the HYPEd on Downtown Development group.

Mr. Nyberg has lead the charge to bring residential units to Downtown Hartford with 55 on the Park, The Metropolitan, and 901 Main Street. Please join us for a tour of two of those projects, followed by a roundtable discussion where we will have an opportunity to learn more about Mr. Nyberg, his views on Hartford, and his experiences in the City.

Our itinerary will be as follows:
5:00 Meet at 901 Main Street for a Social Hour and Site Tour (drinks & appetizers provided)
6:00ish Walk to 266 Peal Street (The Metropolitan) for a Site Tour
7:00ish Walk to 31 Pratt Street (MetroHartford Alliance) for a Roundtable discussion (drinks & dinner provided)

The event is free of charge and open to everyone interested in Downtown Hartford - please spread the word. Some of you saw the announcement in the most recent HYPE email, while others may not have. We’re hoping to get another enthusiastic group together to learn about the current state of Downtown Hartford, as seen by a developer, as we work to improve the neighborhood for residents, businesses and visitors.

Thanks for your support – I hope to see you on Thursday. Please RSVP to KyleB@AmyB-RE.com if you are interested in attending and have not responded already.

Best regards,
Kyle




I highly suggest you guys try an attend. I will be there for certain, and am looking forward to both the tours as well as meeting me Nyberg.