Archive for the 'Development' Category
Hartford’s Frog Hollow Neighborhood
We hope to do some more in-depth pieces about the various neighborhoods in Hartford this year. Until we get to that, here is a nice article from the Courant’s Tom Condon about happenings in Frog Hollow.
Who Wants to be a Real Estate Developer?
The City of Hartford is seeking development proposals for 8 city-owned blocks of property. The sale overview notes that the goal is to develop and/or revitalize the properties in accordance with the guiding principles of the One City, One Plan planning document.
We’re excited that the City is taking steps to get these parcels into the hands of developers. If all goes according to plan, the future projects will not only improve the various neighborhoods, but they’ll also add to the grand list. Just getting them off the City’s books will reduce the taxpayers’ collective costs to perform basic maintenance like landscaping and snow removal. Every little bit helps with the budget where it is.
We took a quick look at the City Assessor’s Property Records website to try to figure out just how many properties are owned by the City. Searching for “Last Name” = “City of Hartford” found 9 pages of results at 50 records per page … wow! Many of the random parcels we clicked on are municipal buildings, schools, parks, and open space. We have not attempted to go through the records in detail to estimate how many could be sold. Anyone looking for a project to do at night while watching TV?
The properties available in this round of sales are (info copied from the Property Description page on 2/14/2011):
279 Farmington Avenue (Map 179, Block 406, Lot 043)
This property consists of a 3,500 sq. ft. building containing move in ready professional office space, and required on site parking spaces. The property is located in a B-4 zone.415 Farmington Avenue (Map 156, Block 396, Lot 024)
Potential uses include office, residential or mixed-use development on this vacant lot. The proposed development should draw upon the principles espoused by the City’s Plan of Conservation and Development – One City One Plan – and blend with the historic character of the neighborhood. The property is located in an RO-2 zone and the lot size is 0.209 acres.202 Albany Avenue (Map 243, Block 239, Lot 006)
Potential uses for this vacant lot include office, retail, commercial or mixed-use development. The proposed development should draw upon the principles espoused by One City One Plan and blend with the historic character of the neighborhood. The property is located in a B-4 zone and the lot size is 0.458 acres.445 Zion Street (Map 183, Block 515, Lot 150)
Potential uses for the restoration and reuse of this historic brick apartment house include residential or mixed-use development. HOME funds and other historic preservation funds are available for the restoration of this building. The Property is located in a R-1 zone.272 Garden Street (Map 221, Block 273, Lot 055)
Potential uses for the rehabilitation of this four-story 9,384 sq. ft brick building include either a 2 or 3 family residence or office space. Parking is available on site. The property is located in an R-2 zone.1440 Main Street (Map 243, Block 249, Lot 141)
Potential uses for this vacant lot include office, retail, commercial or mixed-use development. The proposed development should draw upon the principles espoused by One City, One Plan, e.g. building to street facing property line(s), and include permeable facades, glassed storefronts and rear parking. This property is located in B-3 zone and the lot size is 0.987 acres.1540 Main Street (Map 243, Block 249, Lot 139)
The 2.131 acre property, accessed from New Donald Road, contains two structures including a gymnasium and office space. Any proposed reuse or redevelopment should draw upon the principles espoused by One City, One Plan. The property is located in a B-3 zone.126 New Park Avenue (Map 137, Block 481, Lot 094); 130 New Park Avenue (Map 137, Block 481, Lot 095); 8 Francis Court (Map137, Block 481, Lot 096); and 161 Francis Avenue (Map 137, Block 481, Lot 097)
This property consists of four adjacent vacant lots. The parcels may be combined to create one larger development or smaller separate developments. Proposed development must incorporate at least 50% of the entirety of the parcels. Proposed development(s) should draw upon the principles espoused by One City, One Plan and blend with the architectural character of the neighborhood. The properties are zoned B-4 and R-2 and rezoning will be considered to encourage development. The total combined lot size is 0.521 acres.
For more information on the bidding process and evaluation criteria, visit the City’s sale website.
Front Street Movie Theater: Will You Go?
The Governor announced today that the Front Street development in Downtown Hartford has signed its first tenant, Cinema Grill. That’s right, the Governor made the announcement. Must be important for Hartford, right?
This is a major step forward, as Cinema Grill, a movie theater and dining complex, will occupy a little over a third of the available Front Street space- 22,500 square feet. Hopefully this announcement will propel others to fill the remaining space in the upcoming months.
Cinema Grill operates several other outlets in various parts of the country. They’ll have popular releases in addition to indie and foreign films. I checked out a few of their local websites and prices seem reasonable, $4 for evening tickets for adults and no minimum on the amount you must spend on food. Their food menu seemed to resemble any number of chain restaurant menus, but I’m not going to complain, this seems like a good anchor tenant. They are targeting a mid-2011 opening.
Most importantly, do you see yourself going to this type of venue? I think we would. Prices are right, it’s easy enough to get to and seems like it would be a slightly different atmosphere than just a standard movie theater.
Up and Down in Downtown Hartford
Here are a couple quick shots of current projects in Downtown Hartford.
Steel is rising from the ground at the Hartford Public Safety Complex on High Street. The plan has obviously changed since these pictures from June of 2009, but there is now visible progress in the building phase of the project.
A couple blocks away at 1161 Main Street, it appears as though asbestos remediation may be complete at the “Butt Ugly Building.” We drove by the other day and all the windows were covered with plastic. Since the plastic is down now in some windows, and there is an asbestos truck on site, and David Panagore said they would be finishing remediation about now, we’ll just assume that’s where we stand. If remediation is in fact complete, then the actual demolition isn’t too far away.
David Panagore and Downtown Hartford
On Monday, September 27th, Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (HYPE) is hosting an event focused on Downtown Hartford, and featuring David Panagore, COO and Director of Development Services for the City of Hartford.
Mr. Panagore is a strong advocate for Hartford. He is leading the charge to encourage development in the capital city, and seems comfortable sharing information about projects that are under discussion, but by no means finalized. For example, just last week he was quoted in the Hartford Business Journal as saying the City is once again actively working on redeveloping both 101 and 111 Pearl Street. For much of the first half of 2010 he was prominently involved in the One City, One Plan effort to engage the community in the update of Hartford’s Plan of Conservation and Development.
Before coming to Hartford in late 2008, Mr. Panagore worked for Springfield, MA, and he has additional municipal experience from time in San Jose, Boston, and Chelsea, MA. Urban Compass, a local blog that covers both Hartford and Springfield, interviewed Mr. Panagore back in 2005 (Part 1, Part 2). It also covered the Hartford City Council’s session with Mr. Panagore before he was hired.
The goal of the HYPE event is to keep the session relatively low key, so that we can have an interesting and inclusive conversation about Downtown Hartford – both its current state and its future prospects. Although we’ll definitely get Mr. Panagore’s views on a variety of topics, we’ll also encourage attendees to share their ideas so that we can have a constructive conversation about where Hartford should be going.
If this sounds like it might be interesting to you, HYPE would love to see you there. It is free to both members and non-members, though registration is required, and seating is limited to 25. This is our opportunity to pick the brains of one of our City leaders in a positive and energetic environment.
HYPEd on Downtown Development
Monday, September 27, 2010
89 Arch
89 Arch Street, Hartford
5:30 – 8:00
Register on the HYPE Website