777 Main Street – Your Future Home?

Kenneth Gosselin’s piece about the Bank of America building in today’s Courant noted that the owner of 777 Main Street had considered converting some of the building to condos in 2006, and ended with a quote making it clear that a residential conversion was back on the table. Although the current situation can be viewed as a loss for the City – nobody wants to see a business downsizing – it can also be seen

Hartford's One City, One Plan Continues

Discussion of Hartford’s Plan of Conservation and Development resumes this week with the first of four Community Listening Sessions organized by the City Planning & Zoning Commission. Since the first round of events, the City has been working to incorporate the community feedback into the overall plan. A second draft is available, and there is a summary of the Top 20 Individual Ideas as voted by the attendees of the previous events. After looking at

An Evening with David Nyberg

On Thursday, October 15, 2009 (tomorrow evening), real estate developer David Nyberg will be hosting a social hour, giving site tours of two Downtown Hartford projects, and participating in a roundtable discussion. I am coordinating the event through HYPE, and would like to extend an invitation to those outside of the HYPE membership to join us. Please RSVP to me (Kyle Bergquist) to register if you are interested in attending; seating is limited. Mr. Nyberg

Active Development in Downtown Hartford

Below are recent pictures of two big development projects in Downtown Hartford. The first is the steel structure of the Front Street District, across Columbus Boulevard from the Convention Center. It’s exciting to see the project underway after years of delays and other challenges. The second is the Broadcast House being torn down to make room for the AI Technology Center on the corner of Columbus Boulevard and State Street. Demolition began last week and

Reflecting on McMansions

Few words are spoken with as much disdain as ‘McMansion.’ I’ll admit to criticizing a property with the term on occasion, though I’m not one of those people who could wax poetic about the evils they represent. In fact, I recently discovered that I had trouble even defining the term while I was talking with a local builder/developer about a project in which he may participate. After mentioning the main value drivers in the finished