Despite appearances, the Great American Pyramid in Memphis has a lot in common with Bridgeport's Steel Point. In Tennessee's largest city, what came to be known as the Pyramid Arena occupies prime waterfront property. But a development that began with so much promise, a landmark meant to advertise the city's arrival, has sat empty for a decade.
Steel Point, also on prime land, has been empty even longer, though its vacancy took the form of an abandoned lot. Now they're each counting on a rescue from the same source.
The city of Memphis announced earlier this year it will spend more than $30 million in taxpayer money to turn the 32-story Pyramid, once home to the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, into an enormous Bass Pro Shops store.
This follows Connecticut's issuance of $31 million in bonds to go toward building a Bass Pro Shops store at Steel Point. Vertical construction began Thursday with a 2015 opening planned.
Memphis and Bridgeport are depending on the stores to provide a much-needed economic boost. But when it comes to making the most of development opportunities, few are as successful as Bass Pro Shops itself, which according to reports has been the beneficiary of at least $500 million in public money from development incentives across the country since the 1990s.
That money is based on promises of benefits that don't always come to pass, according to a report from the Public Accountability Initiative, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization. "Bass Pro often fails to deliver on its promises as an economic development anchor and major tourist destination -- promises which were used to reel in government subsidies," the report reads. "Its stores successfully attract shoppers, but often do not produce sought-after economic benefits associated with major tourist destinations." Destination retail Bridgeport has long counted on the kind of benefits the report describes and which various boosters have promised. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Upcoming school work gets East Lyme go-ahead
East Lyme — The Board of Education voted 7-2 Monday to endorse a plan to renovate Niantic Center School, build a new Flanders Elementary School and close the Lillie B. Haynes School.
As a solution to the district's aging elementary schools, the Elementary Schools Design Steering Committee had recommended last month a proposal to demolish and build a new Flanders Elementary School, as well as completely renovate and expand Niantic Center School with a new gymnasium and two-story addition. The total estimated cost to the town would be $66,919,531, after state reimbursement. Under the plan, the Lillie B. Haynes building would be returned to the town, but the district would propose continuing to use space within the building for LEARN offices, Creative Playschool and Coastal Connections, a high-school program. In its vote, the board gave the Elementary Design Steering Committee the go-ahead to plan the project. The planning will include preparing for a town referendum vote, likely this spring, by developing specific plans with an architect, submitting documents for reimbursement to the state and working with the town's boards of selectmen and finance. In their discussion Monday, several school board members acknowledged the difficulty of closing one of the town's three elementary schools. But they said the declining enrollment projections from a board-commissioned demographic study, as well as the higher costs of renovating three schools, led them to choose the two-school option. "It's been tough data to break down, and a hard decision to make," said board member Robert Kupis. "We'd love to keep all the schools, but when you look at all the data, it was hard for us to support that." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Busway seen as ticket to realty development spurt
In barely four more months, thousands of daily commuters will start riding the 9.4-mile CTfastrak busway linking the downtowns of Hartford and New Britain, with eight stops in between.
With seven-day-a-week runs set to start March 28, landowners and developers already are lining up to have their tickets punched for what is shaping up as the biggest spurt of transit-oriented property development ever witnessed in Connecticut, authorities say.
In talks with area commercial realty brokers, landlords and state-transit and municipal land-planning officials, The Hartford Business Journal has identified at least a half dozen actual or planned residential-and commercial developments situated within a mile or closer to the 10 stations on the $570 million busway. Another half dozen, including acreage along Flatbush Avenue, opposite the Charter Oak Marketplace shopping center, are also said to be under consideration for development, brokers say. Projects range from the conversion of upper-story office space in a downtown New Britain building to a convenience store/gas station at the junction of Flatbush and New Park avenues in West Hartford. In West Hartford, a defunct Pontiac dealership on New Park Avenue, in the shadow of CTfastrak's New Britain Avenue station, recently went under contract to the West Hartford Housing Authority, for a housing-retail development, the town manager says.
Cumberland Farms confirms that it chose the Hartford/West Hartford gateway for its proposed retail/gas station because CTfastrak's Flatbush station is directly across the street.
Although not exactly a land rush, it's the kind of development activity that is precisely what state transportation authorities and others say they expect the busway to spur, although some say it will take time. "The areas around the 10 CTfastrak stations are already seeing increased interest and investment,'' said Randal P. Davis, special assistant to the state transportation commissioner and the busway project liaison with communities and their leaders. "There have been brownfield remediation grants awarded, and improvements to potential investment properties."
The state has about $4 million available to provide technical assistance to communities eager for transit-oriented development. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Becker expects 777Main St. apartment conversion done by spring
Fairfield developer Bruce Becker said he expects to have tenants moving into his 777 Main St. high-rise apartment complex in downtown Hartford sometime in the spring.
Becker is undertaking one of Hartford's highest profile office-to-residential conversions by renovating the former Bank of America building into a 285-unit apartment complex. The redevelopment is part of the strategy by the city and Capital Region Development Authority to add more than 700 residential units downtown. At the start of the year, Becker planned to have tenants move into his building by Labor Day, with the goal of finishing the entire project sometime in early 2015. The move-in day has been delayed by about six months, but Becker said the entire apartment conversion will be completed in the summer. "We are almost done," Becker said. "The first apartments are complete, and we are moving furniture in."
The 777 Main St. leasing office opened in December, and the apartments already have more than 100 people on a rent waitlist, Becker said. Once the apartment construction is complete, Becker said he expects to move onto phase two: installing retail tenants in the first floor of the building, including possibly opening up a grocery store. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Contractors in place to work on Weaver High School
ARTFORD — Designs for the renovation of Weaver High School are being developed now that two architectural firms have been selected for the massive project in the city's North End. The S/L/A/M Collaborative in Glastonbury and Amenta Emma Architects in Hartford will draw up renovation plans for the 40-year-old building. School administrators have said they want an emphasis on natural light. Once expected to cost up to $100 million, the Weaver overhaul is being downsized after the projected enrollment dropped from 1,350 to 900 students, said Jack Butkus of the firm ARCADIS/O&G, Hartford's school construction program manager. The new scope is being determined in the design phase. "Our shared goal is to provide Weaver with a learning environment that aligns them with the highest performing Connecticut schools, transforming the existing facility into a desired destination for faculty and students," said Glenn Gollenberg, a S/L/A/M principal and a member of Achieve Hartford!'s community engagement committee.
Both S/L/A/M and Amenta Emma have design portfolios across all commercial building categories. In education, S/L/A/M designed Capital Preparatory Magnet School and the Journalism and Media Academy Magnet School, both in Hartford. Amenta Emma designed Annie Fisher Montessori STEM and Magnet School in Hartford and the Pathways Academy of Technology and Design at Goodwin College in East Hartford. Hartford's Newfield Construction and New Britain-based Downes Construction were selected this fall to be the project's construction manager, Butkus said Monday. The competitors formed a joint venture, Newfield+Downes, for their bid. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE