Leslie Hutchison
WINSTED — A special permit application for construction of a 28,000-square-foot medical center was unanimously approved Monday night by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The commission also approved a text change to its zoning regulations to allow for “an emergency department and helipad for a large format medical office building.”The existing regulations didn’t contain wording to allow a “free standing emergency department,” said landscape architect Phil Doyle, of LADA P.C. of Simsbury.
The rest of the site plan application for the project by Winsted Medical Associates LLC was generally the same as approved in 2014.
The new application was submitted to the zoning board after Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and Hartford HealthCare sought to merge their services
The merger required approval by the Office of Health Care Access, which did so in November 2017.
“The affiliation wasn’t a difficult conversation to have,” said Brian Mattiello, regional vice president of strategy and communications for Hartford HealthCare, at the meeting. “We can combine plans.”“Winsted is targeted for growth. Northwest Connecticut is a very important area to co-locate our services,” Mattiello said.Called the Winsted Mediplex by the developers, the medical building will be privately owned by Winsted Medical Associates LLC, which is managed by the Casle Corp. of Avon. The company will lease the space to the medical partnership.John Cappabianca, of Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, is the vice president of operations for the merged medical services. He said , based on the partnership, that the center will offer cardiac care and primary and specialty care.
“We’ve wanted those services for a number of years; they will interact (for patients’ needs),” Cappabianca said.
A significant addition to the original medical center plans was a helipad for Lifestar emergency responses.
Commission alternate Peter Marchand, who was seated to make a quorum in the absence of member George Closson, noted that specific fire fighting equipment is required at helipads. Marchand is chief of the Winsted Volunteer Fire Department.
“Lifestar landing requires a fire engine on hand,” he told the applicants. Marchand also noted that a foam suppressant would be needed on site.
Doyle said a shed will be built near the helipad that could contain the required items.“The fire department has control over the whole situation,” Marchand said.
Doyle answered that plans for approved fire fighting equipment will be provided when construction begins.Commission member Barbara Wilkes asked that the requirement for that equipment, to be provided by the applicant, be listed as a condition of the site plan approval.In a presentation by the medical group to the city’s Architecture Review Committee on Nov. 15, Doyle said the facility will be open 12 hours per day, according to the minutes.
The specific hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., were announced to the zoning commission Monday night.
The commission’s agenda called for a public hearing on the application, but the only speaker was Economic Development Commission Chairman Philip Allen.“I feel this project has enormous potential. We greatly support it,” he said.The medical office building is expected to open in spring 2020.
Brookfield finance board could vote Wednesday on Huckleberry project
Julia Perkins
BROOKFIELD — The Board of Finance is expected to vote Wednesday night on the $78.1 million plan to build a new Huckleberry Hill Elementary School.
A special meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Brookfield High School media center.
The project is expected to cost the town $63.3 million if the town receives the state grant it plans to apply for by the end of June.
Earlier this month, the selectmen approved the proposal for the three-level school to be built on the existing Huckleberry site. The school would serve about 1,130 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
Currently, pre-kindergarten through first grade goes to Center Elementary School, which would be vacated if the new school is built. Fifth-graders go to Whisconier Middle School, but would attend the new Huckleberry.
If the board approves the project, a special town meeting will be set. Officials hope to hold a referendum in March.
Construction would begin in the fall of 2020, with students moving into the new building in fall of 2022
Developer shares details of vision for 'gateway' project at corner of Hartford's Park and Main
Kenneth R. Gosselin and Jenna Carlesso
Two blighted lots at the prominent corner of Park and Main streets — where redevelopment has proven elusive for decades — could be transformed into more than 100 apartments, storefront shops, restaurants, a co-working space and a café.
The plans, which also feature buildings with rooftop decks, have been presented to Hartford’s city council by a partnership of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners and Freeman Cos., the project’s preferred developer.
The partners envision resident amenities that include a media center, game room, internet café with high-speed Wi-Fi, yoga and pilates studio and a pet grooming salon.
Matthew Edvardsen, director of acquisitions and asset management at Spinnaker, said the partnership’s $26 million proposal is still in the early stages, but he is encouraged by discussions with the council and the city’s economic development planners. Spinnaker is based in Norwalk and Freeman is a Hartford company. “We believe the project is well positioned to receive a favorable resolution from the city council as well as planning and zoning early next year and have set a goal to officially break ground around mid-2019,” Edvardsen said.
Edvardsen envisions an aggressive construction schedule with the first rentals available by late 2019 or early 2020. To do that, the developers would have sections of the buildings constructed off-site in “prefab” style, while foundations are prepared and other improvements are done at the intersection.
The redevelopment is meant to improve the southern gateway into downtown and create a crucial pedestrian link for a city that has pushed “walkability.” The project envisioned for the corner of Main and Park would, in theory, connect Bushnell Park and the development near it with Colt Park and the Coltsville National Historical Park.
Plans call for a building on each of the two, city-owned lots that straddle Park Street at its intersection with Main. The units — six studios, 72 one-bedrooms and 30 two-bedrooms would be a mix of market-rate and workforce or so-called “affordable” housing. According to the Capital Region Development Authority, the market-rate rents are now estimated to range from $1,200 to $1,700 a month.
One issue not addressed by the plans — at least so far — is how the development would work with the neighboring South Green park, the nearby South Park Inn shelter and the neighborhood’s homeless population.
“There are some concerns,” Edvardsen said. “But we envision working with them and the current environment.”
The renderings are early versions and are expected to morph with facades resembling the three- and four-story structures that now rise above Main Street in the surrounding area.
“This proposal includes a mix of residential and commercial, and that’s exactly what we are hoping for at Park and Main,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement. “The exact details remain subject to the planning process and public engagement, but Spinnaker’s mix of residential and retail would activate this long-vacant parcel in the right way and benefit the entire community.”
Plans call for 108 rentals, with the majority — 81 — being built on the lot on the north side of the intersection. Both buildings would contain a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units.
State taxpayers are poised to have a stake in the project. The State Bond Commission approved an $8.6 million loan for the development. CRDA would administer the loan.
Spinnaker and Freeman Cos. took over the project in August after the city parted ways with the first developer it had chosen, Hartford-based CIL, the former Corporation for Independent Living. The two could not agree on a timetable.
Spinnaker is proposing a much quicker completion than CIL, a schedule favored by the city. CIL did not envision the first rentals being ready until 2022.
This latest redevelopment push comes after a string of failed attempts on the corner. The most notable was “Plaza Mayor” in the 2000s that sought redevelopment on a grand scale with high-rise buildings and a square in the spirit of the well-known Madrid landmark with the same name.