Joe Wojtas
Stonington — Director of Planning Jason Vincent said Thursday that opposition and social media criticism of the controversial Smiler’s Wharf project has been cited by three developers who have decided not to proceed with plans for projects totaling $20 million.
Vincent first made the revelation on Wednesday night, during a program in Norwich on downtown redevelopment. Vincent is the former planning director in Norwich and is the co-owner of a brew pub there.
Vincent said Thursday he was told by professionals representing the developers of the three mixed-use projects that their projects no longer are on the table due to concerns about the public response to the Smiler’s Wharf project. He said they are concerned about investing the money needed to bring plans to the application stage and then facing similar opposition.
“And the bigger the project, the bigger the risk,” he said.
Vincent added that the three projects, which would be in the exits 90 and 92 areas of Interstate 95 and in downtown Mystic, generally would be well received by residents but the developers are looking for assurances after reading about the opposition to Smiler’s Wharf. He did not identify the projects.
Vincent said combating the situation is difficult because of the impact of social media and people sometimes spreading incorrect information.
On Monday residents packed the Stonington High School auditorium as the Planning and Zoning Commission opened public hearings into the Smiler’s Wharf project. The hearing is slated to resume July 8, with opponents continuing to detail their objections to the plan.
Noank Shipyard is seeking to rezone a 7.5-acre portion of Seaport Marine’s 11-acre site off Washington Street from marine commercial to Neighborhood Development District and obtain approval for the master plan for the site. The developer says the project will increase tax revenue and jobs for the town, increase public access to the water and improve coastal resiliency and redevelop a site that has outlived its use as a boatyard.
The plan calls for the demolition of all buildings on the site except for the popular Red 36 restaurant and construction of a five-story, 45-unit hotel; a 16,590-square-foot, three-story marine service and community event space; a three-story, 200-seat restaurant; a six-story, 25-unit apartment building; 16 townhouses; six units of multifamily housing; a kayak rental building; an open-air plaza; a park; 120 boat slips; a 200-foot public boardwalk extension; 130 feet of new coastal access; a new boat basin that will require the removal of 13,000 square feet of land and adding a new bulkhead to protect against storm surge.
Opponents say the project lacks enough parking and would increase congestion in the Washington Street neighborhood. They also maintain the project does not conform to the town’s Plan of Conservation and would damage the character of the village. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has recommended the Planning and Zoning Commission not rezone the property
Meskers outlines the case for tolls before Greenwich crowd
Ken Borsuk
GREENWICH — As state Rep. Stephen Meskers discussed his first term in the legislature, the unsettled issues of tolls was, not surprisingly, a major theme.“It’s not a question of whether we need (tolls), it’s a question of how we pay for our roads,” Meskers, D-150, told the Retired Men’s Association of Greenwich in a speech Wednesday morning. “As your representative, I am against higher taxes, and I am against more borrowing to fix our roads. I also object to giving out-of-state drivers a free ride in our state. We just can’t afford it.”
Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to call a special session this summer for legislators to vote on a proposal to bring tolls back to Connecticut’s highways. During his successful campaign last fall, Meskers said he was favor of tolls.
The proposal to charge about 4 cents a mile would bring in $800 million in revenue a year, with $250 million to $300 million from out-of-state drivers, he said. Saying “that’s a lot of money to turn away,” Meskers said using toll money to pay for badly needed infrastructure upgrades could have a big economic impact.
Republican legislators put together an alternative plan called Prioritize Progress that calls for no tolls and no tax increases, with $65 billion for transportation projects over the next 30 years. However, Meskers, like many other Democrats, has rejected that plan, saying it relies too much on bonding.
“Under that plan, in 10 years, we will have added $7.5 billion to our balance sheet or our credit card,” he told the crowd. “This increase in indebtedness would surely jeopardize our credit rating and would increase the cost of borrowing and scare off new businesses, something we can ill afford.”
But the Republicans on Greenwich’s legislative delegation oppose tolls. Rep. Fred Camillo, R-151, has said he does not believe the majority Democrats have the votes to approve polls. Rep. Livvy Floren, R-149, was in the audience for Meskers’ speech and said she supports the Prioritize Progress plan.
“He is definitely adhering to a ‘debt diet’ of essential needs, not nice-to-haves,” Floren said of Lamont’s bond plans. “Transportation and infrastructure were front and center. ... Of the $276 million bonded, $245 million was allocated for those needs. I believe that this is a fiscally viable beginning and, with the transportation lockbox firmly in place, we can prioritize progress and get our state moving again without imposing tolls.”
“Our most important responsibility as elected officials is to wisely spend our taxpayers hard-earned dollars, and this singular issue goes to the crux of responsible government,” Meskers said. “Health care costs are driving us all to ruin. It crushes families financially. It ruins municipalities, and it overwhelms the state’s personal balance.”
Moving forward with a plan to import prescription drugs from Canada, Meskers said, would “inevitably improve” the state’s competitive position and ease health care costs. Meskers pledged to “get ahead of this issue” and said he would try to introduce it during the upcoming special session.
By defeating Republican state Rep. Michael Bocchino last fall, Meskers became the first Democrat from Greenwich elected to the state house in 107 years. And he joked on Wednesday that some in the audience were pleased by that and others were not.
A 14-year member of Greenwich’s Representative Town Meeting, where he continues to serve, Meskers described himself as fiscally responsible and socially liberal.
“I hope that will ease the concerns of many of you in this room,” Meskers said. “I am not looking to either empty your wallet or turn this state into an exit ramp for Florida. I love this community, and I will try to do my best for it.”
Meskers’ speech will be posted online at www.greenwichrma.org with other past speeches.
More makeover for W. Hartford’s Elizabeth Park
Gregory Seay
ore improvements are coming to West Hartford’s historic Elizabeth Park, with work to start Thursday on a new park visitor center.
Former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to join town officials and members of The Elizabeth Park Conservancy at 2 p.m. for a work-start ceremony at the park located in West Hartford, at 1561 Asylum Ave.
The nonprofit conservancy says it has budgeted $850,000 to remodel and repurpose the 81-year-old brownstone building, located off the main parking lot and adjacent to the greenhouses, to a visitor center, complete with visitor amenities and improved public restrooms.
The conservancy also received a $500,000 state grant to aid with the renovations. All improvements to the brownstone building, first built in 1938, will be within the existing footprint of the building and will not include expansion of the historic structure. Work is set for completion by summer 2020.
Elizabeth Park opened in the spring of 1897 on property Charles Pond donated to honor his wife, Elizabeth.
The park, home to the nation’s largest rose garden, is on the national register of historic places and offers more than 100 acres of formal gardens, green space, recreational facilities, walking loops and the Pond House Café.
The park is open to the public year-round, from dawn to dusk.
Manchester PZC denies proposal for 32-unit apt. complex
Christopher McDermott
Manchester's Planning and Zoning Commission has denied a zoning change application for 699 and 719 East Middle Turnpike that would have allowed construction of a 32-unit apartment complex, a plan opposed by nearby residents.
The PZC voted 3-2 Monday to reject Kimlar LLC’s application to rezone the parcel to a planned residential development zone, which would have allowed Kimlar to build an apartment complex with 32 units among six buildings.
The state Department of Social Services has offices in a one-story building on the property. No materials submitted to the commission indicate that there are any plans for the state agency to leave.
The commission majority said the apartment plans would bring a level of housing density too high for an area that is otherwise occupied mostly by single-family homes.
“The neighborhood is not ready for this,” Arcellia Drive resident Jacqueline Perreault said during a public hearing in May. “This neighborhood is friendly. We look out for each other, and when I see these big buildings being built right there so that I can’t see outside my window and my view will be blocked, we’re not happy.”
PZC Vice Chairman Patrick Kennedy said that current zoning at that area would allow for a strip mall with some apartment units above it. Kennedy said that kind of development was more appropriate for the kind of mixed-use plans the town has laid out for that area. He voted with the majority against the change.
Commission members Timothy Bergin and Jessica Scorso voted in favor of Kimlar’s application.
Kimlar’s lawyer, Mark Shipman, said repeatedly in earlier appearances before the commission that some kind of development at the property is inevitable, reiterating that the current zoning already would allow retail businesses with apartments above.
$100M plan to redevelop Hartford’s Pratt Street would add apartments, retail and dining in downtown
Kenneth R. Gosselin
A $100 million proposal by a trio of Hartford developers would transform the area around Pratt Street with more than 200 apartments and reinvigorate storefront space in the heart of downtown.
The redevelopment aims to revitalize a street long seen as having unfulfilled potential but unable to achieve it. It would span much of the south side of Pratt Street, possibly incorporating a destination similar to a New York Chelsea Market-style food hall. Additional apartments would be created within The Lofts at Temple apartments at Pratt and Main streets and at the student, rental townhouses behind it. The developers would also renovate long-closed One Talcott Plaza parking garage.
The developers, who are looking for $20 million in state assistance, outlined the proposal at the Capital Region Development Authority’s monthly board meeting Thursday evening. The group includes Hartford-based Lexington Partners, headed by developer Martin J. Kenny; LAZ Investments, a partner of Hartford-based LAZ Parking, the parking giant started by Alan Lazowski; and Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC, of Brooklyn, N.Y., owner of the buildings on Pratt Street and the One Talcott Plaza garage.
“This is the epicenter of Hartford,” Kenny said. “Remember the NCAA Tournament? If you were there, it was amazing. It reminded me of how Hartford was a lot in the late 80s. It could be that way a lot more days."
There are three main components of the proposal:
“This is the epicenter of Hartford,” Kenny said. “Remember the NCAA Tournament? If you were there, it was amazing. It reminded me of how Hartford was a lot in the late 80s. It could be that way a lot more days."
There are three main components of the proposal:
- Trumbull and Pratt Street redevelopment. The addition of 193 rentals over retail space in two phases, beginning with 196 Trumbull and 99 Pratt, which wraps around the south side corner at the intersection of the two streets, across from the XL Center. A second phase in four buildings -- 57-75 Pratt -- would create another 62 units. Some of these buildings date to 1890s and historic facades would be preserved with modern rentals created inside. Amenities also would include a rooftop lounge and fitness center.
- The Lofts at Main and Temple. The apartment building, which opened in 2006, stands at the eastern end of Pratt where it intersects with Main. The building, which incorporated the historic facade of the former Sage-Allen & Co. department store, would be reconfigured to add 10 new units. Behind it, all but 12 of the 42 townhomes -- now suffering from low occupancy -- would be redeveloped as 84 “micro” flats. A total of 94 new rentals would be created.
- Talcott Plaza garage. Owned by Shelbourne, earlier plans to demolish the 865-space garage — once a warehouse for the neighboring G. Fox & Co. department store — have been abandoned. The proposal now calls for a renovation that will also preserve the foot bridge over Talcott Street that once connected the store to the warehouse. The spaces would provide parking for the new apartments and new retail space, with a new glassed-in elevator bank facing toward Main Street and valet service for residents.
Since 2013, CRDA has helped finance the creation of 1,638 housing units, through tens of millions of dollars in state taxpayer-backed loans and equity investments in Hartford. Of those, 1,099 are either occupied or available for lease. Another 450 are under construction and 159 are in the works, according to CRDA.
This summer, about 450 units are expected to become available for lease — the largest new wave of rentals since early 2015 when 564 were added — and CRDA says it is closely gauging the pace of leasing, both in new projects and ones that came online earlier.
The partners behind the proposed Pratt Street project say they see rental demand — now 90 percent or better in most CRDA-financed projects — continuing, particularly because their apartments will come up for lease in stages. They expect millennials, which studies show, want to live and work in cities to be a major tenant base, including entrepreneurs at Upward Hartford
Upward Hartford, a hub of 21st-century entrepreneurs and innovators a block over on Church Street, already has committed to 32 units at 196 Trumbull, one of the first buildings to be tackled in the redevelopment proposal.
Upward Hartford, a hub of 21st-century entrepreneurs and innovators a block over on Church Street, already has committed to 32 units at 196 Trumbull, one of the first buildings to be tackled in the redevelopment proposal.
If financing and city approvals are secured, construction on each of the project’s three components could begin in the first six months of next year. The first apartments could come up for lease next summer, with full completion of the overall project by early 2022.
The proposal came together over the last year or so, Kenny said, as Shelbourne not only bought two major chunks of Pratt Street but solidified its position as the largest owner of top-tier, downtown office space. Since 2014, Shelbourne has purchased four of the most recognizable office towers downtown, most recently partnering with Lazowski and LAZ Investments to buy the iconic One Financial Plaza, the “Gold Building."
Lazowski got to know Shelbourne with the Gold Building deal; and Lazowski and Kenny, a high-profile, apartment developer downtown and in the suburbs, have known each other since the 1980s. LAZ built a nationwide parking business now in 34 states, with 33 locations and 15,328 spaces in downtown Hartford alone.
“Look, one of the things that everybody’s complaining about Connecticut is that our cities aren’t happening enough, not vibrant enough, not keeping our young talent here,” Kenny said. “This the answer to that.”
For Shelbourne, he said, attracting the companies and workforce to lease in its buildings, which also include 100 Pearl St., Metro Center and 20 Church St., the “Stilts Building," are essential to their success as landlords.
Lazowski got to know Shelbourne with the Gold Building deal; and Lazowski and Kenny, a high-profile, apartment developer downtown and in the suburbs, have known each other since the 1980s. LAZ built a nationwide parking business now in 34 states, with 33 locations and 15,328 spaces in downtown Hartford alone.
While Pratt Street is likely to be attractive to millennials and young professionals, Kenny said the project also is about the economic future.
“Look, one of the things that everybody’s complaining about Connecticut is that our cities aren’t happening enough, not vibrant enough, not keeping our young talent here,” Kenny said. “This the answer to that.”
For Shelbourne, he said, attracting the companies and workforce to lease in its buildings, which also include 100 Pearl St., Metro Center and 20 Church St., the “Stilts Building," are essential to their success as landlords.
“It’s a matter of survival to make sure this office space is full, it’s an interesting city, there is a lot to do,” Kenny said. “There are a lot of cool things to do in Hartford now, from the dining to the nightclub and culture, but something like this we don’t have, and we need.”
The Chelsea Market-style food hall, which could come in the first phase along Pratt, would inject new life onto a street where consistent activity has been elusive.
“The hope is you can get retail spilling out onto the street,” Kenny said. “The whole idea of getting dynamic activity going that’s a hell of a lot better when you have people living in apartments right above it.”
Kenny said the developers will work with existing merchants. particularly those who have long been tenants.
Kenny said the developers will work with existing merchants. particularly those who have long been tenants.
“We want to integrate it all here, but we also want to make it so it becomes a destination and enhances the existing businesses,” Kenny said.
Kenny said it is critical the developers have control of the majority of the properties and are in the process of acquiring the mortgage on the Temple Street properties.
Kenny said it is critical the developers have control of the majority of the properties and are in the process of acquiring the mortgage on the Temple Street properties.
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Parking in the One Talcott Plaza garage, another 342 spaces under the Temple townhouses and those in a surface lot immediately west of the garage and bordering Main Street, controlled by LAZ, are integral the proposal, and not just for the new apartments, Lazowski said.
It could become particularly critical as lots around Dunkin’ Donuts Park are developed as part of the Downtown North development where workers in the central business district now park during the work week. “It could solve a lot of problems,” Lazowski said.