Blue Back Square, a proposed $158.8 million mixed-used development in West Hartford, would incorporate residences, shops, restaurants, entertainment, a hospital’s wellness center and parking into about four city blocks.
Downtown revitalization is often near the top of cities’ and towns’ to-do lists these days. In most towns, it involves renovation of old storefronts and often the conversion of old office space into residences. But in West Hartford Center, a company is proposing to revitalize the east side of the downtown area, starting from scratch.
Blue Back Square – named for West Hartford native Noah Webster’s first spelling book, the Blue Back Speller – would be a mixed-use development, incorporating residences, shops, restaurants, entertainment, a hospital’s wellness center and parking into about four city blocks. Two referendums regarding the project, which would also include the expansion of the town’s library and new Board of Education offices, will be on West Hartford’s Oct. 12 ballot.
The key components to the proposed development are two buildings that could house up to 100 luxury condominiums and a health club; the Hartford Hospital Wellness Center, an up to 100,000-square-foot space that will employ about 400 people and which already has reached an agreement with the developer; office space; medium-sized retail and boutique shops; and sidewalk-oriented restaurants.
“It really is a new neighborhood,” said Richard Heates of Blue Back Square LLC, the developer.
West Hartford town leaders have been pondering the fate of the area for years. If Blue Back Square is approved, it will take the place of the former Crowley Chevrolet auto dealership, three existing multifamily structures and the American Legion property on Memorial Road. Town leaders several years ago approached the owner of the car dealership site, according to Barry Feldman, West Hartford’s town manager. They were concerned about what could happen to the site if the tenant decided to leave.
“The site was very inefficient [for a car dealership],” he said.
But the town leaders didn’t actively search for a solution.
“We weren’t looking for a developer, per se,” Feldman said.
Instead, town officials spoke with the owner of the site and encouraged her to seek out developers herself. The town also contacted some developers in Greater Hartford to tell them about the possibility of projects in the town center.
‘A Great Place’
Several developers, including Blue Back Square LLC, contacted the owner. When Blue Back Square LLC gained control of the site, its partners contacted town officials and asked if they could work together in the project, Feldman said.
The developer – which is a partnership between Street-Works of White Plains, N.Y., JDA Development of Cromwell and Ronus Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. – decided to pursue the $158.8 million project because of West Hartford’s location and strong demographics, according to Heates, who a partner at Street-Works.
“It’s already got a brand as a great place,” he said.
The town is also known for its good management. It is AAA-rated and its development team has been working together for a long time, Heates said.
The project will bring significant changes to the neighborhood, Heates added. The street and buildings there now are not in good shape and there is some environmental cleanup to be done on the car dealership site.
“I think it’s fair to say that it’s blight,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”
If the project is approved, the company will completely tear down the buildings that stand there now, he said. It also will upgrade the utilities in the area.
The development will bring seven substantial changes to the east side of West Hartford Center, according to the project’s Web site. The new neighborhood will strengthen the draw of West Hartford Center and offset expected competition from new developments in other communities. It will revitalize “an obsolete, underutilized commercial area with a new, vital neighborhood,” will create new public spaces for community events – including a new park – and will renovate municipal buildings. The project also will spur improvements of sidewalks, pedestrian connections, streets, landscaping and parking, add condominiums, the Hartford Hospital Wellness Center and an art-screen cinema to the downtown and will create $2.5 million to $3 million in new property taxes, up from the $115,000 generated by existing properties. Additionally, the project will encourage pedestrian activity in the town center.
The developer will provide $40 million in private equity toward the project and $70 million in private institutional financing, according to the company’s Web site. The developer also will undertake the construction of two new parking garages for $20 million, which will later be turned over to the town. If voters approve the project, the town will provide a $48.8 million general bond to pay for necessary public improvements, like the library expansion, the new Board of Education offices and the parking garages.
The town is undertaking the bond because it will be repaid through new parking fees, taxes from a new Special Services Tax District and the $3 million the company estimates will be paid annually through property taxes, according to the Web site.
The public/private partnership is one of the project’s strengths, Heates said, but the town’s contribution has become a point of controversy.
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman, which owns Westfarms Mall in West Hartford, has spoken out against the development.
“Our concern is the $48 million subsidy,” said Taubman Manager of Development Rod Blake.
The company is speaking out because of the mall’s position as the largest taxpayer in town, Blake said, and is “giving voice” to townspeople who oppose the project.
“Our sense is the process wasn’t open and wasn’t clear,” Blake said. “We believe that, as a taxpayer – the largest taxpayer in town – we have an obligation to express concern over how public dollars are being spent.”
But Taubman is distorting the truth, Heates said. The developer will follow through with its commitments, he said.
“We have to pay our taxes like anyone else in town,” Heates said.
And the project will benefit the town, according to the developer. The possible $3 million in property tax revenue will help the town, which relies heavily on property taxes paid by residents, Heates said.
“Most of the tax burden is on the residences,” he said.
Heates estimated that the citizens of West Hartford are almost evenly split on Blue Back Square and isn’t sure of the outcome of the Oct. 12 referendum.
“It’ll depend on voter turnout,” he said.
