The master plan for Hartford's Bushnell South neighborhood imagines up to 1,200 new housing units built next to Bushnell Park and several state government buildings. Image courtesy of Goody Clancy
Officials and a Fairfield County developer outlined a master plan to transform 20 acres of neglected downtown Hartford real estate into a new neighborhood including 1,200 new apartments and condominiums.
The Capital Region Development Authority is seeking to redevelop the parking lots across from the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts as a mixed-use destination, including over 63,000 square feet of commercial space.
Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, which has been active in Hartford multifamily development for nearly a decade, is expected to lead the $500 million development which would require an estimated $100 million in public subsidies.
Ben Carlson, director of urban design for master planners Goody Clancy, said the study area bounded by Capitol, Elm, Trinity and Main streets has been a top focus of Hartford officials’ downtown revitalization strategy for 15 years.
“That gap of parking lots is really a barrier between neighborhoods to the south and downtown. And yet it’s a tremendous place of opportunity to link Bushnell Park and bring the energy of downtown and neighborhoods together into a great center,” Carlson said during a public presentation this week.
The 20 percent of the project’s homes would be affordable housing units.
“We see the main economic engine being housing. People already know SoDo and Frog Hollow are great places to live and more people are continuing to discover that,” Carlson said.
The bulk of the new buildings would be 3- to 5-stories, and high-rise construction is not financially feasible in the short term, Carlson said.
Along with new construction on the surface parking, vacant state office buildings on Trinity Street will be made available for housing and other uses.
“We’re going to presume there’s a market [for housing],” said Clay Fowler, CEO of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners. “Most of us enjoy being around each other as opposed to an suburban or exurban experience. Despite COVID, we think we will all come back together. Every event I’ve been to in recent weeks has explosive energy for people being back together again.”
Alluding to public sentiment seeking a grocery store in downtown Hartford, Fowler said the economics and logistics of urban markets are challenging.
The project would utilize a district financing mechanism, subject to approval by the CRDA. Future steps would include selection of developers for the various parcels and dispositions, with the project built in four phases.
