Data center demo
With construction around ballpark on hold, Hartford officials eye data center demolition
While the four parcels surrounding Hartford’s minor league ballpark downtown remain in legal limbo, city and state leaders have found another way to move ahead with crucial development in the neighborhood: demolishing a decades-old building on one of the properties.
HARTFORD – While the four parcels surrounding Hartford’s minor league ballpark downtown remain in legal limbo, city and state leaders have found another way to move ahead with crucial development in the neighborhood: demolishing a decadesold concrete building on one of the properties.
Hartford officials plan this summer to take down a bunker-like former data processing center, which occupies an entire city block between Trumbull and Pleasant streets behind Dunkin’ Donuts Park. They see it as a key step in advancing a project that has stalled as control of the properties is battled over in court.
The effort is backed by $12 million in state funds.
“Demolition of the data center is essential to the development of those parcels in the future,” Mayor Luke Bronin said. “Getting that done now allows us to make progress toward our ultimate goal of activating those parcels, even as the legal issues are unsolved.”
Two years ago, Bronin fired developer Centerplan Construction, which had planned to build housing, retail, office space and the ballpark on a long-vacant stretch of land north of Hartford’s central business district. The company missed two important deadlines to complete the baseball stadium, and the city moved to end its contract with the developer. Another company finished Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Centerplan sued, claiming wrongful termination, and the fate of the properties has since been entangled in a legal fistfight.
In fall of 2017, Hartford issued a new call for developers to erect apartments and retail at the site. Only one bidder responded, but his proposal was embraced by the city. Randy Salvatore, the owner of Stamfordbased RMS Companies, envisioned 800 housing units flanked by 60,000 square feet of retail and structured parking. The $200 million project would unfold in stages, Salvatore said, with 200 apartments on the parcel behind the Red Lion hotel planned as a first step. He suggested a construction start time of May 2019.
But the lawsuit has hung like a cloud over the project. The city filed a motion in September asking the court to remove liens placed on the Downtown North properties and to allow the city to move ahead with development while the legal wrangling
continued. A judge denied the request.
In November, Hartford officials filed another motion for control of the properties. A hearing on that is scheduled for the end of the month.
In the meantime, city and state leaders see the data center demolition as a critical move in nudging the project along. One hundred and fifty rental units are planned for that property, near the corner of Trumbull and Market streets, along with ample structured parking for ballpark spectators.
“It’s a sign of momentum,” said Erik Johnson, Hartford’s new development director, who called the Downtown North project one of his top priorities. “We’re making an improvement to the land.”
Development of the properties encircling the ballpark is considered essential in generating tax revenue needed to pay for the $71 million, publiclyfunded stadium.
The Capital Region Development Authority will oversee the demolition. The State Bond Commission last year authorized spending $12 million on the first stage of the Downtown North development, but with construction on hold, the funds were redirected to help dismantle the data center. Michael Freimuth, CRDA’s executive director, said it was unclear how much money the demolition would cost, but it would likely be in the millions. Any money left over will be reserved for other stages of the project.
The bidding for contractors will open this spring, and demolition is expected to commence this summer, Freimuth said. The sixstory building on Windsor Street, built in 1971, has been vacant since 2008 when Bank of America moved out. It has two levels of subterranean parking, including one that is flooded.
The 255,000-square-foot structure will probably need significant environmental remediation before it’s torn down, officials said. Asbestos was detected under floor tile and in the form of sprayed-on fireproofing. PCBs were found in the caulking and roofing tiles, and some lead paint was present.
Three gasoline tanks were discovered under the building, and soil may need to be remediated, said Michael Looney, Hartford’s deputy public works director.
Centerplan purchased the building for $525,000 in March 2015, according to city records. The same day, ownership was transferred to the city in exchange for wiping out back taxes owed. Summit Place LLC was the previous owner.
A lawyer for Centerplan declined to comment on the plans for demolition.
The building was one of the 13 sites proposed in 2013 for the University of Connecticut’s downtown Hartford campus. UConn ultimately selected the former Hartford Times building near Front Street.
While construction in Downtown North is held up by the court case, officials said the property could be used for surface parking.
“You can’t put anything there now, but removing the building will allow for better sequencing of the development later,” Freimuth said. “The thought process was: Let’s not just sit around and wait. Let’s do other things that have to be done.”
Jenna Carlesso can be reached at j carlesso@courant.com