Port Eastside project taking shape

Redevelopment in East Hartford will begin with $5M demolition of old Bank of America building

Even though developers have scaled back the ambitious $840 million Port Eastside proposal for apartments, restaurants, entertainment venues and a transportation center, East Hartford leaders anticipate that the first stage of work — a large-scale apartment building — will begin this year.

The first step is to demolish the roughly 50-year-old office building at 99 Founders Plaza, a job that’s estimated to cost $4.8 million to $5 million.

In its place, a consortium of developers known as Port Eastside LLC plans about 300 upscale apartments, most likely in a fivestory building with parking underneath.

Details about the plan are expected to be put forward this week when Port Eastside gives an update to East Hartford’s town council.

The consortium purchased the old Bank of America building at 99 Founders Plaza for $4 million in September, and working with East Hartford officials wants to use $4.8 million to $5 million in state grants to tear it down.

“We think this year we can get 99 down. The building is riddled with hazardous waste, so the estimate is $5 million for demolition and all environmental work,” Mayor Connor Martin said Monday.

“We want to get the apartments going as soon as possible. The development agreement will say the developer has to pull a building permit within four years of demolition. We did that to ensure we’ll get something built and it won’t just stand an empty lot,” Martin said.

The funds will come from the $6.5 million that the state Bond Commission awarded in June of 2023 for Founders Plaza redevelopment. Martin expects to use remaining funds for future phases.

State officials for years have been interested in large-scale redesign for the office park, which was built in an era when large corporate office centers were in high demand. That market was weakened even before the pandemic, and has been deeply troubled ever since the enormous

office shutdowns of 2020 and 2021. All of that meant some of East Hartford’s most potentially valuable waterfront land has been essentially idle.

The 150,000-square-foot office building at 99 Founders Plaza, for instance, is a key target for developers: It has been vacant since the Bank of America moved out, and efforts to find another commercial tenant or tenants failed.

The building and 7.3 acres sold for $20 million in 2006, but the value was just $1.26 million when Riverview Plaza LLC bought it in mid-2021. Under that sale, Riverview Plaza also resolved more than $1 million in tax liens.

Port Eastside’s plan is for four floors of apartments offering river views for tenants. Subsequent phases of the project would bring more apartments, restaurants, stores, a health care center and possibly an entertainment venue.

Initially Port Eastside’s partners proposed an $841 million plan with 1,000 apartments, as much as 300,000 square feet of commercial and retail construction, a parking garage, a pedestrian bridge over the Connecticut River to Hartford and more. The developers envisioned $100 million or more in federal and state aid as part of the financing.

Port Eastside has been cutting back on that initial plan, but it’s unclear exactly what will end up being built. Town officials expect much of that will hinge on the market’s reception to the first phase of apartments.