[BPt111]

The University of Connecticut is looking for property owners and developers interested in creating housing for its downtown Stamford campus.




UConn seeks developer for Stamford housing plan - StamfordAdvocate

[JayCT]

This part of Hartford has a stigma attached to it. It is separated by I-84 from downtown so it is more connected to the North End which is considered to be the worst part of Hartford. There is a reason that the area is vacant. WFSB was suppose to go there but then backed out and headed for Rocky Hill (thank you Mayor Perez for dropping that ball). There was a plan for student housing in that area called University Park but that never went anywhere either. The one glimmer of hope is the new Public Safety complex that was just built there. I am not sure it is enough to give the area a better image. We will see. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by jaydez

Last I heard from a property manager is Harford has over 1,000,000 sq ft of unused office space. You have to rember that there are current 3 empty "sky-scrapers": The Bank of America building, and the 2 buildings that make up the 450 Columbus Blvd. In addition to that there are many empty floors in other buildings.

The last thing Hartford needs right now is more office space. There is a reason why the developer scrapped the idea for the old WFSB site.

Those two buildings were purchased by the state and they will be consolidating a bunch of offices there next year. Soon there will be a couple of thousand workers in those buildings.

The reason the developer could not get office space on the old WFSB site is financing. He had a couple of tenants lined up which several years ago would have been enough to get construction financing but in today's financial world, he need some ridiculous amount of space commitment that even in booming times would have been have to get on an unbuilt building. That said he is now proposing a mix of office and residential which will still be good. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by wma152

Residential has some vacancies as well, not as much as commercial. But most people who live in downtown also work in dowtown. That's the only reason most people live in downtown, so they can walk to work. So, I'm not sure the extra residential buildings make sense either, until they can get more people working in downtown.

Actually residential buildings in downtown do not have a lot of vacancies. I know a person who recently had trouble finding a rental downtown. The buildings are pretty much full now which is why there are so many proposals for housing downtown right now. Hopefully they will all get built.

As for Front Street, it is now filling up nicely. The movie theaters do very well and Capitol Grille is now open. A couple of other well known restaurants are under construction there and Infinity Hall, a well known music venue, will be opening next year. While it may not look like much is happening to the casual passer-by, it will soon be hoping with people. Jay

[formermainer13]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Actually residential buildings in downtown do not have a lot of vacancies. I know a person who recently had trouble finding a rental downtown. The buildings are pretty much full now which is why there are so many proposals for housing downtown right now. Hopefully they will all get built.

As for Front Street, it is now filling up nicely. The movie theaters do very well and Capitol Grille is now open. A couple of other well known restaurants are under construction there and Infinity Hall, a well known music venue, will be opening next year. While it may not look like much is happening to the casual passer-by, it will soon be hoping with people. Jay

Jay is right - downtown residential vacancies are very low and are genearlly only for 2 bedrooms.

Further, people live downtown for more than simpy to walk to work - to be in a walkable neighborhood, around other young people, walk to restaurants, parks and bars, etc.

[wma152]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Actually residential buildings in downtown do not have a lot of vacancies. I know a person who recently had trouble finding a rental downtown. The buildings are pretty much full now which is why there are so many proposals for housing downtown right now. Hopefully they will all get built.

As for Front Street, it is now filling up nicely. The movie theaters do very well and Capitol Grille is now open. A couple of other well known restaurants are under construction there and Infinity Hall, a well known music venue, will be opening next year. While it may not look like much is happening to the casual passer-by, it will soon be hoping with people. Jay

Originally Posted by formermainer13

Jay is right - downtown residential vacancies are very low and are genearlly only for 2 bedrooms.

Further, people live downtown for more than simpy to walk to work - to be in a walkable neighborhood, around other young people, walk to restaurants, parks and bars, etc.

Do you have any stats to indicate the vacancies numbers. I do know a few coworkers living in Hartford21 and the Bushnell and they tell me, there are vacancies available.

Maybe the older buildings and cheaper ones, but the newer and more expensive one's have plenty available.

I'm not doubting people living in downtown do more then just walk to work. Would these people still live there if they didn't work in downtown?

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Those two buildings were purchased by the state and they will be consolidating a bunch of offices there next year. Soon there will be a couple of thousand workers in those buildings.

But that's not additional demand; it's just moving workers from one place to another.