[Johnho771]

Originally Posted by MMS02760

But still a lot less than a few decades ago. The white collar crowd these days would rather go out in the burbs such as West Hartford.

Sad to hear the stories of how the city can essentially be a ghost town at times. I'm sure the bars there will be packed tonight with the back to back Huskies and Bulldogs games, but it would be nice to see more consistent life in the city.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

I favor stay at $107 million, which is already too much on an ancient arena. If we deem it vital to have an arena, it's time for a new one. If not, keep upgrades to a bare minimum.

I agree.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by Johnho771

Sad to hear the stories of how the city can essentially be a ghost town at times. I'm sure the bars there will be packed tonight with the back to back Huskies and Bulldogs games, but it would be nice to see more consistent life in the city.

I actually doubt very seriously the bars were packed last night. if people went to the bars to watch the games they probably went to their local suburban bar. Sunday night in hartford? You can hear a pin drop.

[JayCT]

The Berlin Turnpike in Berlin, Newington and Wethersfield is seeing a number of new developments along it. The largest is Meadow Commons just north of Pane Road in Newington. It is just under 80,000 square feet of retail space along with 269 apartments. Tenants for the retail space include Shake Shack, Sally’s Pizza, Crumbl Cookies, PJ’s Coffee and an unnamed national grocer.

Just south of this in Berlin is Turnpike Ridge, another mixed use development with over 35,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and 72 luxury apartments. Tenants already there include Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate, Sherwin Williams Paint, Envy Salon, Sudor Taino Group Fitness and Fresh Monkee Health Smoothies.

https://www.ctinsider.com/business/a...d-19387951.php

https://www.grossmanre.com/meadowcommons

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/240-...n-CT/17339137/

[JayCT]

For decades the City of Hartford has wanted to convert the Griffen Rail Line to a greenway trail. The problem is that it is an active freight line. Starting at the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line just north of Aunion Station, the line runs through the edge of Asylum Hill and Blue Hills into Bloomfield before ultimately ending in the industrial area in northern Bloomfield.

The Capitol Region Council of Government (CRCOG) has now studied the line and found it’s possible to locate a trail along side the active rail line. It would cost $30 to $39 million and would extend 4 miles from Garden Street to Plainfield Street. I think this could be a great addition to the city.

https://www.courant.com/2024/04/29/t...omplex-debate/

[OriolesBuccaneers]

The XL Center had $107 million allocated towards a renovation last year. $80 million from the state and $27 million from the XL Center owner. Recently, bids came in from contractors to do the job and the lowest anyone would take was $140 million. Now the state just came up with $45 million additional funds from unspent federal funds bringing the total they can spend for the renovation to $152 million ($125 million from the state, $27 million from XL Center owner), up from $107 million total.

Article: https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/art...stment-to-125m

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by OriolesBuccaneers

The XL Center had $107 million allocated towards a renovation last year. $80 million from the state and $27 million from the XL Center owner. Recently, bids came in from contractors to do the job and the lowest anyone would take was $140 million. Now the state just came up with $45 million additional funds from unspent federal funds bringing the total they can spend for the renovation to $152 million ($125 million from the state, $27 million from XL Center owner), up from $107 million total.

Article: https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/art...stment-to-125m

That is a paywall site.

[JayCT]

It looks like UConn will be adding student housing downtown. The university is entering into a $28 million lease agreement with the owners of 242 Trumbull Street to convert the building’s Pratt Street annex to a dormitory. That will put a large number of students right in the heart of downtown. It’s near UConn’s downtown campuses on Front Street and Constitution Plaza. Should be very popular. Go UConn!!!

https://www.courant.com/2024/05/10/p...-as-right-fit/

[BHW2436]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It looks like UConn will be adding student housing downtown. The university is entering into a $28 million lease agreement with the owners of 242 Trumbull Street to convert the building’s Pratt Street annex to a dormitory. That will put a large number of students right in the heart of downtown. It’s near UConn’s downtown campuses on Front Street and Constitution Plaza. Should be very popular. Go UConn!!!

https://www.courant.com/2024/05/10/p...-as-right-fit/

$28MM over 20 years, which doesn’t count other costs along the way like overages, maintenance, etc etc etc. Divided by 20 years is $1.4M per year (to lease, not own) and it houses 200 students total. $1.4MM divided by 200 is $7000 per student per year. UConn charges $14,000 for room and board.

Pretty reasonable cost. Obviously $28M isn’t the total cost and Room Board will go up every year, but definitely not a bad spend.

[Stylo]

Saw this on Reddit. Very sad.

So many bad decisions made during “urban renewal” that are taking decades to fix, and some will never be fixed.

https://youtu.be/u42aKXZFWY4?si=cmC7lLN1XVpJPXNR