beerbeer

It has always been the plan to build an on campus hockey venue. The only reason they are in Hartford is because their current home, Frietas Ice Rink, does not meet the minimum's for their new league, Hockey East. I suspect that they will still play some of their bigger games and perhaps a tournament in the city.

It is an aerial spin around the Wadsworth and Travelers Tower form what seems to be a drone. Very cool.

If you can get this video to play it's pretty cool. You may have to watch it twice for it to completely render. https://www.google.com/maps/search/hartford+ballpark/@41.7637292,-72.6738297,11a,74.3y,3.76h,88.7t,1.15r/data=!3m5!1e4!3m3!1s0x89e65364a7fcfb83:0x17fa1efb307aa509!2e0!3e18 It the wadsworth/picture/movie at the bottom of the age.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20140926/NEWS01/140929952 (The) baseball stadium and related office buildings, retail and housing in Downtown North could create 592 Hartford jobs during construction, and ultimately sustain 380 jobs, ....(according to) UConn economists... ...the three-phase development — with an overall construction cost of nearly $351 million — could create more than 1,600 jobs in Hartford County during construction, ultimately sustaining 1,106 jobs. Statewide, the ultimate impact could be 1,271 jobs or more, the report said.

I was looking at the concerns that their is not enough parking in Hartford for the stadium and found this. Dr. Norman Garrick of the University of Connecticut’s Center for Transportation and Livable Systems found that Hartford’s downtown parking supply has tripled since 1960, and since then Hartford’s fortunes have fallen. According to Dr. Garrick, “Over the period that parking was being increased by more than 300 percent, downtown was losing more than 60 percent of its residential population, and the city as a whole lost 40,000 people and 7,000 jobs.” The "there's-not-enough-parking" argument borders on the insane.

Does the city really need another ice rink when there is a free one in Bushnell Park a two minute walk away?

From the Courant 2012. Although the restoration was originally scheduled to end in the first or second quarter of 2015, it has been pushed back to the third quarter. "The rain in May and June, it really put a damper — so to speak — on what we were trying to do," Bessette said. "Weather's been the biggest challenge." The work spaces of the building have remained open during the project. The observation deck, an exterior balcony area on the 27th floor for visitors, is closed during the construction. "Everybody will be proud of the way it looks when we're done," Bessette said. The cast-iron work, he said, "is going to be pretty spectacular and bring a highlight to the side of the building." The company employs 7,800 people in Connecticut, with the majority in Hartford. Falvey, from the Hartford Preservation Alliance, said: "We're absolutely thrilled with the work they're doing. It's been around about 100 years, and it's great to see it's going to go on for another hundred." After the tower restoration is completed, Travelers will begin renovation on its plaza in connection with the city's iQuilt program. The renovation will include removing the planters, which are leaking into the garage below, to create a flat, open space.

Hard to tell if the plaza is still elevated in that picture. Bringing the plaza down to Main Street level would make it more welcoming and creat an easier access way, a true connection to Front Street. I don't know if that is possible. I suspect there is a parking lot under the plaza and they need the head space (or something). I don't believe that iquilt construction will take place on the plaza until the third quarter of 2015. That is when the scaffolding comes of the tower after the completion of the restoration.

Hartford's Front Street to add Qdoba Mexican Grill http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20140912/NEWS01/140919982

From the WSFB article. DoNo Hartford, LLC was selected as the developer. "We are proposing to invest $350 million of private funds to create this neighborhood and included in this are the private funds required to construct the ballpark," said Yves Joseph, principal for DoNo Hartford, LLC.

According to Channel 3... The Hartford Common Council officially accepted a resolution for the development of a new Rock Cats stadium in the Downtown North section of the city. A public hearing on the recommendations was set for Sept. 17. http://www.wfsb.com/story/26456745/hartford-council-accepts-rock-cats-stadium-proposal The proposal called for 600 apartment units, 140,000 sq. ft. of storefront retail and restaurant space, a grocery store, a Thomas Hooker brewery and the ballpark

Special city council meeting on Thursday 6PM to move the project forward. http://foxct.com/2014/09/03/hartford-ballpark-developer-chosen-mayor-calls-for-special-meeting/ The big complaint of the "opposition" is that they weren't involved enough. LOL. As if any of them has anything to offer.

I think there was a Best Western, a six or eight floor hotel a bit closer to I-91. Yep my memory is correct. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20080915/PRINTEDITION/309159985/plans-for-downtown-best-western-revised

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-hartford-stadium-proposal-0903-20140902,0,2159099.story Love to see the protesters march against this.

Walked aound Front Street tonight. Folks were out and about. Infinity seemed very busy. So was Nix's which was loud and full. I ate at Ted's it was about half full. All the places had some activity. Arch Street was doing very well but Bear's was dead, maybe a handful of folks inside. That's just a snapshot. You can see the potential of the place especially after the apartments are finished. It's not quite rocking yet. But it's viable.

Or Ben and Jerry's.

I think as Froyo makes pretty good sense. Perhaps a Dairy Queen or Friendly's, when UConn opens with 2,000+ students I think that type of place would do well.

Is Infinity officially open? I thought the date was the 21st. Answered my own question, yep it was yesterday. http://www.courant.com/business/hc-infinity-hall-grand-opening-hartford-20140821,0,3288332.story Tickets will range in price from under $20 to $90 or $100, Hincks said. Infinity Hall expects 250 shows a year, with about 80 already booked for the coming months, into 2015. Parking in either Front Street garage is $5 after 5 p.m. Infinity Hall will feature all genres of music, from blues, jazz and rock to country and pop. Toad the Wet Sprocket will be the first concert, on Aug. 28, with Paula Poundstone, Herb Alpert and Suzanne Vega also booked. Thursday's mood was certainly celebratory. Guests sipped on "Purple Haze" Champagne cocktails — a concoction of Champagne, lemonade and strawberry liqueur — and admired the maple-paneled walls and proscenium of the main concert hall. Hincks gave tours showing off a room for private events, decorated with a guitar signed by Bo Diddley, on loan from a private collector.

Aiming for an October finish.

The apartments at Front Street.

Here's the HBJ article on it. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20140707/PRINTEDITION/307039976/1002 The micro units will each be 300 square feet, complete with their own day bed or Murphy bed, which folds up into the wall creating extra living space during the day. The units will also have a mini-kitchen with a stove top, convection microwave, and mini-fridge; a television; WiFi; and a bathroom. Mouta anticipates charging $725-$795 for each unit with all utilities included. All residents must sign at least a one-year lease. "They are designed and constructed in ways where there is no need for furniture," said Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority, which is helping finance the housing conversion. "We looked into it in larger cities, and this has become a strategy that is very successful."

One look at the fifth grade drawing of the supermarket made me suspicious. If the project was real, I suspect what killed the supermarket is that the land under it became more valuable the second the Rockcat Park was announced. That probably caused the price of the project to go up and that's what killed the deal. That makes more sense.

The old Sonesta hotel will be called "On The Plaza." It is scheduled to open May of 2015 with 193 apartments, mostly one bedrooms and studios. The Front Street Lofts will open July 2015 with 121 units. The AI "former Broadcast House" proposal is 42 units. I haven't seen a completion date. So who knows. At this point just filling in the gaps is an improvement.

This a pretty good read on the situation. http://www.courant.com/business/hc-haar-rock-cats-malloy-0627-20140626,0,6516709.column?track=rss The Hartford move makes all the sense in the world. Having the team in a parking lot next to New Britain High School, nowhere near anything, makes for a lovely and convenient night out for families but doesn't help the region very much at all. If we want Hartford to grow into the standing of low-second-tier cities — places like Milwaukee; Sacramento, Calif.; and Columbus, Ohio — then we need this stadium plan. Much has been said about the 660 jobs that the stadium plan would create, directly and indirectly. We all know that despite rosy studies, stadiums often don't spur an economy as promised. But first of all, in a metro area with 600,000 jobs, the added positions are far less important than the possibility of attracting people to the city. And second, because the stadium is planned for a redevelopment zone, the figure of 660 jobs is not far-fetched.