beerbeer

Not really, if you realize BDL is finally out of the hands of the CDOT. That should make a huge difference. That should give us all hope.

Top Destination Airports From Bradley (Ranked by number of U.S. passengers from August 2012 to July 2013) Rank, Airport, (code), Location, 2012, 2013 1, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, (ATL), Atlanta, GA, 266, 263 2, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshal,l (BWI), Baltimore, MD, 250, 253 3 ,Charlotte Douglas International, (CLT) Charlotte, NC, 229, 220 4 ,Orlando International, (MCO) Orlando, FL, 220, 236 5 ,Chicago O'Hare International, (ORD) Chicago, IL, 194, 215

There are around 70 at the Colt Factory. I believe they are in progress.

First look at the Front Street Lofts. http://courantblogs.com/ct-real-estate/first-look-at-apartment-building-at-hartfords-front-street/

It isn’t the official groundbreaking for the apartments planned for Hartford’s Front Street, but the environmental clean-up necessary to make the site ready is now underway. Snow covers Hartford’s Front Street today and construction vehicles are idle, but preparations are now underway for building a new apartment building. You can’t see it under today’s snowfall, but the paved parking area is now being dug up to deal with contaminated soil, the Capital Region Development Authority told the Courant The same work was done to prepare for the Front Street’s first phase, the entertainment district, just to the east. Michael W. Freimuth, CRDA’s executive director, said the work should be completed in the next month or so — clearing the way for the $33 million project. The project will include 121 market-rate apartments. Financing for the project includes a $13.7 million bank loan, $13.5 million in funds from the old Capital City Economic Development Authority, which oversaw the development of the convention center and the first phase of Front Street, plus numerous housing projects downtown. The balance is $6.2 million million in equity from developer HB Nitkin Group. The CCEDA funds include a $1.5 million grant from the state’s Office of Policy and Management. The funds are being used for the environmental clean-up.

Isn't that where they are putting the space needle?

It's tough to find any verification of this. Twitter is not the most reliable source.

This is dynamite news. This is the first project in years that has transformational possibilities. Success here translates to success at Pearl Street and 777 Main It also provides the impetus for new building. Very good news that they are underway. Lastly this fixes a 60 year old mistake. Housing should always have been part of CP. This project should transform the plaza into a true 24-hour a day space with a true sense of place. Better late than never.

I agree that Jamaica is a no brainer. Amsterdam was a very reasonable choice. I'm somewhat surprised it didn't work. That would seem to knock out places like Brussels or Copenhagen and their southern equivalents like Madrid or Lisbon. Frankfurt is a huge European hub. It is central to everything. That could work That leaves London or Paris or, perhaps Rome thought the latter would be a less convenient connection.

This is the same IRS stuff that has delayed the hotel conversion on Constitution Plaza. The federal government is just flat out incompetent.

The Gampel cannot be made hockey ready. And I believe that for basketball it has already been increased from eight thousand to ten thousand. The only way to put in boxes would be to reduce seats. UConn does have plans for an new ice rink on the campus for the hockey team.

This article. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20131202/PRINTEDITION/311279960 One reason for confidence in the new projections is that the airport is now being run by adults and not the CDOT.

The first project on this site, District Condos, would seem similar in size to On The Plaza, albeit a bit more upscale. It took 18 months from the start to finish. http://www.wonderworkscorp.com/#!residential/c20x9 You may have to hit the residential tab on the home page to see the District Condo info.

If you look at the top 30 airports about half are down from their all time highs and many others are relatively flat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_the_United_States (Sorry to use wikipedia). So Bradley’s move from a high of 3 million to it’s current 2.6 million isn’t awful. One thing is (or was) awful. The recently ended DOT stewardship of the airport was awful. Even in the 90’s when air traffic was booming by double digits, Bradley growth lagged behind. I beleive that was caused by the lack of forward thinking. Therefore rather than wait for passenger counts to increase before heavy investment in Bradley, I think that upgrading now before the next wave of national growth is a better way forward. I know it’s unusual in New England, but why not face the future with optimism and put Bradley in position to catch the wind. Currently there are around 30 gates, only two of which can support a 767 or bigger aircraft. A new terminal and additional 19 gates would allow a great deal of growth. And that is the job of the airport. It is the #1 economic generator in the state. In addition, the cargo capacity of the airport should be improved as well. Cargo drives the economy. Doesn’t it make sense to keep cargo capacity above actual use to allow for growth? Of course, we're talking about vision here, something the DOT had none of.

Very good news. The management of BDL is now completely out of the hands of the CDOT. With the incompetent bureaucracy out of the way, things have already begun to change. Most airports put in cell phone waiting areas years ago. The DOT never acted, perhaps, my cynical side says, because they are in bed with the parking lot owners. The new board already has one up and running. Next, European flights will become a priority. One thing I don't expect, the DOT budget should go down now that they have less to do. That's probably asking too much. But his is a very god step for the #1 economic generator in the state of Connecticut and a resource critical to any growth of its capital city. And let's look on the up side. Great step in the right direct! http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-airport-authority-20130703,0,7459697.story

Given the footprint of the Front Street site (see link). http://www.courant.com/business/real-estate/hc-map-front-street-projects-20130625,0,2491560.flash Assuming 25 apartments per floor. And a ground floor of retail. The building would be six floors tall. Which seems about right for the surroundings.

Here's the Courant article http://courantblogs.com/ct-real-estate/state-bond-commission-backs-funding-for-downtown-hartford-housing/ It says the Sonesta conversion should be the first to go. So go already. Jeffrey D. Ravetz, president of New York-based Girona Ventures, a partner in the hotel conversion, said Friday the bond commission approval was key to the package while the tax credit issue is being sorted out. Work on the conversion is expected to begin by late October, he said, and include 54 studio, 125 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom units. Of the total, 32 will be affordable. I think once these get started, it will be a wave with UConn and hopefully the brewery joining in.

Pitney Bowles has lost its case. The USSC will not hear the case so the decision of the lower court stands. Until the IRS gives guidance, it will slow projects that have received the "historic" tax credit. To recap the ruling -- In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in favor of the Internal Revenue Service in a case involving the redevelopment of the Historic Boardwalk Hall in Altantic City, N.J. into a new conference center. The court ruled that a tax credit investor — Pitney Bowes — wasn't entitled to the credit even though it had invested $16.4 million into the project. The court ruled that Stamford-based Pitney Bowes was not really a true partner in the project because its tax credit agreement insulated it from any risk, even if the development went awry. What it means to developers - Meanwhile, the federal appeals court ruling did not shed any light on how tax credit investments should be put together and, as of yet, the IRS had not provided guidance. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department, said the IRS "is working on this guidance and hope to release it soon." The IRS offered no specific timetable, but one expert said with the myriad of tax issues the IRS is dealing with "soon" could mean anywhere from a "few weeks to a few years." Many investors are sitting on the sidelines while the attorneys and the IRS try to figure this out," said Thom Amdur, executive director of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association in Washington, D.C. Amdur estimated that as many as half of the investors in rehabilitation projects nationwide have put closings on hold. The $24 million financing package for the Sonesta project factored in $4 million from federal historic tax credits. If you drop one piece of the puzzle, then the whole puzzle falls apart," said Jeffrey D. Ravetz, president of New York-based Girona Ventures, a partner in the conversion of the hotel on Consitution Plaza.

The conversion of the old Sonesta Hotel in downtown Hartford into nearly 200 much-needed apartments could have been underway by now, if it wasn’t for one piece of financing that doesn’t normally draw a lot of attention: federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. Investors – ranging from corporations to wealthy individuals — are usually lining up for the chance to help finance rehabilitation of historic structures in exchange for the credits used to reduce their federal taxes. But since last fall, after a federal appeals court ruling in a New Jersey case denied an investor the right to use the credit, investors have been scurrying to the sidelines until the implications are sorted out. http://courantblogs.com/ct-real-estate/conversion-projects-face-delays-over-historic-tax-credits/ Yep, the good old IRS has thrown a wrench into the works.

I haven't rented Eurocar. I rent AVIS just like I do in the states. I've rented AVIS England, Italy, Brussels, even on a Greek island. The Bradley set up for Avis work just like most USA bus-to-car set ups. I really hate places like Phoenix where you hop on the bus and then ride for 15 minutes. For bus-to-car Bradley is very quick and works well. The new LAX flight is interesting. Without knowing the business hubs that are most connected to Hartford, it's hard to know how successful the connection wil be. But the non-stop going west will cut three hours off the trip. Leave at noon and you should be landing in LA before 3:00. It makes California very convenient --until you get on the 405.

More infinity. The hall will seat 500. 400 below and 100 on the mezzanine

Infinity Music had it's ground breaking yesterday. Expected to open early next year. Ground breaking for Phase Two Front Street apartments is set for the fall (we'll see). http://www.courant.com/business/hc-infinity-hall-groundbreaking-20130326,0,1463809.story http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20130326/NEWS01/130329892/1002

3,000 students and facility would make a huge difffernce. I am a big fan of critical mass. Add housing and UConn to Front Street and you have all the ingredients for long term success of this project. If Front Street is important, this is the site.

First Apartment Tenants Expected At Main Street Tower In A Year The first apartment dwellers could be moved into the bank turned residential tower on Main Street by this time next year, the developer told me this morning. “I have a high degree of confidence that people will be living there by this time next year,” Bruce Becker, of Becker + Becker Associates Inc. in Fairfield told me, after a meeting of the Real Estate Finance Association of Connecticut. Becker, who developed the 360 State St. apartment tower in New Haven, said the $78 million conversion of the former Bank of America tower wouldn’t be completed by then. But tenants, he said, can move in while work is moving forward elsewhere in the 26-story tower. On Monday, the Hartford City Council approved a proposal that allows Mayor Pedro Segarra to enter into a 15-year tax fixing agreement with Becker for the tower and an adjacent garage at 45 Asylum St. The agreement mandates that the developer make street-level retail space at a reduced rental rate. The discounted rate must be 50 percent of the asking rate per square foot for downtown retail space. This morning, Becker said he expects construction to begin this summer and would likely be completed in a 12-18 month perio Full story http://courantblogs.com/ct-real-estate/first-apartment-tenants-expected-at-main-street-tower-in-a-year/

I know a lot of folks are hot about this project. It just seems to me that this is a really expensive deal. If the Sonesta Conversion or the corner of Pearl and Trumbull (or both) had gotten this kind of bread, they probably would be close to done by now. And IMHO, both would have as big an impact. I am alway very suspicious of the state and city as they seem to play favorites with developers. The developer seems more important than the project and I think that is backwards.