JHChris280

No hallucination, the prep work has been happening for years. Do all the prep work you want, no plans=nothing to build. Considering the initial Arts Council comment, all that was stated was the obvious-condo market is soft and people are down on the Front Street project. Evergreen Walk and Blue Back Square have been either completed or nearing completion in this time frame. It's pretty much ensuring the district won't be nearly as unique-could've had a 5 year head start over South Windsor and West Hartford. Who knows if this project had been completed either before or in conjunction with the Convention Center opening, what impact that would've had.

This is true. However, they are still serving a purpose and if they're overseeing any aspect of Front Street or the Science Center than they should continue to put their best foot forward. Sometimes the best marketing and press doesn't come from a catchy slogan, slick commercial, or a highway billboard. Competence, efficiency, and ease of doing business can go a LONG way in changing perceptions.

THE CCEDA should have plenty of time to finish this deal now that they completely ignore their website. It may be nitpicking but if they were truly firing on all cylinders these details would not be overlooked.

Forgive me for being a pessimist but in my opinion this project, as it stands, is no better off than it was 2 or 3 months ago. There are too many parking lots in Hartford which were born from green lighted projects. In some situations 4 or 5 months might not be so bad but this means 115 apartments and 60,000 square feet of retail will come on line 10 years after the original Adriaens Landing proposal. I'll now take the role of optimist and argue there is no way at this point in Hartford's redevelopment this project is high-risk, especially with a boat load of state dollars and virtually no restaurants, entertainment, or retail within view of convention center. If this were a project at the "12B" location or even the proposed Plaza Mayor...just a stone's throw away...you might convince me it has a chance of not succeeding. Start building already.