Asylum and Main-Konover

[The Voice of Reason]

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20130828/NEWS01/130829873

 

no development plans  but this move has to mean something.  I would hope it is a move to better position the company for when they do chose to develop the site.

 

I mean, the prospects of downtown are clearly on the rise.

 

maybe in 3-5 years we will have a proposal here.

 

[Luca Brasi]

About 10 years ago Phil Shonbergers was part of Konovers group that acquired these properties for Renaissance Place which was never built. It was a mixed use skyscraper that included a Westin Hotel.

[HartfordTycoon]

I'm thinking that there has to be more to this that probably won't be made public for some time.  Would love to finally get a substantial project completed here after so long.

[beerbeer]

The likelyhood of anything happmneing on that corner for many years is very slim. Lots of thing have to get fixed to make that corner viable.

 

There is an glut of office space and jobs are leaving the city and the state.  Who fills the space if a project is built?

 

Housing is  current need and there is demand. That is where the things will happen. Conversions will precede new construction.

[The Voice of Reason]

Well, while "jobs are leaving the state"  jobs must also be moving here too because employment numbers are improving.

 

So, while I agree that Office is NOT happening here inless some company randomly chooses to relocate here, its not like we are entering a timeperiod of negative office absorption.

 

that being said, who really thinks this will be an office building if it were developed?  I think the best uses here are two fold.   Hotel and retail.  the bonus is that it can be used for residential housing.

 

So if we ever do see development here in the 5-10 year range, it likely will be a large hotel and it likely will include housing possibly in the form of a shared amenity type building as seen in other cities during the last development cycle.

 

Patching the streetscape will create retail opportunities here that would likely add the the value of a project here in a surprising way.

 

Since most class B buildings are already slated for some form or redevelopment, it is not beyond reason to assume some development pressure for this location on the not too distant future.

[beerbeer]

The job picture is not improving in Connecticut. As for the country, the labor participation rate is now the lowest in 34 years. That makes the unemployment number look better but the gain is an illussion created by the shrinking workforce.

 

The corner of Main and Asylum should house a signature bulilding. It is the absolute center of the city. It is the perfect place for a company to make a statement.  The optimist in me says that some day someone will.  But Hartford and Connecticut have to stop following the road map left by Detroit. 

 

One very good sign is that developers stll believe in the city. That counts for a lot.

 

But right now, I want to see the Sonesta, 777, or 101 Pearl get started.

[The Voice of Reason]

Oh lord,    Beer beer, data without context is indeed lunacy!!  Labor participation rate has been a fluctuating number since it was first collected by the BLS. 

 

While the participation rate is down from the all time high acheived in 2000, it is still relatively high historically and well above the rates from the 1950's 60's and 70's.  Also this rate has began to recover from the recession which has been used as a reason that unemployment has not improved as much recently.   www.bls.gov   lots of data there bud

 

Also in CT the job picture IS improving, not only statistically but observationally. [since bottoming out in 2010, the county has added over 12,000 PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS, at the same time loosing about 700 state/federal/local jobs]      Is is healthy?  no   (I think this is where you might be going)....  Is it CT companies growing in CT or companies moving to CT?  No, its likely a recovery in service industry jobs with some of the prior sprinkled in.

 

It is true we hare always loosing jobs to other states/regions, but its not like we are constantly loosing jobs and people.  there is a two way street and we are simply loosing grownd compared to other places. 

 

anyways, not trying to hijack my own discussion, but just be aware that there is a recover on and we may not be ever close to filling all the office space downtown, but there IS absorption... so lets not bag on our beaten and downtrodden state any more than is truely necessary  OK?

 

I could go on a long winded bla bla bla fest about how a high labor participation rate might indicate that families require double incomes to survive and that this might be an indicator of a troubled econemy.  The lower number of participants might be an indicator longer lifespans for example or a sociological change back towards lifestyle over luxury.  People dont want to work just to afford day care or a baby sitter, they instead choose to raise their own kids and pinch a few pennies. 

 

and....

 

regarding the rest of your post... I fully agree.  I would love to see a signature building here, but I would say that it doesnt NEED to be an office

 

This just as easily could be the premier Hotel/Condo  who knows, it would have excellent viewsin all directions but South with perfect views of the Old Statehouse, the river, Travelers, and preserved views in its immediate vacinity due to the mid rises and historic buildings near by to the N W and East.

 

My dream though... like you, is to have this be the global HQ of SS&C as they grow or of CIGNA as they decide to expand and move from their campus.

[beerbeer]

Here's the context.  Part time employment is up. Full time employment is down. A side effect of Obamacare.

 

Regardless, Hartford couldn't fill a office tower on Main Street right now, we agree on that.  I think the first new construction in the city will be probably be Front Street apartments. Perhaps the empty hole next to the Sonesta. I would bet on either of those two sites before Main Street. Given the recent activity on Front Street, that is my guess.

[HartfordTycoon]

I agree that nothing here is imminent and also that if something were to happen in the intermediate term, it would likely be a signature type hotel.  I think hartford really needs one of those.  Hartford should have a Swissotel, Ritz-Carlton type of hotel or even a Westin would be nice.

[The Voice of Reason]

I will let that one lie even though I have more data at the ready  

 

Anyways, Yeah we all agree, but lets go back to signature hotel...

 

How the heck is it at all possable that we dont have one?  I mean there are crazy big corporations here, there are loads of wealthy people, there are honestly more reasons for there to be a high line brand

 

The Mariott is our fanciest hotel   thats just crazy!

 

I would like to see a Condotel though

[Hartfordfan]

is the goodwin hotel ever going to comeback? that would be our signature hotel in the city .

[HartfordTycoon]

I certainly hope the Goodwin comes back, but we still should have a new state of the art signature hotel with an internationally known brand downtown.

[The Voice of Reason]

Hartford could and should support a project simular to the Providence Westin hotel and Condo

 

now this is the Omni, but the the project is collectively a nice boost for that city.

 

between the two towers there are  564 rooms (200 of them in the residences building) and There are 100 condominiums

 

consisting of 1 bedroom, 1 bedroom with a den, 2 bedroom, 2 bedroom with a den and Penthouse unit styles with square footage ranging from 765 sq. ft. to 2894 sq. ft

 

I would not want this imaginary Hartford project to be exactly like that project however.   The "westin" is designed with sky bridges to various facilities like the arena, the mall and the convention center. 

 

for this location, that is NOT possable not an attractive option.

 

However, adding in all of the function space, the hotel rooms, the residences, the amendities associated with and the ground floor retail would be tremendous.

 

Also this would make it more agreeable for visitors to the area to stay downtown.  high end visitors. 

Also, two 30 or so story buildings would look very nice here if appropriately designed.