IN PROGRESS: Front Street @ Adriaen's Landing

[beerbeer]

I know there has been talk of UConn building an additional building in that spot. The only other possibility I can think of is the Thomas Hooker brewery.

I agree with what others have said here... why not a mixed use building that incorporates more hotel rooms and apartments?

 

That would be a dynamite spot for the brewery. They were very interested in the Times Building.  This spot would suit them just as well. That's not a bad guess, you may be right on the money.  I still like the idea of the brewery going into the horseshoe nail factory. But adding a brewery across from Front Street really adds a dimension to it as an entertainment district.  The place would be jumping.

Edited February 21, 2014 by beerbeer

[Siedler von Hartford]

I am also of the camp saying if this lot is developed apartments need to be included;  we aleady lost potential units with UConn taking over the Times Building.  Without more apartments than the 121 already under construction, I think front street will fail to be a truly dynamic urban environment. 

 

I was thinking that if this building happens, as well as AI (hopefully the final plan is more ambitious than the scaled down proposal), then we start to see Columbus Blvd as a more continuous walkable area rather than just islands of activity--school children getting off buses to the Science Center and Conventioners being shutteled to and from the Mariott/Convention Center--sealed off from the rest of this city by Travelers' and The Phoenix's loading docks.

[The Voice of Reason]

puttiong housing  and or hotel here will anchor columbus street here and really help the area out.

 

there are bigger issues still with the sterility of the convention center, Travelers and Phoenix, but housing/Hotel here would go a long way in making the area into a vital anchor.

 

Further... I want hooker in the area, but I cant say this enough times... Brewing is an industrial use.  I am a brewer I have been to countless breweries..

 

they require 30+ foot ceilings.

 

They are going to be upgrading to a %) BBL system which means that they are likely to be using some 200 BBL fermentors.

thats pretty monster

 

Anyways,

 

I want the brewery to have a presence here but I want other retail, and I absolutly want hotel or apartments.. we shall see

[beerbeer]

puttiong housing  and or hotel here will anchor columbus street here and really help the area out.

 

there are bigger issues still with the sterility of the convention center, Travelers and Phoenix, but housing/Hotel here would go a long way in making the area into a vital anchor.

 

Further... I want hooker in the area, but I cant say this enough times... Brewing is an industrial use.  I am a brewer I have been to countless breweries..

 

they require 30+ foot ceilings.

 

They are going to be upgrading to a %) BBL system which means that they are likely to be using some 200 BBL fermentors.

thats pretty monster

 

Anyways,

 

I want the brewery to have a presence here but I want other retail, and I absolutly want hotel or apartments.. we shall see

 

If I was the Marriott, I would go batship if they put another hotel over there. Besides, I'm pretty sure they have an exclusive agreement and they have the right to build east of the present hotel.  So I can't imagine its a hotel that is being explored.

[The Voice of Reason]

I am sure there was/is a noncompete clause for X number of years

but it has been 7 years now

and most noncompetes are about that long

 

Who knows

 

 

Besides, the deal would be with Waterford group, not the Mariott Brand itself.   So maybe Waterford is looking at additional options here... they are a pretty succesful company.  and maybe want to be sure that they can capetalize on the front street connection (which is likely hurting business as Vivo and other Mariott value streams

[Luca Brasi]

Whoever the tenant is that is necessitating building on Columbus must need a LOT of space because there are still spaces available at Front St. and new retail spaces coming at both the Times building and the new apartment building.

[beerbeer]

While the CRDA has declined to identify the tenant interested in occupying the building, a member of the authority’s board told me today the tenant would match the area’s entertainment focus.

“It is a use that would fit in with what is happening on Front Street,” Thomas E. Deller, the city’s development director and a CRDA board member, said.

 

A brewery would do that. The current venues are restaurants and entertainment. A hotel?  Apartments? 

[The Voice of Reason]

it may well be Hooker... and if so, I hope they do it in a way that works.  I have expressed my concerns pretty clearly many times.

 

Ideally, I know I much prefer there being something here that involved housing or hotel... and well those uses actually fit in well with an entertainment district.

 

how about putting in a UConn Basketball arena there

that works best for me

[Luca Brasi]

If it is the brewery (and it sounds like it is) Im sure they are thinking of the exposure they can get by offering visiting conventioneers tours and samples. A full scale brewery and restaurant in this location that offers tours is a home run.

Within a block of the convention center, guests have the choice of a science museum, a movie theater, a concert hall, a world class art museum and possibly a brewery to add to restaurants and bars in the area. That's not bad at all.

[HartfordTycoon]

If it is the brewery (and it sounds like it is) Im sure they are thinking of the exposure they can get by offering visiting conventioneers tours and samples. A full scale brewery and restaurant in this location that offers tours is a home run.

Within a block of the convention center, guests have the choice of a science museum, a movie theater, a concert hall, a world class art museum and possibly a brewery to add to restaurants and bars in the area. That's not bad at all.

 

I can't say I disagree with you. Having the brewery at the Convention Center would add significantly to what will already be a strong lineup of attractrions. This would probably make booking conventions here a hell of a lot more enticing. If they can make it work logistically, which I'm sure they can. I say go for it.

[Hollin.Tolland]

I can't say I disagree with you. Having the brewery at the Convention Center would add significantly to what will already be a strong lineup of attractrions. This would probably make booking conventions here a hell of a lot more enticing. If they can make it work logistically, which I'm sure they can. I say go for it.

 

 

While the CRDA has declined to identify the tenant interested in occupying the building, a member of the authority’s board told me today the tenant would match the area’s entertainment focus.

“It is a use that would fit in with what is happening on Front Street,” Thomas E. Deller, the city’s development director and a CRDA board member, said.

 

A brewery would do that. The current venues are restaurants and entertainment. A hotel?  Apartments? 

 

Last May Ken Gosselin from the Courant reported about the interest of Curt Cameron of Hooker Brewery in occupying the former Hartford Times site on the corner of Prospect and Arch Streets. I reached out to Curt to let him know that the location was ideal since Thomas Hooker's home was built on that same site in 1640. I think it would have been an ideal fit, but in the Convention Center parking lot would have been on the Little Meadow across the Little River to North Meadow road from neighbor James Olmstead's house during Hooker's life. Close enough I guess...

[The Voice of Reason]

Better change the brewery name.

 

Welcom to the forum.

 

Do you happen to have access to an old map when the little river was still there and the fort.

I have to say that I do not think I have seen anything as accurate as you are describing.  That would be great to see.

[beerbeer]

There's nothing like a tall blond Hooker, ale that is. Pretty good beer.  Great name.

[The Voice of Reason]

Their best beer not only in drinkability but also in quality level for the style it represents... Hooker Munich...

 

I brew my own stuff and thats all I generally drin k, but Munich is one of the very few kegs I buy.  It is the perfect summer beer and It gets alot of action after a day of yard work for me. 

 

I buy all kinds of stuff in bottles though I guess hjust to try things, but Hookers Munich is keg worthy.

 

Interestingly enough, next weekend I am making 10 gallons of a german beer style, but lagering at home can be rough

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

15 years ago today.... I still think that was too tight of a space to fit an NFL stadium.

 

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/courant-250/this-day-in-history/hc-day-in-history-april-20140331,0,2269829.photogallery

[The Voice of Reason]

It is one that got away, for sure.

 

I know we may have been used... but to think of the Pats having home games here for the last 15 years.  ok, 10 years...

 

and to have a big development at that location would surely be a huge economic engine. 

 

the development has been progressing and I think the convention center is great!  but the whole area needs to be built out and the stadoum would have nearly dont that all at once.

 

alternately... taking a world where we have the current convention center expanded out to the street with commerical elements to the street frontage(a possible result of current interest in that site)

and more and bigger conventions as a result...

 

maybe an expanded Mariott as well, and front street with Uconn and such as currently planned...

 

 

We didnt do too bad.

 

Also, would Uconn be using the pats stadium?  if not, Uconn would not have the change to develop as a sports school to such an extend...

 

also would having the pats make it impossible to support a new arena?  an NHL team?  heck how about even supporting UCONN as much as they have?

 

 

All water under a bridge... but I would be pretty stoked to have the Pats in town, and to me there is no doubt the stadium would be willed on Sundays.

 

I still prefer the front street with 600 apartments and the highrises coupled with a convention center

we got what we got.   it aint all bad.

[HartfordTycoon]

It is one that got away, for sure.

 

I know we may have been used... but to think of the Pats having home games here for the last 15 years.  ok, 10 years...

 

and to have a big development at that location would surely be a huge economic engine. 

 

the development has been progressing and I think the convention center is great!  but the whole area needs to be built out and the stadoum would have nearly dont that all at once.

 

alternately... taking a world where we have the current convention center expanded out to the street with commerical elements to the street frontage(a possible result of current interest in that site)

and more and bigger conventions as a result...

 

maybe an expanded Mariott as well, and front street with Uconn and such as currently planned...

 

 

We didnt do too bad.

 

Also, would Uconn be using the pats stadium?  if not, Uconn would not have the change to develop as a sports school to such an extend...

 

also would having the pats make it impossible to support a new arena?  an NHL team?  heck how about even supporting UCONN as much as they have?

 

 

All water under a bridge... but I would be pretty stoked to have the Pats in town, and to me there is no doubt the stadium would be willed on Sundays.

 

I still prefer the front street with 600 apartments and the highrises coupled with a convention center

we got what we got.   it aint all bad.

 

I'm not 100% sure but I think the plan was for UConn to also use to stadium as it moved up to its current FBS level from FCS. Would have been unbelievable for sure having the Pats and UConn playing downtown in the fall. Almost every weekend would have been filled with activity and massive amounts of visitors.

[The Voice of Reason]

OK yeah that would be pretty fantastic!

 

Also because if UCONN were to aggressively persue football growth as they have, they might have been more focused with that larger facility and it is possible that hosting larger games (Michigan/Notre Dame) would have come sooner and to better success.  this all could have easily let to UCONN joining a larger conference and even more attendees at any manner of games in Hartford...

 

but then again, would the football based entertainment dollar have been spread too thin?

[Luca Brasi]

No doubt the stadium downtown was for UConn football as well. Games against BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia etc. would have all been downtown. Between UConn and the Patriots, Hotels would have been sold out virtually every weekend.

[The Voice of Reason]

I posted elsewhere that I went to Teds opening night but I did not describe my investigations into the construction happening....

 

The apartments are well under way.   I scoped it out from the stairs on the travelers plaza there.   you can see easily into the site. 

 

It is hard to tell exactly how they are doing the foundation, but there is already a large ammount of poured concrete and rebar.  it seems as though the street staggers down aver few feet rather than 1 full floor then  another.

 

there seems to be no parking in this building so I suppose they will expect residents to be using the nearby garages. this is fine by me, but is also a little bit of lazy design.  When you have a slope like this you could easily fit some parking under the ground floor of retail by using the existing grade at minimal cost.

  

 

anyways, It is nice to see and I am sure it will start to rise up from the foundation very shortly.

[jdrinboston]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question. Were the first phase buildings on Front Street (the ones with Infinity and the cinemas) designed to support additions of upper floors for apartments/offices?  I drove by there a couple of weeks ago and while it was nice to see some retail there, the fact that the parking garages were higher than the buildings drove me nuts. 

 

If they can't do full blown additions, maybe they can do some type of Disney/Hollywood fake upper floors?

[beerbeer]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question. Were the first phase buildings on Front Street (the ones with Infinity and the cinemas) designed to support additions of upper floors for apartments/offices?  I drove by there a couple of weeks ago and while it was nice to see some retail there, the fact that the parking garages were higher than the buildings drove me nuts. 

 

If they can't do full blown additions, maybe they can do some type of Disney/Hollywood fake upper floors?

 

Apartments were considered at one point.  But they downsized the development.  Both UConn and the apartment building will bring the site some height but building over the existing retail portion of Front Street would be an expensive proposition especially since something like fake upper floors would provide no revenue.

Edited June 5, 2014 by beerbeer

[The Voice of Reason]

That being said, I do recall at one point mention of the capability to do so in the future.

 

Now, I couldnt imagine this being more than 2-3 floors of stick built construction up there, but I am almost certain these buildings were designed to allow for some of that.

 

 

 

The biggest issue there is to get the retail tenents to tolerate someone cutting into their roof.  HIGHLY unlikely.

[Hollin.Tolland]

Better change the brewery name.

 

Welcom to the forum.

 

Do you happen to have access to an old map when the little river was still there and the fort.

I have to say that I do not think I have seen anything as accurate as you are describing.  That would be great to see.

Here's a good one with parcel information from the lots given out between 1626-1640 by the English. It doesn't show the land still owned by the Dutch or Native Americans --> http://www.babcock-acres.com/Misceallaneous/hartmap/hartford1640.htm. More on the folks who got the lots are here: http://www.foundersofhartford.org/founders/index.htm and here: http://books.google.com/books?id=b6xPAQAAIAAJ. Where you see in the 1640 Porter map "Highway on the bank of the River" that's Arch Street. On the original 1640 Porter map, the alley between Rev. Samuel Stone and Rev. Thomas Hooker was Meeting House Alley now Prospect Street (http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/cho/id/15046/rec/8).They broke things down into South Plantation and North Plantation and each side essentially took care of their own business affairs for a while. Two of my ancestors Thomas Bliss Sr. and Deacon Andrew Warner had lots in the South Plantation and one of my son's ancestors John Warner in the North Plantation. Andrew Warner's lot was just across the Little River // Pig River // Park River from Samuel Stone and Thomas Hooker. I guess that might be because he didn't come through the wilderness with the Hooker Party but came a few months afterward.

[Hollin.Tolland]

I posted elsewhere that I went to Teds opening night but I did not describe my investigations into the construction happening....

 

The apartments are well under way.   I scoped it out from the stairs on the travelers plaza there.   you can see easily into the site. 

 

It is hard to tell exactly how they are doing the foundation, but there is already a large ammount of poured concrete and rebar.  it seems as though the street staggers down aver few feet rather than 1 full floor then  another.

 

there seems to be no parking in this building so I suppose they will expect residents to be using the nearby garages. this is fine by me, but is also a little bit of lazy design.  When you have a slope like this you could easily fit some parking under the ground floor of retail by using the existing grade at minimal cost.

  

 

anyways, It is nice to see and I am sure it will start to rise up from the foundation very shortly.

FYI--apartment renderings: http://production.wordpress.uconn.edu/downtownhartford/wp-content/uploads/sites/746/2014/06/UConn_Preliminary_Concepts_for_UConn_Hartford_Exterior.pdf and http://production.wordpress.uconn.edu/downtownhartford/wp-content/uploads/sites/746/2014/06/UConn_Architectural_Concept_for_UConn_Hartford.pdf