Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • December 23, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 9 What better banking's all about sm . westfieldbank.com Wayne Webster, Vice President, Commercial Lender; Cathy Turowsky, Vice President, Business and Government Deposit Services; Dan Danillowicz, Assistant Vice President, Mortgage Loan Officer; Todd Navin, Senior Vice President, Commercial Lender; and Matt Cuddy, Vice President, Area Manager What better banking's all about. With deep local roots and decades of banking experience, Todd, Wayne, Cathy, Matt, and Dan are here to serve you and the Greater Hartford area, including West Hartford and Bloomfield. For Westfield Bank customers, better banking means 24/7 convenience, millions to lend to local businesses, and always, respect. To learn more, stop by or call 860-265-3919. And see what better banking's all about. Enfield | 47 Palomba Drive Granby | 10 Hartford Avenue West Hartford | 977 Farmington Avenue Opening in 2020! Bloomfield | 337 Cottage Grove Road Opening in 2020! Member FDIC said. "But I think it's time to look at how to exploit our riverfront. This proposal might provide the catalyst that would procure that." Development red tape There have been a handful of developers looking to build on Hartford's riverfront in recent decades, but only two made it close to the finish line. DEEP, which would need to approve any riverfront proposal, has denied two applications in the Hartford-East Hartford area since 1990. One 1991 proposal called for a floating restau- rant on the river in East Hartford and another a few years later sought to build a barge-mounted floating home, according to DEEP. DEEP in a letter following Gale's resolution last year cautioned May- or Luke Bronin that any riverfront proposals would raise numerous public safety and environmental concerns that would make authori- zation "problematic." Jeff Caiola, assistant director of DEEP's land and water resources di- vision, said he is worried about how Aqua Ark's proposal could impact the river's flood-control system. To gain DEEP approval, the devel- oper would need to at least provide sufficient proof that the commercial structure would not displace water in the river and would comply with Connecticut's strict flood-manage- ment program, which Caiola says is more rigid than federal standards. Any upgrades to the levee system would also require federal oversight and will be costly to operate and maintain, he said. Aqua Ark is not seeking public subsidy to offset development costs, but if it does, Caiola says en- vironmental and safety standards would significantly increase. "We have been on record deny- ing any proposal there," Caiola said. "There are some significant risks to the public. From our position, we would want the city to be in contact with the Army Corps about the im- pacts to the flood-control system." Riverfront Recapture leaders say they would like to see commercial development on the river, but under- stand the regulatory hurdles in play. Marc Nicol, Riverfront Recapture's director of planning and development, said Aqua Ark has been receptive to learning more about the longstanding environmental concerns of building on Hartford's riverfront. That includes $1 million in potential upgrades needed to rework an underground concrete anchoring system. But Nicol said he doubts this proposal or any others would make financial sense without some level of federal or state funding. Still, he said riverfront development will ultimately be driven by a develop- er's willingness to spend and their projected return on investment. "If it's something that we feel will be a reasonable request and will ben- efit Riverfront Recapture, I think our board would support the developer," he said. "We would like to see com- mercial development along the river- front, but we are being realistic." A number of developers have tried and failed to gain approval for proposed riverfront developments in Hartford and East Hartford since 1990. HBJ PHOTO | JOE COOPER

• Cover