Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1473423
2 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | July 18, 2022 Biz Briefs 14 Bobala Road 3rd Floor Holyoke, MA 01040 Tel: 413.536.3970 Headquarters 280 Trumbull St 24th Floor Hartford, CT 06103 Tel: 860.522.3111 One Hamden Center 2319 Whitney Ave, Suite 2A Hamden, CT 06518 Tel: 203.397.2525 Largest Connecticut-Based Accounting Firm For over 60 years, Whittlesey's team of professionals has provided superior service and value-added advice, with specialization in the following areas: Assurance Advisory Tax Technology Learn more at WAdvising.com Riverbend Landing is a proposed entertainment district on the site of a former wastewater treatment plant along the Connecticut River in Middletown. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED Master plan calls for transformation, new development along 220 acres of Middletown's waterfront A master plan has been unveiled that would reconnect Middletown to the Connecticut River, transforming an underused 220-acre stretch of riverfront property into a mix of uses, including restaurants, multifamily housing, entertainment, recreational trails and a pedestrian bridge leading to downtown. The town has hired architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson to develop a plan for its waterfront, following a yearlong planning process. The plan, called Return to the Riverbend, proposes four separate districts on the waterfront. The Riverside District would include pedestrian and bicycle paths and a renewed Harbor Park, with a pedestrian bridge over Route 9. The Sumner Brook District includes town- owned parcels that would be converted into an entertainment hub, Riverbend Landing, with an amphitheater and beer hall. The Hilltop District includes land owned by the state of Connecticut, which would be kept as open space. The South End District consists of the former Long River Village along the shoreline and would be transformed into mixed-use housing. UConn eyes $5M campus property sale for autonomous vehicle test track, research facility UConn's Board of Trustees has unanimously approved an option agreement to sell 105 acres in the southwest portion of the school's Mansfield Depot Campus to a private company that would use it as the region's first-ever connected and autonomous vehicle test track and research facility. Under the option agreement – if all steps and zoning approvals are met – UConn would sell the property to Promesa Capital LLC for $5 million. Promesa Capital is a limited liability company formed in 2021 by Steve Cortese, who lists a Guilford business and home address. Under the plan, Promesa Capital would use its own money to fund construction of the roughly $30 million autonomous vehicle test track facility, which it has named Spectrum Park. UConn – and other entities – would use the property for different purposes. UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said the university would make the property a "research center for next-generation transportation planning." State officials tout Bradley Airport's new $210M ground transportation facility State officials recently celebrated the opening of a new $210 million ground transportation center at Bradley International Airport. Planning and construction took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the facility is expected to open in mid-July, according to the Connecticut Airport Authority, which runs the self-funded airport. An aerial view of UConn's Storrs campus. PHOTO| RYAN GLISTA/UCONN