Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | October 24, 2022 15 Economic Development Series miles of riverside trail — with more under development. The nonprofit organizes rowing competitions, walking tours, a music festival and other events to magnify the draw of its parks. Riverfront Recapture said its parks hosted 744,256 visitors in 2021. Those visitors stop for gas, visit restaurants and other amenities, pumping $2 for every $1 spent on Riverfront Recapture's activities, said Michael Zaleski, the nonprofit's pres- ident and CEO, citing a 2015 study by the state Department of Economic and Community Development. "We have this majestic river, this 410-mile river that starts in Canada and ends in Long Island Sound," Zaleski said on Oct. 9, during a short break on the first night of a three-day music festival. "Here in Hartford, in the Greater Hartford region, we have this wonderful section we are trying to enhance. And, ultimately, we see Riverfront Recapture as an economic development organization." The Hartbeat Music Festival was staged at the Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, a signature park with land- scaped decking over Interstate 91 and steep stairs leading to the river's edge. Zaleski said his organization, its parks and events are "an important piece of the pie" when it comes to the quality of life in the region. "So, when a corporation is looking at recruiting people, there are people who are looking for riverwalk trails, there are people looking for rowing programs, there are people looking for opportuni- ties to get onto the water," Zaleski said. Water attraction Human attraction to rivers goes back a long way. The earliest civili- zations sprang up alongside rivers, which provided water, transportation and seasonal floods that irrigated and fertilized agriculture. There were also practical reasons Connecticut's earliest communities have their roots near rivers. Hartford was a major shipping port for agricul- tural goods from the surrounding region before the advent of railroads. Middletown also had its roots in shipping. The Naugatuck River and its tributaries provided mechanical power and water for a metal-working industry that would evolve and grow. In many of Connecticut's urban centers, past industrial use of river- side properties means that no matter how attractive the waterway has become, redevelopment won't happen without help from the state and federal government. The Torrington development cele- brated by Mayor Carbone could only happen after a $2.7 million state- and federally-funded cleanup that drew out PCB-contaminated soil as deep as 17 feet. In Middletown, the city has spent more than $75 million decommis- sioning its sewage treatment plant, buying properties and repairing a shuttered riverside restaurant building as part of its "Return to the Riverbend" plan. The state's new Community Investment Fund board has agreed to allocate $12 million to Middle- town's riverfront redevelopment efforts. It was the largest single grant among 26 recently approved by the lawmaker-led board. But Middletown had asked for $24 million. Its grant application acknowl- edges the broader development plan "will take decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to complete." Still worth it Despite the expense, there is no shortage of riverside redevelopment projects being pursued. Boosters often pitch these as a means to reinvigorate economies damaged by industrial decline while clearing away polluted eyesores. In Middletown, the payoff is seen as an improved quality of life and a stronger attraction for both day-tripping tourists and potential new employers. "Anytime we have something where people want to come and spend time, they are going to spend time in other places in our community," said Bobbye Knoll Peterson, Middletown's acting director of economic and commu- nity development. "If people are making use of the (riverfront parks) they are going to make use of other things in the community. They are going to go to our restaurants, they are going to grab that ice cream by the river, they are going to see an adorable shop like Amato's (Toy and Hobby) and pop in." Middletown's state grant application offered a "conservative" estimate of $300 million in private commercial and residential development accompanying its project. Spectra, working as a general contractor, is already refinishing a building on Middletown's Main Street into 16 apartments for another devel- oper. Spectra President Daniel Klaynberg said that is how he learned of the city's search for a development partner on three lots near Route 9 and Harbor Park. Under a tentative agreement with the city, Middletown would share the esti- mated $35 million cost to build the new parking and plaza, Klaynberg said. Housing would be added in a second phase to follow in "a few years," Klayn- berg said, at an estimated $100 million to $120 million development cost. Klaynberg said Spectra would have targeted Middletown for development with or without the ambitious riverfront plans. The city has a vibrant downtown and strong housing market. But the riverfront plan does add to the appeal, he said. "I think this makes it a prime location for sure and it's a super unique loca- tion," Klaynberg said. "We are looking at housing. It seems like there is a market to serve." East Hartford, Goodwin University pursue tandem developments anchored by CT River By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com I n East Hartford, town leaders and Goodwin University are pursuing separate, large-scale economic developments along the Connecticut River. The university is, piece by piece, building portions of a long-range master plan to transform the neighborhood around its riverside campus. The plan includes office, retail, magnet schools and multifamily housing — accentuated by new river access, including a growing trail network and marina. Meanwhile, East Hartford Mayor Michael P. Walsh is trying to secure an investor for a plan to bring a denser mix of development to roughly 40 acres along the east bank of the Connecticut River. Walsh's target area includes the Founders Plaza office park and adjacent property. It is a plan the city would be able to back with millions of dollars in assistance, he said. East Hartford had refined a redevelopment plan for Founders Plaza prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Walsh said, that plan must be amended to reduce its focus on office space — a strug- gling market in the pandemic's wake. Even so, Walsh said, hardly a week passes in which he does not speak with developers about the potential of the Founders Plaza area. Walsh said he hopes to secure a "development partner," and there is a rolling dialogue with the Founders Plaza current ownership. "The development of Founders Plaza in East Hartford is inevi- table," Walsh said in a recent interview. "It may happen soon, or it may be put off a few years, but there's no larger swath of land along the river that is ripe for development than here in East Hartford." 'Big undertaking' Just downstream from Founders Plaza, Goodwin University leaders hope to entice a developer to build a 32-slip marina, and possibly a hotel and multifamily housing, in an area next to its campus. The university was awarded a $2 million state grant in April to help defray the cost of building a marina. University leaders said they have also secured all the local, state and federal permitting needed for the marina, a process that took more than three years. The hope is that the marina developer will also want to build a nearby hotel, or entice another developer to erect it. The marina Goodwin University senior officials (from left) Bryant L. Harrell, Todd Andrews and Mark McGovern stand in front of a portion of the East Hartford-based campus where the college aims to build a marina, hotel and student housing. PHOTO | GARY LEWIS

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