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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 24, 2025 21 That led to the launch of Conn- CORP, the Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program, a for-profit arm of ConnCAT focused on economic development. The centerpiece has become the effort to build ConnCAT Place on Dixwell. So far, $13 million has been spent to acquire the 11 parcels of land and demolish the existing buildings. Demolition began last summer, and new construction broke ground in October 2024. Architecture firm HGA, led by Peter D. Cook, created the design. The development will happen in two phases. The first phase, expected to cost more than $60 million, will have as its centerpiece a new 69,000-square- foot headquarters for ConnCAT. Addi- tional tenants include a child mental health and family center run by the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, and a day care provided by the Friends Center for Children. Phase one also encompasses a 186-unit, mixed-in- come apartment tower, grocery store and food hall for local restaurants. The second phase is expected to bring a 350-seat performing arts center, 60,000-square-foot office building and up to 15 townhomes. The project has so far raised $49.8 million, including a $16 million grant from the state of Connecticut and a $10 million loan from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. It has also received donations and philanthropic dollars. Clemons and his team are continuing to fundraise. "He's just really able to communi- cate the vision and give you a sense that if you come on in, it will happen," said Alexandra Daum, Yale Universi- ty's associate vice president for New Haven affairs and University Prop- erties. "He's going to do good things with your money." Daum first worked with Clemons when she was commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. The state invested its $16 million stake through DECD's Community Investment Fund. Daum is continuing to partner with him in her role at Yale, which has already leased a significant amount of space in the flagship building planned for ConnCAT Place. "Eric's done a great job of just plugging along, and one foot in front of the other and not giving up, which is the key in these very complicated, very expensive projects," she said. Sheena Strawter-Anthony, director of impact investment strategy at the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, says backing a Black-owned project was an important part of her organization's decision to invest. "We're aware of the unconscious biases that are in this industry," she said. "There are fund managers who continuously outperform, but yet they can't attract the capital because of the way they look. We didn't want that to be a hurdle." For Clemons, the project is all about using economic development as a weapon against poverty. "What's important to me is that we address it, and that we create conditions that allow people to reau- thor their story, to recast their lives," he said. And, standing on the leveled site where the project will take shape, he envisions a future model for commu- nities around the country. "That is the hope: that you can create economic infrastructure, capital formation in communities, while at the same time build commu- nity," Clemons said. ConnCAT has an 8,000-square-foot commercial kitchen that trains people in food-and-beverage and advanced culinary skills. HBJ PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender Contact a local lender to learn more. ThomastonSB.com | 860.283.1874 Here to Help Your Business Flourish. ∙ Commercial Real Estate Mortgages ∙ Term Loans ∙ Lines of Credit ∙ SBA Loans ∙ Equipment Loans ∙ Merger & Acquisition Financing $5,400,000 Term Loan Construction Financing of Community Health Center in Bristol $1,800,000 Commercial Mortgage for Office Building in New Britain $6,600,000 Working Capital & CAPEX LOC for Specialty Trade Contractor in Thomaston Jeffrey Taylor VP, Senior Commercial Loan Officer JTaylor@ThomastonSB.com 860-283-3440 Trish Tomlinson VP, Senior Commercial Loan Officer PTomlinson@ThomastonSB.com 860-283-3499 Charlie McCormick VP, Commercial Loan Officer CMcCormick@ThomastonSB.com 860-283-3478