Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com September 5, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 23 EYEWITNESS EYEWITNESS NEWS NEWS GO BIG TOGETHER Grab some buddies and run the relay! Each team member runs a leg of the 26.2 mile course. For details or to register, visit HARTFORDMARATHON.COM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2016 nonprofit Chrysalis Inc., whose supportive programs, including housing, are aimed at the needy, attended the city's MetroHartford Alliance briefing. The land-use changes "allow for a com- mon-sense approach to real estate develop- ment,'' Castelli said via email. "The changes have really uncomplicated the process and I know it will have a positive impact on devel- opers that want to invest in Hartford." Parking considerations Although the city Planning and Zoning Commission didn't adopt the new zoning format until its Jan. 12 meeting, the revi- sion ground work actually began two years earlier, Bronin said. A land-use lawyer and architect, she is the spouse of Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. "We swept away 50 years of antiquated regulations in one night,'' Sara Bronin said of the commission's unanimous vote. But perhaps the change likely to have the greatest development impact is the city's scrapping of a long-standing provision that any new residential or commercial devel- opment downtown have a ratio of parking spaces attached to them. That requirement added about $50,000 per parking space to the development pricetag, Bronin said. Hartford Parking Authority (HPA) CEO Eric Boone said the quasi-public city agency, too, had a hand in revising the city's parking rules for new projects. Boone said parking lots and garages are never the "best and high- est use of a property.'' A consultant's report found the city already has an adequate inventory of public and private parking spaces, Boone said. HPA tallies show about 9,000 downtown parking spaces go unused daily, not counting another 4,000 spaces reserved for corporate officials and special events. "Nobody comes to the city to park. We realize that,'' Boone said. But the availability of so many unused parking slots daily factored into the P&Z Commission's easing of requirements for downtown developers to provide parking with their new projects, Boone said. The revision sets parking maximums for devel - opments in other areas of the city. Developer Bruce Becker, who transformed downtown's former Bank of America building into the 777 Main high-rise apartments, said his efforts to satisfy the city's parking require- ments delayed his project for months. "Now there is no parking requirement for a project such as ours, so we could have proceed- ed even more swiftly,'' Becker said. "Saving time and uncertainty is always helpful when undertaking complex development projects." Now, the city is actively promoting and spreading word of its revised zoning regula- tions and map. On Wed. Sept. 7, Sara Bronin is due on a CrewCT Real Estate Exchange panel, explaining the city's land-use changes to an audience of realty developers, builders and managers at 5:30 p.m. at The Hartford Club downtown. "The more people know, the more likely they are to choose Hartford for development,'' Bronin said. "Hartford is a high-opportunity city for real estate development.'' n Along with land-use changes that allowed a city brewer to open a tap room, the parking requirement for new downtown development has been stripped in the new regulations. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D P H O T O | H B J F I L E

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