Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com February 27, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 13 There's an art to accounting. Yes, it is a precise and analytical profession. But there is also a great satisfaction for us in moving a large complex problem to a logical, elegant solution. We think this makes us a little different. Our clients tell us it makes us better. Federman, Lally & Remis – Not Your Typical Bean Counters. Complexity re-envisioned. 231 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032 | 860-678-7100 | www.flrcpa.com FLR25_Origami_HBJ_HalfPg.indd 1 12/7/16 9:31 AM district and the Frog Hollow neighborhood south of downtown that is home to residents, state offices/agencies, commercial businesses and nonprofit institutions like Hartford Hospital. Timing for earnest planning of Bushnell Square couldn't be better, Fay said, especially with the recent reorientation and "traffic calm- ing'' of Gold Street, as part of the city's iQuilt initiative. IQuilt involves streetscape and other transportation-infrastructure improvements aimed at stitching together a walkable corri- dor, linking Bushnell Park to restaurants, the- aters and other lifestyle-cultural venues in the south, west, north and riverfront quadrants of the central business district. "We've been at this for over a decade,'' Fay said recently. "It's exciting to see Gold Street done. It's exciting to see [downtown street- work] done. To see UConn coming down here in the fall. … You put another 1,000 people who are living and playing downtown, Hart- ford will be changed for the good forever.'' The pricetag for a fully developed Bush- nell Square has yet to be calculated, Fay said. The Bushnell Square concept has gained momentum since the state announced plans for a $200 million makeover of its sprawling state-office building directly opposite The Bushnell, at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Washington Street. For the initial phase at least, involving plans for a sidewalk cafe fronting the Capitol Avenue side of the hall, The Bushnell will serve as developer. This way, Fay said, The Bushnell potentially could realize a long-term income stream from rents on portions it develops. But the bulk of the acreage on which Bushnell Square would rest is state prop- erty. Anchoring the western edge is the now-vacant state office building, formerly housing such agencies as the state Depart- ment of Administrative Services (DAS). The state parcel totals 7 acres, of which about 6 ½ acres is for parking, DAS said. A helping hand CRDA, a catalyst in recasting Hartford's older office buildings downtown into apart- ments, will have a hand in Bushnell Square, said its Executive Director Michael Freimuth. The agency has contributed about a quarter of the $100,000 in initial planning costs for Bushnell Square. Freimuth notes that before the arrival of the state office building in the 1930s/1940s, the Frog Hollow neighborhood abutting The Bushnell predominately consisted of two- and three-family homes and apartment buildings. The quasi-public agency responsible for promoting residential/commercial develop- ment in and around Hartford has earmarked some of its housing funds "to jump-start one or two projects'' in Bushnell Square, Fre- imuth said. "Our role is to be an agent on behalf of the state in developing that real estate,'' he said. Across Clinton Street, from The Bushnell, the state has begun interior demolition of a building that until 2012 was home to the state Department of Public Health's laboratory, now in Rocky Hill. The Bushnell for years has pursued addi- tional land abutting it for expansion, and the lab site could partly fulfill that goal, Fay said. Plans are to fully raze the structure and deed the site for development as part of Bushnell Square. "Hartford is on the cusp of this new [down- town] residential boom,'' Fay said. "Let's build it for the 2020s, 2030s of this century.'' n Artist's sketches of some of the proposed residential, retail and office elements envisioned to occupy acreage surrounding The Bushnell Center for Performing Arts. At right, a proposed open-air public plaza would replace parking spaces. R E N D E R I N G S | C O N T R I B U T E D

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