Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com July 24, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 17 Convention Center, Science Center, and the two Front Street garages, there are nearly 4,000 public-parking spaces available. "Not all UConn students come at the same time,'' Freimuth said. "The demand is spread over the day into the evening … and not all students are on campus every day.'' As for the CRDA's garages, "UConn park- ing, in essence, fills them and makes good on a major public investment already in place without repeating the endless practice and expense of more and more garages. … The trick today is to manage parking, not simply building more and more of it,'' Freimuth said. Any additional parking revenue CRDA collects from its Front Street garages goes not into CRDA coffers, but into the state's, to repay the bonds sold to finance their con- struction, Freimuth said. Hincks, the Infinity Music Hall owner, says the 800 or so spaces available in Trav- elers' adjoining parking garage, plus around 250 more in the Front Street garage that LAZ Parking manages, should be ample on Infinity's concert nights. Also, he said, the Convention Center park- ing is being reserved for UConn, relieving pressure most days on other parking venues. Fresh start Infinity, too, is eager to cash in on UCo- nn's downtown arrival. Starting in late August, when the campus opens, through yearend, Infinity will offer anyone affiliated with UConn a 17 percent discount on meals and drinks, Hincks said. Starting Sept. 1, anyone enrolled in a Connecticut college will get a 10 percent discount. Infinity also plans in August to change its name to "Infinity Craft Bar & Bistro," to reflect its new focus on craft beers, spir- its and cocktails, including one named "The UConn Howl,'' and to expand food- and-beverage operations, now limited only to concert days, from Wednesday through Sunday. His venue, too, is on the waitlist for UConn to review its application to accept Husky Bucks. In addition, Hincks says he expects to hire 15 more employees from among UCo- nn's downtown pupils, some of whom will be graduate students, as waitstaff, kitchen workers and bartenders, to handle the extra patron volume. Qdoba Mexican Eats also hopes to accept Husky Bucks just as it does the University of Hartford's "Hawk Cash'' for its breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, said Jeff Badger, district manager for Connecticut. On top of college pupils, Qdoba is cur- rently pilot-testing, Badger said, a concept in which worshipers who attend a monthly church service in one of Spotlight's cinema rooms, dine afterwards on a catered lunch at Qdoba. UConn and other local colleges could use its dining room for meetings and special occasions. "We've got a large space inside,'' Badger said, "so seating can be reconfigured for groups.'' n P H O T O S | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R Anthony Raucci, proprietor of Ted's Montana Grill, says enthusiasm for UConn's Front Street arrival is tempered by concerns over adequate parking. RECOGNIZING BUSINESSES & BUSINESS LEADERS WHO SUPPORT NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. NOMINATIONS ACCEPTED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 13 GO TO: WWW.HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/OUREVENTS EVENT SPONSOR:

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