Hartford Business Journal

16 Hartford Business Journal • July 24, 2017 www.HartfordBusiness.com from page 1 Mixed views on the downtown district's parking downtown patrons can relax with a sand- wich, salad or espresso latte, or use free Wi-Fi and charging stations to phone-chat or surf online, says proprietor Abner Kurtin. To further entice UConn's faithful, Nixs will open with a 15-percent discount for all Husky students and is joining other Connecticut res- taurants and entertainment venues in pursu- ing approval to accept "Husky Bucks'' — the school's cashless debit card for meals and other retail purchases. "We are excited about UConn opening and serving their community," Kurtin said. "We hope this will bring Front Street the long-awaited foot traffic that will help boost local retailers." Nixs is among a raft of downtown Hart- ford retailers, restaurants, apartment land- lords and operators of public and cultural venues in the center city eagerly anticipating UConn's opening. The impending influx of thousands of new potential customers daily — a single shot in downtown Hartford's arm not seen in generations — is coaxing many nearby venues to retool or makeover their busi- nesses, particularly as they seek to cater to a younger college crowd. Some commercial establishments in and around Front Street are ramping up their interior-exterior decors, food and drink menus, adding specials and operating hours, among other lures. Even the budget-strapped state, via its CTtransit unit, is extending to UConn-Hart- ford pupils its offer of discounted bus rides to and from school. First developed in phases, beginning in the late 1990s, UConn's arrival to Front Street may finally make it the retail-enter- tainment hub the city and the state envi- sioned with the Adriaen's Landing develop- ment, observers say. Farmington entertainment entrepreneur Dan Hincks, owner of Infinity Music Hall & Bistro in the Front Street district, says the potential benefit to the district and to Hart- ford's image is being underestimated. Hincks said with Trinity College coming downtown later this year, and University of St. Joseph eyeing expansion of its downtown presence, and University of Hartford mulling something similar, the stage is set for Hartford to become a regional entertainment destination. "This is a major bright spot. UConn's taken the lead here,'' Hincks said. "But I think the area is going to grow over time. The other colleges will have a stronger presence in town. It's going to make for a more vibrant Hartford after hours.'' Hincks added, "There's going to be a lot of pressure for UConn to grow [downtown]. Students are going to want to come here. I wouldn't be surprised if in five years the [down- town] student population hasn't doubled.'' Despite the optimism, some merchants cite lingering concerns, like whether parking is sufficient for UConn as well as the thousands of weekday commuters into the Capital City. Gearing up Hartford's downtown apartment land- lords have begun pitching the quality, loca- tion and pricing of their living spaces to pro- spective UConn residents. Front Street developer HB Nitkin Group of Greenwich is advertising through UCo- nn's student-housing services the avail- ability of units in its two-year-old, 121-unit Front Street Lofts luxury apartment build- ing next door to UConn's campus building on Prospect Street, the former Hartford Times building, said HB Nitkin Director of Devel- opment and Acquisitions Peter Christian. Nitkin also is actively leasing the ground- floor retail in UConn's building, Christian said. Meantime, the Barnes & Noble bookstore/Star- bucks coffee shop on the Lofts' ground floor opens in mid-August. Spotlight Theatres, too, is gearing up to serve students' needs — both for classroom study and when time comes to wind down. Spotlight, along with The Atheneum and the Hartford Public Library, has agreed to share with UConn some of its space, as needed, for classes and lectures. UConn officials admit that, aside from saving money and adding more teaching space, pupils and instructors shuttling between downtown buildings will encour- age them to visit and trade with center-city merchants. "Our goal is to stay current and provide what our customers need,'' said Trina Gallo, Spotlight Theatres' Hartford general man- ager. "We saw a way to be more than just a movie theater.'' Spotlight's four cinema rooms, all equipped with stadium seating, currently are the host venue for UConn-Hartford's orientations for about 600 incoming pupils, Gallo said. The theater, which features a bar and sit-down restaurant, is conducting some renovations, like new flooring and plug-in outlets for electronics, and furniture that can be easily moved and arranged to accom- modate large groups, she said. Spotlight also awaits the university's approval to accept Husky Bucks. During UConn football and basketball seasons, all televised games will be shown free inside the theater, and open to the general public, Gallo said. Spotlight's airing the last three seasons of ESPN's "Monday Night Football'' games on its big screens has been a hit. Next door, the 25-table Ted's Montana Grill, too, is pursuing UConn's approval to accept Husky Bucks, said Anthony Raucci, proprietor of the Hartford location for the steakhouse chain owned by media mogul Ted Turner. Raucci, a food-service veteran, says he was hired specifically to get Ted's Hartford location ready for UConn's grand downtown entrance. Ted's biggest challenge, he said, will be its $15 to $16 average lunch menu. Recently, Hartford hosted the annual ConnectiCon pop-culture gathering at the Connecticut Convention Center across Columbus Boulevard from Front Street. Raucci said he watched some ConnectiCon participants walk into Ted's, take one look at the menu prices and walk out. Adequate parking is another concern, Raucci said. "I think we're going to have a parking situation with the garage,'' he said of the attached Front Street parking facility just steps from Ted's, and a second nearby public parking garage. Managing parking Parking should not be a problem for UConn parkers and other Front Street visi- tors, said Michael Freimuth, who heads the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), whose quasi-public predecessor provided funding to create Front Street and the Connecticut Convention Center. Fre- imuth said CRDA has "been diligently work- ing on the parking situation.'' Freimuth says Front Street's two public garages, built to serve its restaurants and entertainment venues, have plenty of vacan- cy most days, and certainly on evenings and weekends. Indeed, he says barely half the Convention Center garage's 2,600 indoor and surface spaces are full on days when no major events are scheduled. If necessary, the Convention Center spaces, plus parking at the nearby Connecti- cut Science Center could take up the slack, Freimuth said. Counting the garages at the (Clockwise) Qdoba Mexican Eats restaurant district manager Jeff Badger; views of UConn's downtown building and Front Street.

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