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UConn moving West Hartford campus to city


beerbeer

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Regardless of all the back and fourth, this should be a good thing for the city

 

I mean if it is built at all like the one in Waterbury it will be a positive

also, wondering if the proximity to the Hartford library could be used to some kind of advantage.  making some partnership there would be a good thing

 

anyways, a reminder of the UConn waterbury campus design... very street friendly.  should have retail in it, but hey its not bad

 

UConnWaterbury%20550x165.jpg

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I think the Hartford branch at the times site will do much more for Hartford than Waterbury's campus has done for that city.  I think putting it right in an entertainment district will bode well for attracting students and factulty to actually patronize the area establishments.  I agree that the Hartford Public Library should strive for some sort of partnership with UConn.  I'm also pretty happy that an institution of substance will be using the times facade.  It's so iconic that it truly does deserve to be part of something as vital as a major university. 

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  • 4 months later...

Imagine this.......

 

The University of Connecticut expects the old Hartford Times building will be the cornerstone of its downtown Hartford campus, but the university isn't stopping there. UConn President Susan Herbst said Friday that the university has approached the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Hartford Public Library, the Convention Center and other venues about how it might share space with the university.

 

"There could be a lecture at Infinity Hall. The Science Center has labs." Herbst said. "These are the kinds of things we are thinking about."

 

Herbst's comments came after her keynote speech at CBRE/NE's annual commercial real estate market outlook in downtown Hartford.

 

Herbst said UConn is committed to establishing the campus in downtown Hartford, but the university also does not want to overbuild in its renovation of the Times building if nearby space is already available.

 

The Infinity Hall space in the Front Street entertainment district just to east is one example. The space won't be used before 3 p.m., Herbst said.

"You could have 'Intro to American Politics' there at 9," Herbst said.

 

Incorporating other locations into the downtown campus will achieve another objective: getting students out of the building and walking around.

"The last thing we want is some kind of self-contained academic vault with a population that never ventures outside the walls, except to arrive in the morning and leave in the evening," Herbst told those gathered at the market outlook conference. She added, "We want students integrated into the neighborhood and part of street traffic."

 

http://www.courant.com/business/real-estate/hc-herbst-hartford-campus-20140117,0,4594473.story

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Imagine this.......

 

The University of Connecticut expects the old Hartford Times building will be the cornerstone of its downtown Hartford campus, but the university isn't stopping there. UConn President Susan Herbst said Friday that the university has approached the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Hartford Public Library, the Convention Center and other venues about how it might share space with the university.

 

"There could be a lecture at Infinity Hall. The Science Center has labs." Herbst said. "These are the kinds of things we are thinking about."

 

Herbst's comments came after her keynote speech at CBRE/NE's annual commercial real estate market outlook in downtown Hartford.

 

Herbst said UConn is committed to establishing the campus in downtown Hartford, but the university also does not want to overbuild in its renovation of the Times building if nearby space is already available.

 

The Infinity Hall space in the Front Street entertainment district just to east is one example. The space won't be used before 3 p.m., Herbst said.

"You could have 'Intro to American Politics' there at 9," Herbst said.

 

Incorporating other locations into the downtown campus will achieve another objective: getting students out of the building and walking around.

"The last thing we want is some kind of self-contained academic vault with a population that never ventures outside the walls, except to arrive in the morning and leave in the evening," Herbst told those gathered at the market outlook conference. She added, "We want students integrated into the neighborhood and part of street traffic."

 

http://www.courant.com/business/real-estate/hc-herbst-hartford-campus-20140117,0,4594473.story

 

This is really encouraging to read. Making this area truly integrated between these multiple uses is going to really create a vibrant section of the city. This will demonstrate why the times building was a shrewd choice. The library and Wadsworth could benefit tremendously from partnership with UConn and I'm sure there will be opportunities to utilize other space at Front Street for academic use. Not to mention the positive impact this will have on housing in the area.

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good stuff all around!!

 

this could not only save Uconn money, but also increase the revenues at these other venues and help to make them more viable.

 

Id also like to see this force the area to be more pedestrian friendly  mainly meaning Colombus.  with students walking to the labs at the science center etc...

 

also, Id like to see the school create a hospitality degree and work with infinity hall, ccc, the mariott and the local eateries.   I mean literally all aspects of hospo are right downtown.

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  • 1 month later...

The site plan was an agenda item on the most recent CRDA board meeting

 

this is pretty eky stuff because it includes parking plans and such.  campus layout etc etc etc

 

 

I am thinking that at this point that the announcement of an interested party in that lot at the convention center was shockingly close to the meeting time, so I think UCONN might be the tennent interested in the location

 

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This is from a HBJ article when the contract was signed.  They had six months to come up with designs for the campus. 

 

The contract details a six-month timetable for Nitkin, working with Manhattan's Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) and a half dozen other consultants, to create design proposals and any other relevant details related to the proposed site redevelopment. UConn and Nitkin also will continue on a separate track toward executing a final development contract, officials said.

The clock began Tuesday, the day the AG's office signed off on the pact, UConn officials said. That means a formal design scheme for the Times Building site could emerge on or after March 9, 2014, said UConn's Master Planner and Chief Architect Laura Cruickshank.

 

The bold is mine.  UConn should be close to revealing their vision for the Times Building.

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Kind of a good point by McEnroe that I hadn't thought of (although I think they should still let UConn in):

 

http://courantblogs.com/colin-mcenroe/people-surprise-you/

 

Tax-exempt property is one of the things killing cities right now, and it’s time to open the books and take a second look at the whole system. In Hartford, roughly $1 billion in public monies went into Adriaen’s Landing, with the expectation that it would eventually spur tax-productive real estate development nearby. Now UConn wants to sit its tax-exempt butt down in the prime spot.

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Universities, I think should not need to pay taxes... the reason for this is indeed because generally they interact with the community and create huge economic positives by their very existance.

 

this of it this way.  If a university had to pay taxes on every capital improvement, would they invest in the new super high tech lab they have planned?

maybe not

 

it would force schools to act more like businesses and that I think would affect the quality and virtuous nature of higher education on the whole....

 

Churches... yup... make em pay

hospitals... MEhhh

I think hospitals have increasingly become for profit companies and therefore it make sense that some will go that route in state.

 

I dont think all should be forced to be paying taxes because some hospitals need to be NFP to sustain their mission.

this one will just play out with changes in the industry

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  • 1 month later...

Well this isn't good news. As much as its spun, it comes across as a cost savings measure and nothing else.

UConn downsizes plan for Hartford Times site

http://touch.courant.com/#section/2224/article/p2p-79985381/

 

I think you have to wait and see on this one. It is a reduced footprint but still a very significant building.  You know UConn has money , so if they want a smaller building it isn't because they can't afford a larger one.

 

UConn President Susan Herbst is very big on being integrated into the neighborhood.  Holding classes at Infinity, the Science Center and the Athenuem  is good for all those institutions. If she says the smaller building is proposed because they don't want to overwhelm the Times Building and it is more appropriate to the site, that's probably the thinking.  They are not reducing the faculty or student population, in fact , they are adding the business grad school population to the the Times Building.  It should be hopping.

 

It's a drag it will take so long to accomplish. But by fall 2017, there will be many more neighborhood  living options for the students. So that also makes sense.

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I don' think this is bad news at all. I hope it's indicative that negotiations with the other institutions are proving fruitful and that the potential for collaborative partnerships will be fully realized. We also still don't know any details about what's going on with the surface parking at the CCC. I think that there is no reason for pessimism for development at Front Street. All signs point to a really exciting level of positive momentum right now.

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Ted's opens soon

 

I think that places like Teds bring a bigger crowd to the area than Cap Grill, and bring them further into the complex.

 

the few hunderd people a day that will be going there will watch an apartment building be built right near by and also they will watch at two other venues are built out.

 

With Uconn planning on building a more engaging space I take that to mean that they will not be just plopping a rectangle office block off the bak of the times building and you will see more architectural freedoms taken on the smaller facility.

 

I am thrilled that parking is not going to be included because this means that students will park in garages and walk through a neighborhood to get to class.  this means more business for everyone.

 

I talked to a friend involved (the same one who told me 200 CP was out) and she is really excited because of the things she is hearing.  She said there will be more new programs designed to interact with the city.  this enhances the learning for the students because there is real work elements to the learning. 

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With Bear's Smoke House opening on Arch Street and Ted's Montana Grill scheduled to open on Front Street, within a block of each other, it could get interesting. Neither competes with Capitol Grill but they are certainly after the same consumer.  Sometimes this helps both places, sometimes they battle to the death.  Either way B-B-Q lovers will have a choice, at least for a while.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I can see it.

 

Much of the back of the building is disposable, so the liklihood is that they cut it as close as they can to the font, put in a nice atrium like they have at the MIT architecture and urban planning building (ill look it up and edit it in)   it was a nice space with an old building part, a class atrium then like a library for urban planning.

 

 

Something I had not seen before was 20K retail.  or if I did, I wasnt sure it was concrete, as in definately happening.

 

20K is a good amount and I am glad they went that route.  I mean it will absolutely help incorporate it into the district.

 

and renderings in 5 days..... Yes Please!

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Can't wait to see the renders. I have really come to believe that this will be an excellent location for them and if the city does build a new city hall, the old city hall would be a huge asset to facilitate future expansion of UConn and the Wadsworth. What is happening on Front St. is really exciting. I guess good things come to those who wait.

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It is official.

 

and now with renderings.

http://www.courant.com/business/real-estate/hc-uconn-downtown-hartford-campus-agreements-20140603,0,2618673.story

 

But the renderings are not that pretty. 

 

the first of 22 images is the front view which also has the new apartment in it to some degree. 

 

Its not like much will change from this angle because its the historic bit.  It seems that south side bit is a huge improvement over what is ther now.  so thats good, and will help with street interaction.  Overall, nothing astounding here at all.

 

#2 is from the South looking north  I see 2 large loading docks but also I see the retail component here.

not sure exactly whats up there but you can see the 3 story building in the foreground then a setback to the atrium and the taller building

 

#3 is From the north looking south.  I see a little more retail there up close to the hartford times, and what looks like a main entrance for the campus in the middle.  maybe another retail spot and then the base of the main building which seems like it may not have any retail in it on the N side.

 

#4 being the east side looking West.  the main building there again seems to have no retail, so its the main acedemic space.  the lower, 3 story section to the south again seems to have some retail.

 

 

Based on these 4 images, I am a little bothered by the retail components being furthest from the intersection inside front street.  I would kind of want at least something on each corner of the intersection, even if UCONN only put a small space there for a coffee shop or something.

 

the building is however nice looking in its official sense and matches up plenty with the area, but maybe matching is a bad thing.  who knows.

the size and scale are generally good.

 

anyone know what image 21 is?

it looks like a version of the facade with major work done to make it more pedestrian friendly.

 

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I'm no so concerned with appearance. Npt

Every building in a city needs to be a show stopper. Good cities are made up of cohesive blocks of functional buildings that interact well with the street and their surroundings. This pack of function and cohesion is one of the big things that has hurt and continues to hurt Hartford. This building is a big step in filling out the Front Street neighborhood in a solid functional way. That is all I need.

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