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1980s Proposed Skyline


beerbeer

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It a look at the proposed hartford skyline of the 80's.  But the files are a mess.  Any geniuses out there?

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:E8wgF...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

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We can post them. They are just to big. Oh well. I saw these when they were posted on SSP. I can't stress enough how much I wish thes buildings were real and not just proposed dreams never come true.

HartfordCourant3.jpg

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I've seen that before, but it never ceases to amaze me. What could have been...

By the way, the surface lot in the lower right corner of the screen also had a 700ft tower(Metro Center II) proposed at about the same time these towers were proposed.

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I love the design of the Cutter Financial Center. Its a shame it was never built... its look is so Hartford... from the red brick to the classic white details to the gold leaf dome. Its beautiful. I still wish someone would ressurrect this design. Its too good to waste.

The entire block where the Cutter was going to go was cleared out around 1990 and remined empty until recent development. The Cutter was going to be the tallest building in New England and the tallest brick building in the world. There was going to be retail at street level and office space about 2/3 up the building. The top third was going to be condos.

The Cutter Financial Center, Society for Savings Tower, 180 Allyn and Metro Center II all made it to the demolition stage when the real estate market crashed and all projects died. The timing couldn't have been worse. We are still left with the scars of these demolitions in the form of surface parking lots today.

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I love the design of the Cutter Financial Center. Its a shame it was never built... its look is so Hartford... from the red brick to the classic white details  to the gold leaf dome. Its beautiful. I still wish someone would ressurrect this design. Its too good to waste.

The entire block where the Cutter was going to go was cleared out around 1990 and remined empty until recent development. The Cutter was going to be the tallest building in New England and the tallest brick building in the world. There was going to be retail at street level and office space about 2/3 up the building. The top third was going to be condos.

The Cutter Financial Center, Society for Savings Tower, 180 Allyn and Metro Center II all made it to the demolition stage when the real estate market crashed and all projects died. The timing couldn't have been worse. We are still left with the scars of these demolitions in the form of surface parking lots today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree those building look very Hartford and reflect what we should look like today. It definately time to start healing the "scars." Trumbull on the Park is a nice little stitch for the time being.

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Makes you wonder what if.... It really amazes that the downturn was so stark. All that office space probably would have doubled the capacity in the city, and mere years later there was(is?) a ton to spare. Anyone know the exact reason for the economic plummet? I know Colonial Realty had something to do with some of it, but what were the other factors involved?

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  • 3 months later...

sorry to revive the oldest thread in the entire Hartford subforum, but looking over those old Courant clippings again made me think of what the city of Albany, NY has done...

The similarity/repetition type skyscrapers reminded me of Albany's new(ish) skyline

What couldve been.....

load.jpg

load2.jpg

What is in Albany.....

NYLA_Albany_Skyline.jpg

skyline_big.jpg

skyline1.jpg

Too bad...sure looks nice there

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I'd hate to sound like the devil's advocate in this thread, but besides Cutter I'm glad these structures weren't built. I've said it before, but such monumental office projects would only have reinforced Hartford as a suitcase city, and besides the Cutter project the others are not in any way original (they can be found in Minneapolis, Des Moines, Atlanta...every secondary/tertiary city in the country in fact).

Now we have the unique opportunity to create a truly livable city, a greener city, and ultimately a better city. I agree that some Cutter-like structure would be a great addition to the city, but the others belong where they're buried...in the 80s.

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I've said it before, but such monumental office projects would only have reinforced Hartford as a suitcase city, and besides the Cutter project the others are not in any way original (they can be found in Minneapolis, Des Moines, Atlanta...every secondary/tertiary city in the country in fact).

I disagree with your point to the extent that these proposals for Hartford were from the late '80s. I lived in Hartford at the time and, as a matter of fact, I am Darrell on SSP and SSP and originally posted these on SSP and SSC (see link). I kept the 1988 Hartford Courant from which this post is derived.

These projects were original at that time. The buildings in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Des Moines that may resemble these projects were all built since. I imagine that perhaps the same architechts that designed these Hartford proposals built similar buildings in other cities once the Hartford projects were cancelled.

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Dealing with 1980's construction proposals I for one am a person who is all for building anything in Hartford. If these buildings had been built though they could be sitting with large vacancies because of the lack of offices in Hartford. These buildings could be sitting like the Stilts Building which is home to some very well known companies including FOX 61 News but sits with a lot of vacant office space. Sure it looks great on the outside and inside but there is no way that building is going anywhere or going to be converted into something because it is already functioning as something (even if its not doing that well at it).

There is a lot of competition in the Hartford suburbs for business so Hartford should try to keep the companies it has and attract to ones to office spaces it already has, many of which are very nice spaces and properties such as City Place I &2, Goodwin Square, Constitution Plaza, etc.

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  • 3 months later...

Makes you wonder what if.... It really amazes that the downturn was so stark. All that office space probably would have doubled the capacity in the city, and mere years later there was(is?) a ton to spare. Anyone know the exact reason for the economic plummet? I know Colonial Realty had something to do with some of it, but what were the other factors involved?

Hartford's skyline is impreesive now, can you imagine if these buildings where built?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had the chance to read some old hartford business journals from the 1980's, and the building boom would have gone south of busnell park on the empty parking lots there with MONY planning a 25 story appt/condo tower with up to another 3 to follow. add cutter, 180 allyn, society center, rennasance place - when it was to be located on main st - and world trade center - all of which made it to the demo phase and had tennets, and we would be sitting in an entirely different city. cutter had 67 of its 120 condos reserved before it had broken ground. It could be argued the office space might now be empty, but if they had been built, companies that were purchased and consolidated, instead of those jobs leaving CT, operations could have been consolidated here spurring demand for more office space and improving the overall diversity of the city's economic base, which would also had given us lower taxes. all of these buildings were done deals, but it all when to pot with the real estate bubble popping.

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I had the chance to read some old hartford business journals from the 1980's, and the building boom would have gone south of busnell park on the empty parking lots there with MONY planning a 25 story appt/condo tower with up to another 3 to follow. add cutter, 180 allyn, society center, rennasance place - when it was to be located on main st - and world trade center - all of which made it to the demo phase and had tennets, and we would be sitting in an entirely different city. cutter had 67 of its 120 condos reserved before it had broken ground. It could be argued the office space might now be empty, but if they had been built, companies that were purchased and consolidated, instead of those jobs leaving CT, operations could have been consolidated here spurring demand for more office space and improving the overall diversity of the city's economic base, which would also had given us lower taxes. all of these buildings were done deals, but it all when to pot with the real estate bubble popping.

Yeah ... it's terrible how close Hartford was to really taking off. Now, it's more of an afterthought in peoples' minds.... We probably could've seen it gain the reputation that Charlotte has, perhaps a much greater one.

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I remember how the excavation started for 180 Allyn and the Cutter Center. Everyone was so excited - especially for the Cutter Center. And Pelli's Society for Savings Center lot was cleared as well. Lafayette Center was in the works along Trumbull St north of Main - Linden Arms southwest of Bushnell Park - 1000 Main St, across Talcott from the G Fox Building - World Trade Center - Metro Center - Park Place Towers, which originally planned for 3 towers and a hotel. Park Place Towers were going to develop an entire neighborhood between Pope Park and I-84. There was so much going on. The stock market couldn't have crashed at a worse time. Investors got skittish, and only Goodwin Square and half of the Park Place Towers complex were built.

If you go to Pratt St, you can see the bricks in the sidewalk that the developers bought for 180 Allyn St. The bricks form a black arrow pointing west and inside the arrow, the bricks read "180 Allyn St. 1 Block"

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