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Bliss Market Backing out of Hartford 21


grock

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The way to measure progress is in five year chunks.

Look at the city in 2002 and now. There's no comparison in terms of population moving downtown and amenities springing up. It's cleaner, the park system along the river is expanding, the vibe is better. Hartford is on a very good trajectory. Same with 1997 and 2002. The loss of Bliss Market is meaningless in those terms.

The real problem is the permanent damage that Perez is doing. WFSB and MetLife and ING, those are serious. The culture of corruption in city government continues, there has been no progress there.

Hartford needs a mayor that understands the needs of businesses both large and small. So while I don't blame Eddie for all the cities ills, he is certain the biggest problem the city needs to fix.

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I know I'm not the only one who has concerns that Northland seems to have bitten off more than they can chew. I think it's great that they're so aggressive in Hartford, but I feel it's being counter produtive. I wish someone could find out what they're occupancy rate is for the apartments and their retail throughout the city. Based on my last visit (which was a while ago) and posts on this board it seems they're losing more tenants.

I have my doubts that Northland will run any store that goes in there, I'm sure they're actively looking for tenants and I hope they come up with a few who are interested. They're better off waiting for somoene to move in than to open one on their own, because if it fails who will want to move into that space?

Again I think it's great they're so bullish on Hartford, but there's a reason why other projects are shrinking or being delayed. I think Northland's at the point of no return, they have so many oars in the water they can't stop now. Their proposal for the tower on the park has gone silent leaving the Y building empty, which would have been better served staying open until concrete plans were in place. Now we have a large building casting a shadow over the park that serves no purpose.

Sorry this turned into a rant, but it's frustrating seeing so much progress downtown and some apparent momentum (partly due to Northland) just to have it slowed down by forcing out good tenats and an over abundance of retail and housing space open.

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As a regular at Bliss I can tell you that the Bliss Market in Wethersfield does a great business. People do not go to Bliss to do all their grocery shopping, people go there for prepared foods, cold cuts, meats and seafood and maybe to pick a few things on the way out. During a holdiay there are lines all over the place with people from all over waiting to pick up orders of food. Bliss has 2 Stop & Shops, Stew Leonards, a Big Y, a Price Chopper, a Shaws and West Side Market all within 10 minutes of it and it still does well.

Losing Bliss was a major hit to downtown and I cant help but wonder that Northland has a little bit of something to do with this loss. I continue to lose a little bit of faith every time another downtown business closes or relocates somewhere out of a Northland property and gain faith every time Northland brings in a new tenant...right now the score isnt very well. No Fish Today, the Husky Store and Beckers all closed and Crosskey Architects moved from Allyn Street near Agave into Union Station. Currently with all those closures Northland is only working on bringing a place called "The Tavern" to Allyn Street next to Agave...which looks great but can we get some more stores opening? Please...

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Northland is being very selective in the retail it is bringing in, sure they chased some tenants out, raised some rents but they have the finances to do that. They are looking at long term financial stability, not short term fixes. Patience is key in this one. I'm sure Northland has some master plan, you don't invest half a billion dollars without one...

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The way to measure progress is in five year chunks.

Look at the city in 2002 and now. There's no comparison in terms of population moving downtown and amenities springing up. It's cleaner, the park system along the river is expanding, the vibe is better. Hartford is on a very good trajectory. Same with 1997 and 2002. The loss of Bliss Market is meaningless in those terms.

The real problem is the permanent damage that Perez is doing. WFSB and MetLife and ING, those are serious. The culture of corruption in city government continues, there has been no progress there.

Hartford needs a mayor that understands the needs of businesses both large and small. So while I don't blame Eddie for all the cities ills, he is certain the biggest problem the city needs to fix.

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  • 1 month later...

Jaded cynic alert...

How long until this falls through?

http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews...hc_tab01_layout

Upscale Wine Shop Slated For Downtown

By JEFFREY B. COHEN {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} The Hartford Courant

12:56 PM EDT, October 24, 2007

An upscale wine shop has signed a lease to operate at the downtown apartment tower Hartford 21 and could open within the next two months, a spokesman for the project's developer said today.

Props to the folks at that wine store in State House Square - no clue how they stay open.

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