PROPOSED: AI Tech Center

[DanielW]

Oh, now you've done it. You went and opened up a can of worms.

[proceeds to open said can]

I see you are doing your homework as usual. I do have problems with some of your assumptions, though. For instance, LEED NC 2.2, Indoor Environmental Quality Points 8.1 and 8.2 have something to say about your "cube".

http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=220

Dan Whittemore

AI Engineers, Inc.

[The Voice of Reason]

That section refers to natural light so I am assuming that means even smaller floor plates because cubicles without direct view of the outdoors keep you from getting the point. or points if you are after 90% Not knowing what level of LEEDs you would be going after... I can only assume gold, because I think Platinum would need to be next to the train station, but I am not really familiar with LEEDs standards. I might get my read on one night from that link you provided however.

I want to just say that I am psyched that you guys are doing something there, but that location to me would be a great one for residential. Any chance you can get a few million from the city to build say 200 residential units on a 2nd tower? at .55 acres you can definately fit two towers on site.

A residential tower at around 90'X132' then a smaller say 10 floor office tower at say 72'X132' fronting the street with southern exposure and maximum visability for you.

Just a dream.

[The Voice of Reason]

SURVEYOR

[Chessplayer]

It's certainly an interesting building. I'll reserve judgement and wait for the new rendering, but it would be a shame if what is to be built here is less than great.

[T52]

It's certainly an interesting building. I'll reserve judgement and wait for the new rendering, but it would be a shame if what is to be built here is less than great.

One of the interesting things about that building is that the construction technique used was lift slab - banned in this State after the collapse of L'Ambiance Plaza. In the late 70's I worked for an architectural firm in there.

[DanielW]

I want to just say that I am psyched that you guys are doing something there, but that location to me would be a great one for residential. Any chance you can get a few million from the city to build say 200 residential units on a 2nd tower? at .55 acres you can definately fit two towers on site.

A residential tower at around 90'X132' then a smaller say 10 floor office tower at say 72'X132' fronting the street with southern exposure and maximum visability for you.

Duly noted.

SURVEYOR

Now what are THEY doing out there, I wonder?

It's certainly an interesting building. I'll reserve judgement and wait for the new rendering, but it would be a shame if what is to be built here is less than great.

We will try our best.

[Chessplayer]

One of the interesting things about that building is that the construction technique used was lift slab - banned in this State after the collapse of L'Ambiance Plaza. In the late 70's I worked for an architectural firm in there.

Do you know anything else about the construction and design of the building? Modernism is a difficult style to understand and appreciate, but I always find that when it's explained there's much more creativity and rigor than meets the eye.

We will try our best.

Everything presented so far has given reason for optimism.

[MichaelQReilly]

Man, that building is truly grotesquely ugly. One of the many buildings built post war that makes you wonder, "Were the architects secretly having a contest to try and design the most hideous buildings possible?"

[The Voice of Reason]

http://www.courant.com/business/hcu-virtus...0,5798138.story

Phoenix said Thursday it is finalizing a lease for Phoenix Investment Partners in downtown Hartford but wouldn't identify the building.

Joe Fazzino, a company spokesman, said Phoenix Investment Partners is seeking 30,000 to 40,000 square feet of space and that Virtus will have about 140 employees downtown. The employees are expected to occupy the new location within six to eight months, he said.

Dave,

If you have nothing to do with this, I would contact them, let them know your plans quickly, then tell them to negotiate a short term lease innitially that would end when your building would be finished.

I would have PM'd this to you but your PMs are disabled.

Cheers!

[JayCT]

Man, that building is truly grotesquely ugly. One of the many buildings built post war that makes you wonder, "Were the architects secretly having a contest to try and design the most hideous buildings possible?"

I find Broadcast House to be kind of neat with its zig zag canopy and roof line. Very 1960's and almost kind of a Jetson look. Of course it could use a renovation but from what I have read here it is more likely that it will be demolished.

As a former student of historic preservation, I will remind you that most old buildings are thought of as "hideous" at one time. There is a period in every building's life where it is looked down on as being so out-of-style (usually when the building is around 30 years old until it is about 60 year and it is starting to be thought of as historic). After a while that changes and people look back and realize that the building is pretty nice. Unfortunately, all of Constitution Plaza is in that 30 to 60 year period. Jay

[The Voice of Reason]

I find Broadcast House to be kind of neat with its zig zag canopy and roof line. Very 1960's and almost kind of a Jetson look. Of course it could use a renovation but from what I have read here it is more likely that it will be demolished.

As a former student of historic preservation, I will remind you that most old buildings are thought of as "hideous" at one time. There is a period in every building's life where it is looked down on as being so out-of-style (usually when the building is around 30 years old until it is about 60 year and it is starting to be thought of as historic). After a while that changes and people look back and realize that the building is pretty nice. Unfortunately, all of Constitution Plaza is in that 30 to 60 year period. Jay

What you say may generally be true, I have a hard time beliving that very many of the concrete buildings from the era of the plaza will ever be looked at fondly by the greater populous.

The 60s and 70s were a time when a lot of junk was mass produced in construction. While I like the funkyness of broadcast house, I do not see it worth preserving in any way for asthetic, historical, or even sentimental reasons. Poor design is poor design. Buildings like this were not built with human use and comfort at their core. Just look at Bushnell plaza. just a horrible place. Sure it had a big name architect, but the design was more for the sake of design than ultimately for living in and shopping at.

just my opinion

[T52]

What you say may generally be true, I have a hard time beliving that very many of the concrete buildings from the era of the plaza will ever be looked at fondly by the greater populous.

the 60s and 70s were a time when a lot of junk was pass produced in construction. and while I like the funkyness of broadcast house, I do not see it worth preserving in any way for asthetic historical, or even sentimental reasons. poor design is poor design. building like this were not built with human use and comford at their core. Just look at Bushnell plaza. just a horrible place. sure it had a big name architect, but the design was more for the sake of design than ultimately for living in and shopping at.

just my opinion

In design, there is function and there is form. On the form side there is is the building shape and then there is the gingerbread which is like the little pagoda roof and ornamentation that people associate with buildings like Broadcast House. Actually, there is often more in common with the core of buildings than many people imagine. Column spacing, floor to floor height and live load capacity of the floor often dictate the potential use (or re-use) of a building. In downtown buildings, the shape of the site usually dictates most of the footprint of the building. Many times some efficiency is lost in a building conversion but at a cost savings over complete demolition and re-construction. That having been said, the "ugly buildings" in that 30-60 year timeframe are often re-skinned into a more contemporary architectural style only to be de-skinned and returned to their original look 30 years later. Even the "Butt Ugly" building is a potential gem in the rough. Given the current state of the economy, I'd be inclined to take a second look at re-cycling a building like the Broadcast House.

As for Bushnell Towers, I worked with that architect on a different project and found him to be incredibly gifted. Don't under-estimate the developer's role in the process...

[MichaelQReilly]

I find Broadcast House to be kind of neat with its zig zag canopy and roof line. Very 1960's and almost kind of a Jetson look. Of course it could use a renovation but from what I have read here it is more likely that it will be demolished.

As a former student of historic preservation, I will remind you that most old buildings are thought of as "hideous" at one time. There is a period in every building's life where it is looked down on as being so out-of-style (usually when the building is around 30 years old until it is about 60 year and it is starting to be thought of as historic). After a while that changes and people look back and realize that the building is pretty nice. Unfortunately, all of Constitution Plaza is in that 30 to 60 year period. Jay

I agree with you for the most part Jay, and I've debated this extensively in other places. That said, there is a certain strain of architecture, starting with Bauhaus (sp), continuing through Brutalism, and alive and well today with the likes of Liebeskind and Gehery that pretty much rejects everything we know about what makes a good building, holds up the cutting edge as a singular measure of a building's worth, as is pretty much actively hostile (intentionally or not) toward its surrounding and its users. Imho, there is a special place in hell for the architects that foisted crap like Boston's city hall upon a town and destroyed a perfectly functional mixed use neighborhood in the process.

[The Voice of Reason]

In design, there is function and there is form. On the form side there is is the building shape and then there is the gingerbread which is like the little pagoda roof and ornamentation that people associate with buildings like Broadcast House. Actually, there is often more in common with the core of buildings than many people imagine. Column spacing, floor to floor height and live load capacity of the floor often dictate the potential use (or re-use) of a building. In downtown buildings, the shape of the site usually dictates most of the footprint of the building. Many times some efficiency is lost in a building conversion but at a cost savings over complete demolition and re-construction. That having been said, the "ugly buildings" in that 30-60 year timeframe are often re-skinned into a more contemporary architectural style only to be de-skinned and returned to their original look 30 years later. Even the "Butt Ugly" building is a potential gem in the rough. Given the current state of the economy, I'd be inclined to take a second look at re-cycling a building like the Broadcast House.

As for Bushnell Towers, I worked with that architect on a different project and found him to be incredibly gifted. Don't under-estimate the developer's role in the process...

I feel the same about "Butt Ugly" was thinking about that just the other day while stopped at that light facing the building.

And yeah I have nothing against I.M Pei, just that specific building and its non tower aspects. lets face it the tower is fine, its the plaza and interaction with the street I hate. I only wrote what I did because people love to defend that development and even fawn over it simply due to Pei's involvement. My perspective is that no matter who worked on it, parts of the development are not succcessful. you can blame it on the era it was built vs the current interests of city dwellers, or Blame the developer in this case. Because the design was much better than what was built, and if built to its full scale there would have been a much better product. Isn't it always about the money in the end?

I actually quite like the Bank of China tower. Its really one of my favorite skyscrapers in terms of concept and asthetics. Not to mention the engineering aspects of that building would surely blow my mind.

Another favorite is the John Handcock in Boston. Best reflection ever...

but I digress.

[T52]

I actually quite like the Bank of China tower. Its really one of my favorite skyscrapers in terms of concept and asthetics. Not to mention the engineering aspects of that building would surely blow my mind.

Leslie Robertson of Twin Towers fame did the engineering on the Bank of China ... another pretty talented designer

[beerbeer]

I have a question.

Mixed use is a concept that is widely used that been ignored in Hartford. The idea of lower floors being office space and the upper floors being apartments. I worked in one of the most famous of these type buildings, the John Hancock Building in Chicago. The original plans for the Cutter Tower was as a mixed use building. Mixed use doesn't have to be a tall tower just big enough for the apartments or condos to make financial sense.

Broadcast House would seem to be a perfect location for mixed use. Living on the upper floors would provide great city views in every direction. Walk to the river park, walk to work, restaurants etc.

Has any consideration been give to a mixed use building?

[The Voice of Reason]

I am going to post this here because it is relevent and because David W should see it.

Commercial Investment Real Estate Magazine

Office optimism

http://www.ciremagazine.com/article.php?article_id=1277

top 10 markets for forecasted office rent growth

Hartford ranks 9th

[DanielW]

I am going to post this here because it is relevent and because David W should see it.

Commercial Investment Real Estate Magazine

Office optimism

http://www.ciremagazine.com/article.php?article_id=1277

top 10 markets for forecasted office rent growth

Hartford ranks 9th

Very interesting, indeed --- thanks for the heads up!

DAN (not Dave!) Whittemore

AI Engineers, Inc.

[The Voice of Reason]

Very interesting, indeed --- thanks for the heads up!

DAN (not Dave!) Whittemore

AI Engineers, Inc.

appologies...

my memory can be "special" some times

[JayCT]

I am going to post this here because it is relevent and because David W should see it.

Commercial Investment Real Estate Magazine

Office optimism

http://www.ciremagazine.com/article.php?article_id=1277

top 10 markets for forecasted office rent growth

Hartford ranks 9th

Hartford in the top 10? Wow.

Saw in todays current that the deal went through and Merideth sold Broadcast House. Listed at $700k. can't wait to see what goes there. Jay

[The Voice of Reason]

DW,

any word on how the current liquidity shortage might affect your plans?

I would love to hear about a viable project making progress during the down market. If anything gets built during the bad times it bodes quite well for things around here after a recovery begins.

since your project is not market driven, I fugure this should still have some legs.

[DanielW]

VoiceOfReason et al--

All I can say right now is that our project moves forward. We are very, VERY close to letting you all know what we've got coming up - if all goes according to plan, its going to be hard to NOT to see what we're up to. As I have stated in the past, it has been very hard to not let my friends here know what has been going on with us but, well, it had to be done. This phase is almost over, you have my word!

No, I can't say much more regarding the project right now (so don't ask!), but I think you'll be pleased with the results. Hopefully doubly so. As usual, I continue to use you all as my daily quick window into what is going on in downtown Hartford - you continue to be a great resource as usual.

I will say - I and others from my organization are going to be hitting the streets very soon (I personally already have a speaking event scheduled in the not-too-distant future), and I look forward to actually meeting some of you out in the real world!

Dan Whittemore

AI Engineers, Inc.

[The Voice of Reason]

VoiceOfReason et al--

All I can say right now is that our project moves forward. We are very, VERY close to letting you all know what we've got coming up - if all goes according to plan, its going to be hard to NOT to see what we're up to. As I have stated in the past, it has been very hard to not let my friends here know what has been going on with us but, well, it had to be done. This phase is almost over, you have my word!

No, I can't say much more regarding the project right now (so don't ask!), but as I have stated in the past, you all should be pleased. Hopefully doubly so. As usual, I continue to use you all as my daily quick window into what is going on in downtown Hartford - you continue to be a great resource as usual.

I will say - I and others from my organization are going to be hitting the streets very soon (I personally already have a speaking event scheduled in the not-too-distant future), and I look forward to actually meeting some of you out in the real world!

Dan Whittemore

AI Engineers, Inc.

Thanks for the fast reply DW!

looking forward to the news.

And seriously, any time you are in Hartford I will try and meet ya for a beer. I am busy as hell, but have been known to make time for a beer. just post here and we will see.

[MadVlad]

VoiceOfReason et al--

No, I can't say much more regarding the project right now (so don't ask!), but as I have stated in the past, you all should be pleased. Hopefully doubly so.

So, will we be 5 floors pleased, 11 floors pleased, or 18 floors pleased?

[ConnMan]

"No, I can't say much more regarding the project right now (so don't ask!), but I think you'll be pleased with the results. Hopefully doubly so. "

Dan Whittemore

AI Engineers, Inc.

Two buildings?!?