Typical Dream scenerio thread...

[The Voice of Reason]

Its dreaming time.

I was talkin with the wife about the lotto ticket I bought yesterday and you know what I would do with the money. always a good time that leads to depression

After taxes and the lump sum Id have about 50 million, and thats plenty to change the face of hartford. I am not sure about all the numbers, but let me tell you there are a few things I know I would want to do first and then once the easy choices are made it gets more difficult.

1st and foremost Id talk to the city about 95-101 and 111 Pearl.

I would make these two buildings into one apartment building. It would be Apartments so I could re-develop them in 20 years after downtown is thriving maybe into a bigger better condo type thing... but basicly just making sure they are contributing buildings . I figure that the renovations might cost as much as 20 million since before the bubble it was gonna cost 17.5M to fix up 101. As a rule I would never borrow more than half either, because I doubt banks would be happy for one and i am not looking to loose everything and be a sad lotto story. and yes i know its totally a dream.

I would put a resturant/bar into the corner retail as an anchor of street activity. Back then, Kenny wanted to put 120 studios into the one building, Mouta won the bid for 26 fancy apratments. Add in the smaller building on the corner(111) and I see no reason why 150 apartments couldnt come out of those buildings with a mix of studion 1 beds, and a couple 2 beds.

As that gets going I would try and buy 55 on the park as well as the Max group HQ building, the AT&T parking lot, and possibly the AT&T building. while working with Theaterworks

I would start the process of developing that whole area while keeping all existing buildings and enhancing theaterworks. this would be condos along the park in 1 building, and right next to the blank wall of AT&T there would be apartments leading towards the theater community artists, and possibly patrons of the arts who want that vibe. This would be my big long term project that would take quite some time to pull off. I would put another bar/resturant in the retail of the Max group building next to theaterworks again to help anchor the street activity, as well as a coffe roaster/shop on the park. (owning my own resturants/bars and coffee shop would be part of my strategy to help downtown)

I am guessing the total project would be in the 100 million dollar range, but the good thing is that 55 on the park would be an income producer right away to go with the 101-111 pearl apartments. so those 150-200 apartments would help finance the building of the condos along the park, and as those uits sold, capital would be freed up to develop the Theater community apartments,

The financial strain wouldnt be too overwhelming and I think it would be totally doable if you concider that much of the money tied up would be freed by the condo sales, and since the debt load would be relatively small on the apartments, net profits would be strong and I would be able to afford to tie up much of the monies in construction for a long time.

there would be other things I would do right off the bat to entertain myself and the city, like create an events development not for profit company. This would basically be an organization where my wife and I would develop and nurture events in downtown Hartford. these events would be in the same image as "pipes in the valley" and this organization would be certain to keep the same events coming back year after year in order to continue to develop tradition. a winter fest in the park for example, an October fest, pretty much anything that we would want to do to entertain ourselves and to bring people downtown. a key part of it would be working with local businesses to co-ordinate promotions and well that they are open.

that would tie me up for 5 years I figure.

So if I were able to add in 150 apartments on Pearl and build from scratch 100+ theater people apartments, the 150+ condos.....

the area around the pearl/Trumbull corner would be supporting 682 housing units!!!! 282(current) 400(imaginary) ~900+ people

this would make a currently dense part of downtown downright vibrant, and would bring so much more life to the park and pearl streets. I also feel as though this would help bring life to Lewis Street. Ann Street would be improved and have some additional retail/ life on it, but it would be pretty damn far from the most active parts near Allyn. but everything helps, and someday this will be a major street for pedestrians to and from the park. whenever goodwin is back in use it will further enliven this place.

oh and Id make my long term goal to get the rock cats to take up residence in the N end of downtown near the ashes of Butt ugly in order to bring 70 dates of activity to downtown at a minimal investment(minor league stadiums are kinda cheap)

thats all

all just in fun and would likely change if I won tomorrow

[MadVlad]

You can't buy the AT&T building, it's vital to their operations in the State.

[The Voice of Reason]

You can't buy the AT&T building, it's vital to their operations in the State.

well, they can keep their ops there, my plan actually might be a land lease more than a purchase. its just that I want to sandwich right next to it. they can keep working the whole time, and their big fancy underground lair would also be protected, but the space above would be used for something productive. besides, that building is zoned and designed for an additional 12 stories(something I would concider constructing after my first 5 years of dream world)