Wednesday the public gets the opportunity to express its thoughts about the redevelopment of Silver Lane. A public informational meeting will present the draft of the Redevelopment Plan for the Silver Lane Revitalization Area by Gorman + York, an East Hartford-based consultant, Wednesday, May 25 at 6:30 PM in Town Council Chambers. The meeting is both in person and remotely via Microsoft Teams.
The Silver Lane “Housing Market Study” recommends the town move to acquire Silver Lane Plaza, a former convalescent home at 51 Applegate Lane, 8 acres of farmland owned by the Futtner family, an abandoned, privately-owned ring road through wetlands behind the Silver Lane Post office, and repurpose the Charter Oak Mall as a high-density housing development.
Here is the link to the 88-page consultant’s report: https://www.easthartfordct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif526/f/uploads/ct_east_hartford_-_silver_lane_mdp_05_19_22.pdf
Gorman + York begins by explaining the redevelopment laws in Connecticut and looked back at the consultant report from Milone & MacBroom in 2018 which suggested some similar reuse and designs, including creation of a public park space along the southern side of Silver Lane at Rentschler Field on land owned by Raytheon Technologies.
The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission also just approved a change in zoning at Rentschler to light industrial use in anticipation of two giant warehouses proposed by National Development on the former aircraft runway. Town Development Director Eileen Buckheit wrote to state DECD Commmisioner David Lehman asking for the state to expand the existing Enterprise Zone in place since 1995 at Rentschler Field to encompass two key census tracts, the Pratt & Whitney property plus an area from Route 2 west of Main Street owned by Goodwin College to I-84 north of Silver Lane. That area includes the proposed, market-rate high-end Jasko apartment complex approved by the town for 16 acres it owns after acquiring and demolishing the former Showcase Cinemas complex in 2020 using $4.6 million in state DECD bond funds.
“To start this Redevelopment Plan Planning Process, a comprehensive review of prior planning exercises and documents focused on the Silver Lane corridor was conducted. This includes the efforts of the Town of East Hartford, beginning in 2016, when $3 million dollars was bonded for property acquisition and blight removal that resulted in the town’s purchase of the former Showcase Cinema site. The Cinema site is now an active application for the development of market-rate multi-family apartments. This is significant first step in the redevelopment of the Silver Lane corridor in both eliminating deteriorated conditions and attracting new investment. It is this new investment that makes this Redevelopment Plan so timely and important—the Town of East Hartford must support this new investment to ensure its success,” stated the Gorman + York consultants.
“In 2017, the Town secured a Brownfields Area Revitalization grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development to comprehensively plan for the revitalization of the Silver Lane corridor. The Silver Lane Revitalization Plan was completed and adopted in 2018 and included a comprehensive Market Assessment that was completed in 2017. The 2018 Revitalization Plan is comprehensive in scope and captures an area larger than the Silver Lane corridor (and Redevelopment Area), including portions of Main Street and residential neighborhoods south of Silver Lane. The Silver Lane Revitalization Plan was later adopted as an amendment to the Plan of Conservation and Development and is contained in Chapter 14 of the Plan of Conservation & Development. In 2020, the Capitol Region Council of Governments completed Silver Lane (SR 502) Corridor Study that focused on transportation and roadway improvements in area.”
The town used some of that BAR funding to hire consultants to redraw the flood maps for the Army Corps of Engineers, then used another portion to help clean up environmental contamination beneath the former Kahoots strip club so that it could be redeveloped as a Dunkin’ Donuts at Main and Pitkin streets.
Suspect ground contamination under the 5-Star Dry Cleaner in the Silver Lane Plaza, which was mentioned as the reason for a press conference held in the parking lot of Silver Lane Plaza with representatives of the federal EPA, was never identified. The Gazette was not successful in its request to obtain environmental testing or studies performed at Silver Lane Plaza.
“The 2018 Silver Lane Revitalization Plan and Chapter 14 amendment to the Plan of Conservation and Development provide the foundation for this Chapter 130 Redevelopment Plan. Building upon the analysis, public participation, vision, opportunity sites, and master plan completed in the 2018 Revitalization Plan. Therefore, this Chapter 130 Redevelopment Plan is viewed as an extension of the 2018 and Chapter 14 planning documents as an actionable strategy for the Town of East Hartford to proactively and intentionally intervene in the deteriorated and distressed property conditions within the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area,” states the Gorman + York Proposed Housing Plan.
“The following five pages of this Plan section provide conceptual developments from the 2018 Revitalization Plan of underutilized parcels in the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area that we believe provide a conceptual visualization of how these and other properties within the Redevelopment Area could be repositioned to compete for investment. The above properties are ranked in order of priority for acquisition.
“808-850 Silver Lane and 51 Applegate Lane, along with the “Ring Road” Driveway to the Charter Oak Mall, are the most deteriorated properties that pose threat to the general welfare. 711 Silver Lane is a willing seller, and 707 Silver Lane may add development value to 711 Silver Lane. 755 Silver Lane is a vacant lot and 934-940 will likely show signs of deterioration if new tenants are not secured,” reads the plan.
Consultant Milone & McBroom acknowledged that the Silver Lane commercial corridor’s economic viability was compromised when the highway exit ramps from I-84 at Forbes and Chester streets were eliminated, and the I-384 connection opened. Try as they might, East Hartford leaders have been unsuccessful in attempts to sway the state Dept. of Transportation to open an exit ramp off the nearby highway that would help reconnect Silver Lane to the flood of traffic that passes through East Hartford daily. It is a traffic safety concern, maintains the DOT. In a limited access highway, they claim there is not enough time for traffic to safely change lanes to get off at another exit in East Hartford.
So, business is so bad that even the panhandlers stopped showing up at the entrance to the Charter Oak Mall. The latest casualty of disinvestment was Stop & Shop closing their 72,000-square-foot grocery store in Charter Oak Mall on January 6, 2022. The few remaining businesses left behind are struggling. Santander Bank now is just an ATM, Burlington Coat Factory halved the interior of its shopping area. The mayor and his development director raced to assure the package store in the plaza to hang in, more customers will come once the Jasko apartments are built. An $81 million project was green lighted by the Town Council and Mayor Mike Walsh, but it will be three years at the earliest before it opens for tenants. And recent economic news will not help. Record inflation, universal supply shortages, higher interest rates likely will cause an impact on the projected per-unit cost of 420 apartments – though no one is saying that. Yet.
And so more consultants have entered the woeful Silver Lane arena. It is a well-realized tale to nearly everyone here in East Hartford. But the Power Point presentations are fresh and colorful. And the 88-page Gorman + York plan begins by showing dozens of photos of the shabby and abandoned Silver Lane commercial and retail buildings are in 2022. The $50,000 report states the problem with Silver Lane its its image as it sends “mixed messages of quality and level of investment and poor overall public perception of the area.” Here, the list:
• Market: “mixed-massages (sic) as to predictability and investment. It is uncertain, from an investment perspective if this area is good place to invest time, energy, and money.”
• Conditions: “mixed-messages as to the quality of product—properties—on display. While some properties are well-maintained, many are not, and a substantial portion of properties are deteriorated and deteriorating. The conditions of disinvestment, neglect, and blight are undermining market predictability and investor confidence.”
• Connections: “the connections, social, governance, and economic, are weak.”
• Capacity: “private sector capacity is weak and undermined by the weak and distressed market conditions. Public sector capacity is stronger, with a commitment to invest and proven track record of investment in the area.”
“Based on the current conditions in the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area, any strategy for improvement must begin with addressing the deteriorated and deteriorating conditions that are undermining market predictability and market confidence. So long as such deteriorated conditions continue to persist, meaningful private sector investment will not flow into the area without public sector participation that underwrites the risk.” The consultant report stresses the need for public funding for any progress to occur.
“The Levers of Change: To create change, grow demand, and reposition the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area to compete for investment, the following are the desired outcomes for the Levers of Change (image, market, conditions, connections, and capacity):
• Image: improve the image of the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area so that residents, property owners, businesses, and visitors believe this is a good place to invest their time, energy, and money.
• Market: create predictability and confidence with the aim of growing demand and attracting investment.
• Conditions: remove deteriorated and deteriorating conditions with the aim of improving the quality of properties and property maintenance on display.
• Connections: build better social, economic, and governance connections between residents, property owners, businesses, and local government.
• Capacity: leverage government investment to attract private investment. As conditions improve, decrease government financial investment, while providing economic development, design, and permitting assistance.
It then presents a list of “Priority Properties – Acquisition” as follows:
- Silver Lane Plaza – 808-850 Silver Lane
- Nursing Home – 51 Applegate Lane
- Charter Oak Mall – 934-940 Silver Lane & Ring Road – Driveway
- Futtner Farm – 711 Silver Lane
- Pratt & Whitney Fields
- 755 Silver Lane
- 707 Silver Lane (UTC)
- Five properties in 2018 Revitalization Plan (and noted earlier).
Detail of the above list: 808-850 Silver Lane, Silver Lane Plaza – “This parcel provides an opportunity to eliminated blight and provide for new investment in the area through redevelopment. As a gateway to the proposed new apartments, this site is critical to the repositioning of the Redevelopment Area. The demolition of the large retail building would make way for community scale retail and/or residential. The two smaller buildings could be removed or renovated and incorporated into a new site design.”
51 Applegate Lane – “This parcel provides a unique opportunity for renovation into affordable elderly housing or for demolition and redevelopment. This site is also a gateway to the proposed new apartments and is equally important to the repositioning of the Redevelopment Area. If demolished, this site could be combined with the neighboring 808-850 site to create the potential for a larger scale redevelopment, likely mixed-use with residential and commercial space.”
Ring Road – “This private drive, often called the Ring Road, is deteriorating, had failed pavement, and has become a dumping ground for illegally discarded construction materials, household waste, and yard waste. The drive must be abandoned, pavement removed, and restored to its natual state. The restoration of this area, a mostly wetland and floodplain area, will positively contribute to stormwater management and wildlife corridor.”
Futtner farms on the south side of Silver Lane, nearly 9 acres of fertile land now being farmed by DeLucca Farms, are ripe for town acquisition and redevelopment, says the consultant.
And the Charter Oak Mall at 940 Silver Lane. “This property, until recently, has been stable. Unfortunately, increased vacancy now threatens this property’s future. Therefore, it is imperative to plan for future reuse of the property. The size and location of the parcel is ideally suited for high-density multi-family development.”
The Gorman + York Housing Plan also lists “Strategies for Improvement”.
“To improve the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area market, growing demand, and position the area to compete for investment, the Redevelopment Agency and the Town of East Hartford should implement the following strategies aimed at improvement:
Eliminate deteriorated and deteriorating conditions through property acquisition.
Adopt a planned development zoning regulation for the area with the aim of creating a more predictable land use approval process with more flexible development standards to achieve better design.
Reduce the total square footage of retail space within the Redevelopment Area through the demolition of deteriorated and functionally obsolete retail space. The aim of acquisition and demolition of such space should be to improve the image of the area, remove deteriorated conditions that are harming the image and market, and contract or right-size the supply of retail space.
Invest in public infrastructure. Investing in public infrastructure, specifically sidewalks and roads should be done with the aim of leveraging public investments to improve physical conditions within the public realm and demonstrating to the private sector that the Town of East Hartford is committed to this area and is a partner in creating predictability, building confidence, and attracting private investment.
Redevelop acquired deteriorated properties as a means of attracting new investment into the area and improving the quality of buildings on display. The potential future uses for the redevelopment sites should remain flexible at this time—do not preordain the development outcomes, as the market should drive what is financially feasible and economically viable. That said, the preliminary market research indicates that multi-family residential apartments and community-scale retail in the form of free-standing residential and retail sites or combined as mixed-use developments are the most likely uses in the Redevelopment Area.
Provide façade improvement grants and/or loans for small businesses within the Redevelopment Area.
Acquire other available properties for infill development with the aim of increasing housing and the number of households in the Redevelopment Area. The more households within the Redevelopment Area, the greater the future demand will be for commercial development.”
As for a resident relocation, the consultants report has a paragraph covering it: “As conceptualized in this Redevelopment Plan, the proposed strategies, specifically the proposed properties for acquisition, does not include any residential properties. Therefore, we do anticipate that any residents will be displaced through the acquisition of property and there is no need to develop a resident relocation plan at this time. If this were to change, the plan would need to be amended to include the acquisition of residential properties that are occupied, then a relation (sic) plan will be provided.”
The consultants main suggestion is that the town take the lead on paying for the lion’s share of the plan.
“The Town of East Hartford is committed to the removal of deteriorated conditions and repositioning the Silver Land Corridor to compete for investment, prosperity, and vibrancy. The Town of East Hartford recognizes that weak-market and distressed properties conditions harm the overall market value of the area, creating an environment where high construction costs and risk work against returns. Therefore, it is unlikely that the private sector market will produce the investments required to reposition the Silver Lane Corridor. This is the foundational conditions and thinking that drove and drive this Chapter 130 Redevelopment Plan—the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area will not improve without government intervention and investment.
“The Town of East Hartford is committed to investing—the time, energy, and public funding in the Silver Lane Redevelopment Area. Therefore, the Town of East Hartford is a willing public participant ready to partner with private sector property owners and investors to create improvement and change in this area. This means that the Town of East Hartford will continue to invest in public infrastructure improvements, is willing to utilize public funds, to secure the acquisition and demolition of deteriorated properties, and to explore reasonable public-private partnerships that will benefit the Silver Land Corridor and result improved property and market conditions. Depending on the priority, importance, scale, size, and scope of specific redevelopment sites and projects, the Town of East Hartford is open to exploring and utilizing any of the financial mechanisms, such as bonding and tax abatements, to execute this Redevelopment Plan. Specific redevelopment project budgets and financing plans will be developed on a case-by-case basis.”
ZONING CHANGES
In a related development, the proposed Enterprise Zone expansion approved by the East Hartford Redevelopment Agency February 15 is awaiting approval from the state DECD.
Wrote Development head Buckheit March 8: “The Town of East Hartford is requesting an expansion of its Enterprise Zone, which was originally designated in 1995. The purpose of the expansion is to facilitate upcoming and potential developments along the Silver Lane corridor. These developments, and their relation to the proposed Enterprise Zone expansion, are detailed below.
“Jasko Apartments – A partnership between Jasko Development and Zelman Real Estate is proposing an apartment housing development at the site of the former Showcase Cinemas at 936 Silver Lane. The Town purchased the property and demolished the theater building to prepare it for development in 2019. Plans call for up to 360 residential units to be constructed over two phases, along with modern amenities such as a clubhouse, pool, and dog park. The development will appeal to residents who currently lack a selection of modern housing options in East Hartford, including young professionals, empty nesters, and engineers at Pratt & Whitney and the Raytheon Technologies Research Center.
“The development is estimated to create a total annual economic of $14.1 million. This increased local spending power would help make it possible for a variety of new businesses to locate on and around the Silver Lane corridor,” Buckheit wrote.
On February 15, 2022, the East Hartford Town Council voted to approve development and tax agreements with the partnership in order for the project to move forward. The partnership desires to take advantage of Enterprise Zone benefits for the project in order to help ensure its economic viability. This necessitates the expansion of the zone to include the property.
“Rentschler Field Logistics Center – National Development plans to create the Rentschler Field Logistics Center on 300 acres that were the home of a former airfield, adjacent to Pratt & Whitney’s world headquarters. The development will feature two distribution warehouses of 1.2 million square feet each, taking advantage of the site’s convenient access to I-84. It will also feature several research & development buildings, providing space for companies in industries such as advanced manufacturing, medical, and biotech. The development is expected to create about 2,000 permanent, high-paying jobs and $4 million in annual tax revenue for the Town. National Development will propose a master plan for approval at the April meeting of the East Hartford Planning & Zoning Commission. The proposed expansion of the Enterprise Zone will incorporate areas of the Rentschler Field property that are currently outside of the zone, allowing the entire development to receive benefits.
Silver Lane Revitalization Area Redevelopment Plan – “The East Hartford Redevelopment Agency selected East Hartford-based real estate advisors Goman & York to assist in the preparation of a Redevelopment Plan for the Silver Lane Revitalization Area. The area extends from Mercer Avenue to Forbes Street, encompassing sites including Rentschler Field, Silver Lane Plaza, the site of the proposed Jasko apartments, and Charter Oak Mall, formerly home to Stop & Shop. The purpose of the plan, as defined in the Connecticut General Statutes, is to identify areas that are deteriorating, substandard, or detrimental to the welfare of the community and to devise actions to materially improve conditions in these areas.
This redevelopment plan will build upon recent planning and transportation studies for the area conducted by Milone & MacBroom and TranSystems. The proposed expansion of the Enterprise Zone would incorporate most of the plan area and would incentivize future development proposed by the plan. East Hartford’s Plan of Conservation and Development was amended in 2020 to incorporate the Silver Lane Revitalization Plan resulting from the Milone & MacBroom study. Therefore, the proposed Enterprise Zone expansion will help to further the goals of the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development.”
Buckheit added that the Zone will expand in Census Tract 5106 at Rentschler Field as well as a portion of Census Tract 5105 in the proposed Silver Lane Redevelopment Area. In stating the town’s case, Buckheit notes the percentage of individuals below the poverty level is greater than the requirement of 15%, actual 21.3%, and the percentage of families who receive public assistance or welfare income is higher in the Silver Lane area than the requirement of 15%, actual 17.1% and the unemployment rate “The requirement at least 200% of the states average, the actual unemployment rate is 8%, she wrote.
“East Hartford is working aggressively in these specific neighborhoods to attract large development projects which will bring transformative change in our community,” Buckheit wrote. “We hope to see construction on these projects in this calendar year if successful with all the required approvals. The expansion of the Enterprise Zone will be a key part in these projects’ success.”
If approved the Town Council will need to approve the new boundaries of the Enterprise Zone by ordinance.
