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March 6, 2025

New special taxing district eyed for massive Port Eastside development in East Hartford

RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED A rendering of the first apartment building proposed for the “Port Eastside” redevelopment of the Founders Plaza office park in East Hartford.
By Michael Puffer

A plan to transform much of East Hartford’s aging Founders Plaza office park into about 1,000 apartments mixed with commercial development could get a big infusion of funding through the property taxes the project generates.

A team of investors that includes prominent area businessmen have already spent millions of dollars aggregating five properties within the office park along the Connecticut River for the “Port Eastside” development. 

Now, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a special taxing district around those roughly 30 acres. 

The legislature’s Planning and Development Committee will hold a public hearing on March 10, to discuss the creation of the “Port Eastside Infrastructure Improvement District,” which would be able to raise funds through bonding to pay for infrastructure, including utilities, roads, a planned greenway,  garage and more, said East Hartford Mayor Connor Martin. 

A “tax increment financing” agreement with the town would entitle this new district to a portion of the property taxes generated by the added value of the development. Those tax dollars would then help pay down any bonds.

“We are in favor of this because it supports the project and funnels a portion of the revenue back to the municipality,” Martin said.

Tax increment financing is a tool municipalities and developers have long used to defray the costs of infrastructure and other groundwork needed for large-scale developments. Proponents note TIF agreements cost municipalities nothing other than a portion of the tax revenue they would not have seen anyway without the new development.

Martin said the town has not yet negotiated how much of the newly generated tax revenue will go toward the development.

The Port Eastside project plans call for about 1,000 multifamily units in several buildings. These would mostly be apartments, but could include a handful of condominium units. The project would also include a 6.1-mile greenway and 400,000 square feet of entertainment, restaurant and retail space, according to a prior statement from Port Eastside LLC.

The development was introduced as an $841 million investment in the summer of 2023. Plans have since been updated without any new cost estimates being shared by the development team.

Investors in the development include brothers Bruce and Harris Simons, of Simons Real Estate Group in West Hartford; Manafort Brothers Inc. President Jim Manafort; Peter S. Roisman, head of Houston-based property tech company REV Leasing; Nicholas Michnevitz III, president of West Hartford-based MBH Architecture; Hoffman Auto Group Co-Chairman Jeffrey S. Hoffman; Chris Reilly, president of Hartford-based Lexington Partners; and Alan Lazowski, chairman and founder of LAZ Parking.

Port Eastside has spent millions acquiring five properties.

East Hartford’s Town Council about a year ago approved conditions that will allow the development team to use a $6.5 million state grant to demolish the 182,890-square-foot former Bank of America office building at 20 Hartland St., also known as 99 Founders Plaza.

In return, Port Eastside agreed to secure a building permit for an apartment building of at least 150 units on that site within four years.
 

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