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February 15, 2023

Updated: Luxury apartments, museums, retail and more in development proposal for East Hartford’s Founders Plaza

PHOTO | COSTAR The Riverview Plaza office tower in East Hartford, more commonly known as 99 Founders Plaza, could be part of a broader 30-acre mixed-use redevelopment.
By Michael Puffer

Goodwin University has dropped plans for a 32-slip marina in the Connecticut River, but East Hartford has good reason to hope for a much grander project mixing museums, luxury apartments, retail and medical office along the riverbank a little further north.

East Hartford Mayor Michael Walsh said developers pursuing a large mixed-use project at the Founders Plaza office park have “secured” the rights to the vacant former Bank of America office building at 99 Founders Plaza and the “Red Thread” building at 300 East River Drive. They also intend to build on surface parking around 111 Founders Plaza. 

Altogether, this yields a nearly 30-acre building site along the river, Walsh said  

“After 50 years of virtually no development on Founders Plaza, we will be able to densify that,” Walsh said.

The “Port Eastside” development is among 20 projects and initiatives contained within Walsh’s recently released “control tower” for 2023, which outlines top development priorities. Walsh would not disclose the developers behind the proposal but said they intend to unveil details of their plan in early March.

The proposal will require a blend of assistance from the Capital Region Development Authority, the town and state, Walsh said.

The town has already applied for a $6 million state grant to demolish the former 182,000-square-foot office building at 99 Founders Plaza that formerly served Bank of America, along with an associated 300-space parking garage. 

Built in 1971, the building has suffered from a lack of maintenance for a decade, and should be replaced with something more reflective of the current market, which is likely not office, according to East Hartford officials. 

Town officials say they have had "significant discussions and negotiations" with a healthcare company interested in developing a medical office building of up to 150,000 square feet as part of the Port Eastside project.

Walsh’s control tower predicts demolition beginning this spring and the broader project wrapping in 2026.

East Hartford officials also anticipate building a new pedestrian bridge over the Connecticut River, creating a 1.3-mile walking loop that connects the new Port Eastside amenities to existing cultural and recreation assets just across the river in Hartford, including the Connecticut Convention Center, Front Street arts and entertainment district, Connecticut Science Center, Riverfront Recapture’s parks and more.

In total, these would create a greater draw for visitors and new development, adding to the vibrancy of the capital region.

“Whether it’s housing, whether it’s apartments, whether it’s retail and cultural assets, I think all of those would do well to sit on the banks of the river on the East Hartford side and really finish what started 20 years ago with Adriaen’s Landing, with Front Street and with Coltsville,” Walsh said.

Port Eastside could be a neighbor to a roughly 130-unit apartment development West Hartford-based developer Simon Konover Co. is contemplating for a 35.2-acre property at 341 East River Drive. This is another project on Walsh’s priority list.

Absent from that list is a 32-slip marina Goodwin University hoped to build alongside its riverside campus.

The state granted East Hartford $2 million last year to help defray the anticipated $4.5 million cost. The university hoped to use the marina to draw in a hotel and multifamily development alongside its campus. It has had to back off those plans after bids for the construction came in “many millions” over their anticipated budget, said Mark McGovern, Goodwin’s director of economic development.

McGovern said the university hopes to return to the marina-building plan at some point, but it would now have to be incorporated into a larger, mixed-use development.

“We would like to redevelop our riverfront with a mixed-use project and we’re hopeful we can have a marina component to that,” McGovern said. 
 

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