Hartford Breaks Ground on Development Around Baseball Stadium

Published on October 15, 2020

A rendering of the development at Downtown North

HARTFORD, CONN (October 15, 2020) – Today Mayor Luke Bronin, City Treasurer Adam M. Cloud, City Council President Maly D. Rosado, State Treasurer Shawn Wooden, city and state leaders, and Developer Randy Salvatore broke ground on the $50 million first phase of the development around Dunkin’ Donuts Park. 

“We didn’t get to play any baseball this year, but this is a big October win for Hartford,” said Mayor Luke Bronin.  “We fought hard to win the legal battle and get back control of this land, we searched carefully for a responsible development partner, and now we’re making good on the promise made to Hartford residents.  After three decades of having this wound of surface parking lots that divides our city, we get the chance to knit downtown, Clay Arsenal, Albany Avenue, and North Main Street, back together with a mixed-use development, including affordable units, that will create a walkable urban environment.  There are many dozens of people who spent thousands of hours on so many aspects of this project, from getting the stadium done without burdening taxpayers further to putting a new development deal together.  We are deeply grateful to all of them, and it’s impossible to appropriately acknowledge everyone.  I do want to thank our City Treasurer Adam Cloud, the City Council, our Department of Development Services, and our Corporation Counsel’s office internally, as well as former Mayor Pedro Segarra and now-State Treasurer Shawn Wooden.  We also have so many external partners, from CRDA and the State of Connecticut to our strong development partners, Randy Salvatore and RMS Companies, and we are very thankful for their partnership.”

The groundbreaking officially launched work on the buildings going up on Parcel C of the project that, when completed, will have 270 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments, a ground-floor restaurant, retail and entertainment space, and a 330-space parking garage.  Parcel C is located just south of Dunkin' Donuts Stadium at Main and Trumbull Streets.  The development agreement includes a minimum of 10% affordable units, supported by federal funding allocated by the City of Hartford.  The project is expected to be completed in about 20 months.

Parcel C is one of four city-owned parcels being redeveloped as part of the $200 million Downtown North project.  Plans call for as many as 1,000 apartments, restaurant and entertainment space, and parking garages to be constructed on the expanse of parking lots encompassed in the project over the next five years. 

“I am so excited to be breaking ground on the first phase of the DoNo project after working closely over the past two years with the Mayor, elected officials, and members of the community to develop a shared vision and plan for the project,” said Salvatore. “Despite the current pandemic, I remain as bullish as ever about the long term prospects for Hartford and this development in particular.”

“This is a big day for our city as we take the next step in the development of Hartford’s future,” said City Council President Maly D. Rosado. “I would like to thank Mayor Bronin and his entire team, Randy Salvatore, RMS Companies, CRDA, and our many community partners and leaders for their unwavering commitment to our residents. This project serves as a constant reminder that in spite of the challenges we may face there is always a better day ahead for Hartford.”

“As someone who grew up in Hartford, I can tell you that this neighborhood has long been overlooked and underutilized,” said State Treasurer Shawn Wooden.  “For decades, these parcels of land were filled weeds and surface parking lots. I am excited to see another crucial step taken toward revitalizing our Capitol city.  We are lucky to have an award-winning baseball stadium next door that is home to a community-focused baseball team with an amazing fan base from the region.  But, this development project was always about more than baseball.  I congratulate Mayor Bronin for pushing through the many challenges to reach this next stage in the DONO development.”

“Our focus has always been on the future of Hartford and our vision of what the city can be,” said Michael Freimuth, Executive Director of the CDRA. “I want to commend Mayor Bronin for keeping this project on track under extraordinarily challenging circumstances. I also want to thank Randy Salvatore for his faith in the City of Hartford and its potential.”

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