A developer is advancing plans for a large housing project on the former Hartford Insurance campus in Simsbury, proposing a 669-unit residential development on land where a smaller apartment project was previously rejected by the town.
The Silverman Group recently submitted a wetlands permit application tied to the redevelopment of the 12-acre Hartford South property at 200 Hopmeadow St.
Town Planning and Community Development Director George McGregor said the application was filed with Simsbury’s Inland Wetlands Agency because the proposal includes construction within the site’s upland review area.
He said the developer has indicated it intends to submit a separate application to the town’s Zoning Commission under Connecticut’s affordable-housing statute, known as 8-30g, for a 669-unit mixed residential project.
Under state law, the wetlands review must be completed before the zoning application can move forward.
Plans submitted with the wetlands filing show a mix of housing types, including apartment buildings, duplex units and single-family homes.
The proposal follows a lengthy dispute over redevelopment of the site.
Simsbury’s Zoning Commission in 2024 rejected a prior proposal from The Silverman Group to build 432 housing units on the property. The developer had initially proposed about 580 units before scaling the plan back during the approval process.
Silverman Group later sued the town, arguing the commission acted improperly in denying the application. A Superior Court judge earlier this year dismissed that lawsuit, court records show.
The property was once part of The Hartford Financial Services Group’s large suburban office campus. The insurer announced in 2013 that it would close the Simsbury site and relocate roughly 1,500 employees to its Hartford and Windsor offices as part of a real estate consolidation strategy.
Silverman Group purchased the campus in 2016 for $8.5 million and later demolished roughly 640,000 square feet of office space on the property.
Part of the former campus — known as Hartford North — has already been redeveloped. McGregor said that 36-acre section now includes 299 multifamily units, about 18,000 square feet of commercial space and a 120-unit assisted living facility.
