East Hartford’s administration is seeking to demolish the long-languishing Silver Lane shopping plaza in order to create a blank slate that will appeal to developers.
The Town Council agreed May 15 to allow demolition of a dingy 107,148-square-foot retail building at the 22-acre Silver Lane Plaza.
Now, East Hartford Director of Development Eileen Buckheit is asking the council to sign off on demolition of the two other buildings on the site — a 31,080-square-foot retail building erected in 1965 and an 18,562-square-foot retail building completed in 1963. This request is on the agenda for the council’s meeting on Tuesday.
Essentially, the buildings are functionally obsolete and would prove more costly to maintain than they are worth, according to documents shared with the council. Officials would prefer to create a blank slate for redevelopment that would better complement nearby developments in a bid to revive the long-declining Silver Lane retail corridor.
Massachusetts-based National Development is building two logistics buildings, totaling 2.5 million square feet, for use by Lowes Home Improvement and Wayfair at Rentschler Field. Developers Avner Krohn and Brian Zelman are moving to secure a development of at least 300, and as many as 402, apartments on a 25-acre, town-owned property off Silver Lane.
“It is in the best interests of the town to provide a clean and empty site to attract new development and capitalize on the momentum of the area,” Buckheit wrote in a memo to Mayor Michael Walsh, which was shared with the council.
The presentation shared with the council estimates a roughly $10 million demolition cost for all buildings on the site, a figure that includes the $4.53 million acquisition cost, as well as legal and other administrative costs.
Town officials anticipate issuing bid documents for the demolition job before the end of July.Â
