The city of Hartford on Wednesday announced it signed a development agreement with the Stamford developer planning to build a $200-million housing and retail project on city-owned land surrounding downtown’s Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
The deal between the city and RMS Cos., led by founder and CEO Randy Salvatore, keeps the Downtown North (DoNo) project on track to break ground this spring, officials say. Salvatore last week said construction could begin sometime in April.
In the first phase of development on “Parcel C” along Main Street, RMS is planning to build about 270 apartment units, 11,000 square feet of retail and “flex” space and a parking garage with 330 spaces. The first phase will cost approximately $50 million, city officials said Wednesday.
The quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has pledged $12 million towards RMS’ first-phase development.
“This project will be built in phases over the next few years, but when it’s complete it will help to knit our neighborhoods back together and bring tremendous new energy and vitality to what was once a barren stretch of asphalt,” Mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement Wednesday.
Salvatore, which the city selected as its preferred developer for the DoNo parcels, began to move forward with the project last summer after a Superior Court judge discharged the liens on the parcels around Dunkin’ Donuts Park. RMS in recent weeks has been conducting inspections and other due-diligence work, city officials say.
With the development agreement signed, Bronin said the city and RMS can begin what will be one of the city’s “most significant development projects in decades.”
“Four years ago, we inherited an off-the-rails stadium construction project, and many people doubted whether the broader development project would ever move forward,” he said. “We stood our ground and fought hard to clear a path, and thanks to the hard work of our team and the patience and commitment of our new partner, we will soon see the first phase of construction…”
Salvatore has said the mixed-use development could be completed in six years or so, housing up to 1,000 new apartments and a full-service grocery store.
