After failing to secure a buyer for a former restaurant property in Hartford’s West End in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, city officials are giving it another go.
Development services officials on Wednesday issued an RFP seeking buyer proposals for 488 Farmington Ave. which previously housed Churrascaria Braza, a Brazilian eatery that closed in 2012. Hartford took the property in 2019 for unpaid taxes.
The city, which wants to see a restaurant or entertainment venue in the vacant 4,600-square-foot building, sought buyer offers last May, just weeks after Connecticut had hit its peak in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, and about a month before Gov. Ned Lamont allowed indoor dining to return at limited capacity.
That effort was unsuccessful, but with the restaurant sector facing a more positive outlook in recent months thanks to COVID-19 vaccines and the lifting of all indoor dining restrictions.
RFP submissions for the property, which is valued at $688,300, are due Aug. 10.
