🔒Here’s how stormwater drainage is impacting a major Hartford development plan

Hartford officials believe the installation of a roughly mile-long pipe through an area south of Bushnell Park will accelerate the transformation of 20 acres of underused buildings and parking lots into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood.

For more than a year, staff at the Capital Region Development Authority and Metropolitan District (MDC) have been negotiating an agreement that would require the CRDA to help pay for the installation of a large stormwater drainage pipe, which would accept water flowing from parking lots and off buildings planned for the “Bushnell South” development area.

That water would then be funneled into the Park River — which runs through an underground, box-shaped tunnel that passes through Bushnell Park — before flowing into the Connecticut River.

Concerned about the increasing frequency of severe storms, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said he’s pushing for greater flood-control measures throughout the city.

In the Bushnell South area, for example, he wants one major pipe installed to alleviate existing flooding and relieve developers from having to install stormwater retention basins that eat up otherwise developable land.

“We are trying to figure out if we could get one major connection instead of building a bunch of retaining pools for each building,” Arulampalam said. “This is part of what is slowing down development in the short term.”

Hartford, like many older cities in the Northeast, has a sewer system with pipes that carry both sanitary sewage — from toilets, kitchen sinks and shower drains — and stormwater. All this gets sent downstream to sewage treatment plants.

That’s usually not a problem. But large rainstorms, which have increased in frequency in recent years, create sudden spikes in flow that can overwhelm sewage treatment plants, spilling millions of gallons of stormwater mixed with raw sewage into the Connecticut River.

Under state and city regulations, builders in Hartford need to create on their properties drainage basins capable of holding, then slowly feeding out, stormwater runoff equivalent to the impact of a 100-year storm, said MDC Executive Director Scott W. Jellison. For larger apartment buildings, that costs hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to install, he said.

Jellison said he envisions a mile-long pipe of about 24 to 36 inches in diameter that could cost around $4 million.

“Stormwater is really driving development,” Jellison said during a recent visit to the Bushnell South area. “Properties like this can flood quickly.”

What’s on tap

The Bushnell South area, long eyed for redevelopment, has attracted several developers that want to build large mixed-use apartment projects. CRDA is providing low-interest loans to spur the activity.

Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners is nearing completion of a $66 million project transforming two former state office buildings at 55 Elm St. into 164 apartments. The company is working to assemble nearly $70 million for two additional apartment buildings — totaling 239 units — on properties wrapping around 55 Elm St.

Early this year, Spinnaker also paid $3.25 million for a 2.2-acre parking lot in the Bushnell South area for future development.

Philadelphia-based Pennrose LLC and The Cloud Co., of Hartford, are partnered in a $45.35 million plan to convert two former state office buildings at 18-20 and 30 Trinity St., into apartment buildings that will host 104 units. CRDA, last year, approved a $6.5 million loan for the effort.

The developers are expected to close on financing and buy those properties from the state by the end of this year, according to CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth. Construction is expected to begin immediately thereafter.

One block over, the New Jersey-based Michaels Organization was selected by CRDA as the preferred developer of a 2.8-acre parking lot at 165 Capitol Ave. However, the firm is currently working on a revised development plan, since its original proposal for a $129.6 million, mixed-use multifamily project with 360 apartments didn’t pencil out.

Obtainable goal

If the sewer pipe project moves forward, the CRDA would be expected to carry some of the cost for the MDC-led effort. Freimuth said his agency is basing its contribution on the savings developers will realize by not having to build individual stormwater retention systems on their properties. Altogether, that would save developers “millions,” while also preserving additional land for development, Freimuth said.

“Essentially, the infrastructure improvement is a subsidy to all projects in the area, not unlike roads or utilities for subdivisions or redevelopment areas,” Freimuth said.

Freimuth said he anticipates a stormwater pipe investment would produce an equivalent reduction in loan size for CRDA-backed projects in the Bushnell South development area. Loans will be smaller and may come with adjusted terms, like higher interest rates, he said.

City and state regulations don’t allow the regional sewer and public water company to pay for stormwater systems just to aid specific developments. But developers and other partners can contribute to a system that benefits a broader area.

Jellison said the Bushnell South pipe could also be used to collect stormwater from the area around Hartford Hospital.

It’s an arrangement the MDC has used repeatedly, Jellison noted, including in a recent agreement for new stormwater drainage around the planned 322-unit apartment development at the former UConn campus in West Hartford.

“The goal is the developer pays for their share of the improvement to the MDC (stormwater) sewer system,” Jellison said. “The MDC will get a new pipe. We make it bigger to serve the other areas surrounding the development. So, there’s a benefit to us. There’s a benefit to the developer. There’s no cost to our customers, and it’s a win, win for everybody.”