Manchester picks Parkade makeover partner

The town of Manchester has tentatively tapped a Connecticut pair as partners in redeveloping its long-dormant former Parkade retail site that anchors the town’s Broad Street commercial corridor.

Michael Licamele and Harry Freeman, partners in Manchester Parkade I (MPI), won the recommendation of the town’s redevelopment agency to negotiate a definitive development contract for the 23-acre site. 

The partnership envisions, among other things, a mixed-use development, sized between 500,000 square feet and 1 million square feet that will include office space, market-rate housing, retail and entertainment components, officials said. There also is potential for a foreign trade subzone on the site.

The town razed the buildings that once occupied the 23 acres to make way for redevelopment, based on its revised 2013 redevelopment plan for the area.

“There are many details to work out and still a long way to go,” Mayor Jay Moran said in a statement. “But we are optimistic that this partnership will result in a vibrant mixed-use district, additional economic activity, new jobs and additional tax revenue for the town.”   

According to bid specifications, the town offered its winning co-partner, among other things, negotiated land sale prices or land lease arrangements; tax increment financing; tax assessment agreements, access to public financing through revenue bonds and/or leftover general obligation bond funds from the town’s redevelopment bond issue; use of community development block grant funds; as well as assistance in applying for state or federal grants or development loans.

In addition, the town may make additional nearby land available for redevelopment. Also nearby is a Stop & Shop Supermarket and Parkade Cinemas.

The 23-acre parcel — consisting of 296, 324, 220, 334 and 340 Broad St. — is situated within a federally designated “opportunity zone’’ (OZ), meaning it can be developed with tax-qualified funds from qualified taxpayers seeking to shield some or all of their capital gains from federal taxes. Connecticut has 72 OZs statewide.