The developer of the proposed Storrs Center near the University of Connecticut campus said today that it has secured an equity partner for the development, a key step in moving the long awaited, and much anticipated, project forward.
New York-based LeylandAlliance LLC, has entered into an agreement with Tennessee-based Education Realty Trust (EDR), to develop the first two phases of Storrs Center, a $220 million, mixed-use town center that includes new retail, restaurant, office and residential development.
The first two phases of the project, which will cost $60 million, is scheduled to be completed by 2013, and will include retail and residential developments.
“The addition of EDR to the Storrs Center team is an important step and signals that the start of construction is near,” said University of Connecticut Interim President Philip Austin. “The project has come a long way in the past ten years. Now the time has come for us to move one giant step ahead. In creating the new Storrs Center we are not just erecting a set of buildings-however attractive they may be. We are creating, in physical reality as well as metaphor, a center appropriate to the heart of a great American college town.”
Monica Quigley, a spokesperson for LeylandAlliance, wrote in a statement to the Hartford Business Journal that the new partnership doesn’t guarantee full financing for the development, which has been a key hang up in moving the project forward.
However, significant funding is already in place, Quigley said.Â
The Town of Mansfield, working with the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc., has received over $23 million in state and federal grants, including $10.5 million to cover the cost of the first garage. Meanwhile LeylandAlliance and Education Realty Trust, Inc., have executed an agreement with BL Companies, a national architectural and design firm located in Meriden.
Schematic design is underway, along with typical consultant studies particular to the site. When these steps are completed, the development team can secure bank financing to begin construction on the first two phases, Quigley said.
The retail and commercial space will be owned and managed by LeylandAlliance LLC.
Numerous businesses have already signed letters of intent to lease portions of the 70,000 square feet on the street level of the mixed-use buildings, including Moe’s Southwest Grill, Vanilla Bean Café, Cosimo’s Italian Restaurants, Select Physical Therapy, Wings Over Storrs, Storrs Automotive and Insomnia Cookies, among others.
EDR will develop, own and manage the apartments in these first two phases which include approximately 290 studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments.
Each apartment will include a private laundry, wood floors, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and the latest internet technology, among other upscale features. Elevator access will also appeal to a wide range of tenants.
The apartments are located next to the University of Connecticut campus making the core of campus easily within walking distance, along with the new Town Center.
Parking options for residents will include an adjacent parking facility and plentiful street-side parking spaces.
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