The City of Hartford is looking for new pitches to develop the area surrounding Dunkin’ Donuts Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats (Class AA; Eastern League).
In October, the city revealed that it had severed all ties with Centerplan Co. and DoNo Hartford–the original developers for Dunkin’ Donuts Park. The developers were terminated from the ballpark project in 2016 after deadlines were missed, and Centerplan ultimately sued the city for wrongful termination. In addition to constructing the ballpark, the firms were also to bring development to the surrounding area with amenities such as housing, offices, and retail. However, it was confirmed in October that the city was firing the companies from the development component of the project.
That has led to the city issuing a new request for proposal (RFP) for an area surrounding the ballpark that consists of 32 properties across four parcels. Officials are hoping that any project will help to better connect Dunkin’ Donuts Park to Hartford’s urban core, and are not ruling out the prospect of selecting multiple firms. More from The Hartford Courant:
“We are eager to see what responses come back from developers. We’re willing to consider any number of possible developments,” Mayor Luke Bronin said.
“It is attractive, strategically located land. There is now a successful ballpark next door, and the downtown is becoming increasingly active and vital.”
Sean Fitzpatrick, Hartford’s director of development services, said at an October redevelopment agency meeting that multiple firms could be chosen.
“We actually want to give a broader spectrum of developers a chance to look at this, and if we end up with two developers or three developers, that’s OK,” he said.
Much of the land up for development currently consists of parking, though one of the properties is occupied by a former data processing center. Interested parties have been given 88 days to respond to the RFP.
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