I need to get back on here because a big budget fight is obviously in the works.
But this entry is something more simple: I understand that the developer of Blue Back Square plans to remake the Bishop’s Corner area. There’s some kind of plan underway to raze the entire existing shopping center, offices and restaurants and replace it with another urban lifestyle center akin to the wildly successful Blue Back Square. Anyone out there who can add something to this?
The West Hartford Blog 
Whatever the plans may be for Bishops Corner, I think they are the plans of a different developer.
I understand that Bishops Corner is owned by Edens & Avant, and I do not know of any involvement that Edens & Avant had in Blueback.
I am not aware that the Blueback developer has obtained any interest in Bishops Corner.
I have no problems with Development, just as long as it doesn’t bring anymore traffic than we already have and the developer doesn’t get paid by my taxdollars or take my town’s property while the developer makes a profit, leaving us stuck with another $56 million bill. Go for it!
I will say this, if this is another plan that will upset our community, I will most certainly leave this town.
Our elected officials need to get a spine and learn to haggle on behalf of their constituents – If there is anything that bugs me more, it’s Corporate welfare.
I got wind of this also when Macaroni grill wasn’t allowed to renew their lease. Still, I don’t know about ‘razing’ the whole thing. I had heard more akin to the development in Canton where expansive parking lots are replaced by little side streets that pass along store fronts. I wouldn’t be surprise though is some housing is included as multi-use projects are all the rage (and really make sense imho).
Bye Bye Tish
I posted this a little over a month ago, but have heard nothing since, except that one of the stores would be Target…
http://www.amybergquist.com/blog/2008/02/04/blue-back-part-ii-redeveloping-bishops-corner/
First I’d like to ask Tish how did you get stuck with a 54 million dollar bill?
We are about to go down the same path as West Hartford and our mayor is using your city as an example of perfect planning of course he is talking finish product.
We have police fire and DPW needs but havn’t talked about adding anything for our new project.
Blue Back Square, a mixture
of retail, office and residential
space in West
Hartford, is the model for
Waypointe financing plan,
according to Moccia. He
said he visited that development
last weekend.
“It was active, new
streets, plenty of parking,
upscale stores but some
local stores, a movie theater,
a library nearby, the
Historical Society offices,”
Moccia said. “They used the
same process, a special
services district financing.
It worked for them, and I’m
not ashamed to say I’m
copying them.”
we are building just like West Hartford did and our blog is always slanted towards building but not infrastructure.
http://www.yourct.com/new/2008/04/04/norwalk-another-round-of-good-governance/
Good or bad our city would like to know are you better off now than before?
What is this guy talking about? Can you break it down for the non layman….yeez
Norwalk is having problems now and they are building their own Blueback in their city. The politicians are using West Hartford as a example of turning a city around and making it a popular successful place .There not considering infrastructure or the residents they are displacing and driving out. Reading your Blog tells us there are things that need to be talked about here , that we don’t make some mistakes that may of happened on your projects.
Wondering how the first project cost West Hartord 54 million?
Looking at your tax rate and your financials your taxes havn’t gone down and your spending even more on public service with the new money Blueback has generated for your city. Or is that false?
Edens and Avant (the landlord) for the property that the Parking Garage, Marshall’s, and the office building is on, is planning to re-develop the land. I haven’t heard that the Blue Back (witch is a g*y place) Guy is doing it it.
http://www.edensandavant.com/development.asp
And My Friends and I want Mac Grill back, we would go there like every day after school, and see our favorite waiter, Otto, who would bring out our ‘usual’, we go to Quiznos now, with I don’t mind because its like $10, instead of $25 a day, but I miss it!
Bishops Corner has never recovered after losing Dino’s.
I don’t understand why any resident of West Hartford would object to re-developing BC. It’s aesthetically appaling, and offers close to nothing for retail purposes. Traffic??? If you don’t like it move to Granby. Who wouldn’t like more options in their town (restaurants, retail, nice office space, etc.). I also believe that another development similar to Blue Back might make West Hartford a very desirable place to live, therefore increasing home values. People really need to start looking forward and not back. Quiet suburb you want?? Hit the road…plenty of them in CT.
Bishop Corner King…you might think Blue Back is g*y now, but once you go to college, move to New York or some other major city, then decide to move back, settle down and have kids you’ll think otherwise….trust me. Otto is working at the Cheesecake Factory now making more money, so you and your friends can take your razor scooters down Main St and patronize him there.
I live in the Bishop’s Corner area and let me tell you something. If they try to pull that parking meter/garage thing, I will be seriously ticked off.
I live in the Bishop’s Corner area and let me tell you something. If they try to pull that parking meter/garage thing, I will be seriously ticked off.
However, I think WH makes the clear and valid point that not only is BC going to look and be better, but it is also in dire need of a revitalization. The current BC is drab and unwelcoming. It’s the type of place you just want to get in and out of. I wouldn’t mind enjoying a stroll to, from, and in a shopping complex. I say they tear the whole thing down except for the garage, keep the garage free, build some better looking buildings, and put some really substantiative stores in that will generate interest.
Or, they could just extend Westmoor Park to BC. I am all in for that.
Want something different?
Why not go the Montreal route.
Connect all 4 corner with underground tunnels, and include an undergorund shopping mall.
I often come to this blog and am quickly turned off by many of the posts I read. The opinions of the blogs I read here are generally contrary to those of the vast majority of people I actually speak to around town. I tend to agree with the respondent who wrote that if you want to live in a quiet, little town you should move somewhere else. West Hartford is an urban suburb which means we have developments such as Blue Back and if we are lucky something similar that will replace the monstrosity of Bishops Corner. These types of development as well as our superior school system, the people, accessiblity to a thriving job market, etc. are the reasons why young, upwardly mobile, professionals want to move to West Hartford . . from place like NYC and Boston. It has the ammenities any city-dweller would expect without the vast overcrowding, crime and traffic -yes real traffic not west Hartford fake traffic, that comes with a major city. My recommendation is that those who do not like Blue Back or similar types of development move away from West Hartford, and very quickly – you simply do not fit our business model and we do not want you posting negative blogs about this great city. You might try to venture outside of CT to other parts of the country and world and you will quickly realize the piece of paradise we really have.
@Blue Back Area Resident: Great. I’m glad you’ve been elected to speak for the entire city, how very magnanimous of you to grace us with your proclamations.
In terms of Bishop’s Corner, it’s certainly ready for a revitalization. And given that it’s a privately owned property, the city should support its sensible re-development in every way it can, except with its already strained tax base.
From the West Hartford ListServ — meeting TONIGHT:
The Future of Bishops Corner
The Bishops Corner Neighborhood Group and the Bishops Corner Branch library invite you to attend a discussion of plans for the reconstruction and development of 2558 Albany Avenue (the property next to Staples) on Thursday, April 10. The discussion will be led by Gregg Nanni of Project Enterprise. Please join us at 7:00 p.m. and take this opportunity to share your ideas for Bishops Corner with your neighbors. The meeting will be held in the Senior Center’s large meeting room.
Having come from a pristine area in Ct and moved here for the sidewalks, community and vitality – I know it is not for everyone. I like it here, value the community and the town,and think it offers my family much more than we would have found “elsewhere” …..this blog certainly reveals a disgruntled element in this town. Is that the purpose of a blog? I join them in their fear of developers but have to say that Bishops Corner couldn’t be much worse than it is now.
WH transplant: Bishops corner can’t be worse than it is now? What are you talking about? It couldn’t be better than it is now, the only thing that would make it more awesome is another abandon parking garage. (I’m clearly kidding).
You like Blue Back Square?
I agree with the “Bishop Corner King”, it is G*y.
-Movies Stink (no Stadium Seating)
-Barnes and Noble (fun fun fun!)..not
-Cheese Cake Factory (not the best food I’ve eating, and it feels very cheesy to be, ads on the menus?)
-It’s a Grind (weirdo hang out)
-Crate and Barrel (um, ?)
-All the Clothing Shops (Okayish, you can get more selection and better prices at the mall).
-Trolley (too many rules)
I could go on and on, Bishops Corner is the Best! The center has gotten so lame also.
jing jing ba dug dug rg
I am a “young, upwardly mobile, professional from Boston” that the Blue Back Square Resident is talking about –okay, maybe not that young. My husband and I are thrilled to be moving to West Hartford. Having lived in Boston for ten years, I am over the excitement of the big city and more than ready to leave the traffic (30 minutes to go 5 miles) and crime (car stolen twice). I love the wide streets and easy flow of traffic in WH. Yes, I understand there can be congestion, but it is relative. I also grew up in a rural part of CT and cannot imagine going back to an area with so little activity. That is a personal preference — to each his own. As for the high school students’ comments, I can understand you being unimpressed by Blue Back as it doesn’t seem all that teen friendly. I think it’s a challenge to any town to provide entertainment for your age group. I can only say that it seems a step up from my high school experience where the only hangouts were the McDonald’s parking lot or cornfields. 😉 Perhaps, once living in town, I will be disillusioned, but for now, I am extremely excited to become part of the community and to raise my family there.
Blue Back Square, a mixture
of retail, office and residential
space in West
Hartford, is the model for the
special services district that
would be put into place for
Waypointe, according to city
officials.
Under the Norwalk plan,
bonds would be repaid from
parking garage revenues
and a supplemental tax
applied within the special
services district, which
would be bounded West
Avenue, and Chapel,
Academy, Quincy and Butler
streets. The surcharge
would be $6 per square foot
for retail, $3 per square foot
for office, and $1 per square
foot for residential space
within the district, according
to Hamilton.
Collectively, parking and
special services district revenues
would generate $235.7
million over a 25-year period
under a plan using revenue
bonds. Parking and special
services district revenues
would bring in $184.6 million
over a 20-year period using
general obligation bonds,
according to Hamilton.
Those estimates are based
upon two parking consultant
analyses tweaked conservatively
by the city, according
to Hamilton. The estimates
yield net revenue excesses
ranging from $4.9 million to
$32.8 million, he said.
Hamilton described the
potential investment as a
“public/private financing
partnership” that will leverage
$419 million in private
investment, redevelop the
West Avenue area and grow
the city’s tax base.
“A community that isn’t
growing is stagnating. A
community that is stagnating
is really declining,”
Hamilton said. “For the
long-term financial success
of the city, we need to have
growth, continued growth in
the city.
Our Mayor in Norwalk wants to be just like you is it such a bad thing to want all this development when we can’t take cares of what we have?
Love West Hartford! Love Blue Back Square and the Center! Live in Bishops Corner-it needs an overhaul.
Has anyone been to Cocoa yet? What is the best restaurant in the Center?
Cocoa is absolutely the worst name I’ve ever hear for a restaurant. The desserts better be good.
I believe a Good Little French bistro would do really well.
MAx Oyster is still the best, but a competitor with a strong bar, design and food could not it over, no problem.