Blue Back Square’s official opening on Saturday

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — A ribbon-cutting ceremony will mark the official opening of West Hartford Center’s newest addition, Blue Back Square, on November 3 at 10 a.m.  The event will be held on Webster Walk, near the statue of Noah Webster and the West Hartford public library on South Main Street. 
   
Speakers will be West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka as well as members of the Blue Back Square development team, including Richard Heapes, partner, Blue Back Square/Street-Works and Rick Langhorne, president, Ronus Propertie s.  The West Hartford Hall High School freshman symphonic band will help celebrate the occasion.

The new town square is a first for Connecticut as a unique, mixed-use development and one of a handful in the U. S.  A mixed-use development is a symbiotic balance of residential, retail, office and civic space, designed for all aspects of life.  Blue Back Square not only brings new shops and restaurants to The Center, but Hartford Hospital Wellness Center, New York Sports Clubs as well as luxury condominiums and rental apartment lofts.

Retail anchors at Blue Back Square include Crate and Barrel, The Cheesecake Factory, REI, Barnes & Noble, and Criterion Cinemas.

In 2008, condominiums and apartments will welcome new residents, bringing 24-hour life to The Center in a new way.

Blue Back Square hails its name from Noah Webster’s blue grammar books, which were called “blue back spellers.”  Noah Webster, writer of the American dict ionary, was raised in what is now West Hartford. 

Blue Back Square is a 600,000-square-foot, mixed-use development located in the heart of West Hartford Center between South Main Street, Memorial Road and Raymond Road.  It is an extension of West Hartford Center, a popular pedestrian -friendly shopping and dining district that presently consists of 140 upscale national, regional and local shops, restaurants and a Whole Foods Market.

Blue Back Square includes approximately 220,000 square feet of additional retail; 95,000 square feet of professional office space; 130,000 square feet of medical office space including New York Sports Clubs; and luxury condominiums and rental apartment lofts.  Ronus Properties of Atlanta, Ga., Street-Works of White Plains, N. Y., and JDA Development of West Hartford, Conn. are developing the project.  This partnership combines the national, mixed-use development experience and expertise of Street-Works with the regional sensibility and sensitivity of JDA and the financial strength of Ronus, a full-service, real estate management and development firm.  

Blue Back Square

It’s open.

Are you impressed? Is it better than you expected? A monstrosity? A wonder? What?

I took a little walk and found it reasonably human in its scale. That surprised me. I also learned that there’s almost nothing at Crate and Barrel that I can afford.

Are we “chopped liver” or what?

Channel 3’s Dennis House takes on the Blue Black Square newcomer “New York Sports Clubs” here: http://www.wfsb.com/getinthehouse/index.html

What do you think?

Blue Back rents are out of sight

According to the Courant, competition among potential tenants “is pushing office leasing rates up to nearly $40 a square foot, the highest seen in the region.”

It’s ultra hot real estate, which is great for our town.

Other developers can’t help noticing the riches, of course, which may mean more prime office space gets built in town before long.

But it also means that commercial office space is going to be worth more here than it has been — and that will eventually help cushion homeowners from future property tax hikes.

In short, it’s thrilling news to see that the project is paying off.

Naysayers, your turn now….

Blue Back Square update in Courant

Today’s story lets us know that one of the two parking garages is open – though not to the public yet – but the Healthtrax fitness club and the Hartford Hospital building are a little behind schedule (which explains why I’ve seen ads for the Healthtrax club before it’s open). The Nov. 1 opening for much of it remains on track, however.

Blue Back Square cited as model for growth

 Blue Back Square now

Developer Richard Heapes was heaping it on in Maryland this week, according to a  story in The Gazette, which covers the DC suburbs.

Pushing for more developments like Blue Back Square, Heapes “pointed to a project his company, Street-Works, is building in West Hartford, Conn., as an example. West Hartford gave his company $50 million in bonds to do $200 million of construction for Blue Back Square, aimed at revitalizing the city’s center.”

“By working with city officials and community organizations, including a neighborhood church, an American Legion post and the merchants’ association, his company will turn that $50 million into $80 million worth of assets and amenities, Heapes said. The organizations got an expanded library, new church entrance and a small movie theater available for free to groups,” he told a planning board there, according to the paper.

Let’s hope he can keep bragging about Blue Back Square for the next couple of decades.

Tight market for commercial space in West Hartford

Sentry Commercial reports that “West Hartford [is] still the tightest of all the suburban {Hartford] markets with a 6.4% vacancy rate- 60,000 sf of new office space at Blue Back Square will be delivered by the end of 2007 but 70% of that is already committed (Cummings & Lockwood is the first announced tenant for 11,000 square feet.)  Edens & Avante purchased 2523 & 2551 Albany Avenue (
West Hartford) in mid-2006 and are likely to announce plans to renovate or redevelop some or all of their Bishop’s Corner properties sometime in 2007.”
Vacancy rates for commercial space in Avon and Simsbury are three times higher. Take that, outer ringers. 

Gofer Ice Cream eyes Blue Back Square

Moooooooooove, over, Maggie Moo’s! I’ve got a real scoop today. Gofer Ice Cream, another of those pricy ice cream shops, is looking for a spot at Blue Back Square. The company says on its blog that it believes the new development “would be a wonderful spot for a Gofer Ice Cream. Initial talks are underway and we are aggressively searching for a franchisee for this planned location.”

Just what the town needs — more ice cream!

Of SUVs and parking woes at Whole Foods

One blogger believes that Blue Back Square is already tying up traffic, at least at the Whole Foods parking lot.

Of course, there probably wouldn’t be a Whole Foods there if it werent’ for Blue Back, but that’s another story.

The blogger’s right about all the SUVs, though. You’d think driving around town that they were giving SUVs away with all the people taking them out on errands. 

New letter re Blue Black Square, from town manager

Letter from the Town Manager (March 23, 2007)While the first year of construction was spent mostly underground as utilities were installed and foundations were being poured, the second year you will see steel coming out of the ground as the key elements of Blue Back Square are taking shape.

The South Garage, renamed Memorial because of its placement near Memorial Road, is slated to open for use in April. The North Garage, located across from Whole Foods, is nearing completion and will be open in late September.   New parking spaces in the town hall lot and a new main entrance to the lot off of South Main Street will be created mid-June. The Burr Street entrance will be closed at that time.

The HealthTrax wellness and fitness center will open in May for people to view its facility and sign up for membership. At the same time, the first and second floors of the Hartford Hospital medical offices will be finished in June. The remaining third and fourth floors will be completed over the next several months.

The additions to the main library and police department are well underway. On the north side of the library, a 17,000 square foot addition will contain a children’s area that will double in size, a 50% larger reference room, a computer training room, an improved public meeting space, a teen room, and an area for local history. On the south side, the library will have a handicap-accessible elevator and an entrance to the new public square. 

The police department’s 6,620 sq. foot addition will feature an easily-accessible, customer-friendly records center, community/training room and administrative offices. The existing police headquarters will be upgraded with a new heating-ventilating-and cooling system and the first floor will be rehabilitated to include a new Probate Court. Also, the female locker room on the second floor will double in size, and new holding cells will be installed.

The first two floors of The Heritage, a luxury condominium, have been framed with walls and windows and the remaining two floors will follow this spring and summer.

Each month new tenants sign on to lease space in the Blue Back Square. To date, Crate and Barrel, Barnes & Noble, Criterion Cinemas, REI, Lucy Activewear, The Cheesecake Factory, National Jean Company, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar will be part of the new West Hartford Center. Steel framing for these retail shops and restaurants have been erected. A grand opening is scheduled for November 2007.

As the project moves along, I will communicate with you again to keep you up to date on progress being made. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please call me at (860) 561-7440 or the Blue Back Square office directly at 232-4800.