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March 18, 2024

Demolition of aging 22-acre retail site in East Hartford begins, mixed-use redevelopment planned

HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER East Hartford Mayor Connor Martin on an excavator at Silver Lane Plaza Monday.
By Michael Puffer

An excavator on Monday began tearing into the front façade of a 107,148-square-foot building at Silver Lane Plaza as town officials celebrated a milestone in the long effort to replace the dingy retail center with new development.

Town officials had pushed the former owner to perform renovations on the declining three-building plaza before ultimately claiming the 22-acre property, at 818 Silver Lane, for $4.6 million through an eminent domain process early last year.

Now, contractor Manafort Brothers is demolishing the central building under a roughly $1.2 million contract. That work is expected to be completed around mid-May. The town is working to evict four tenants in the remaining two buildings, a 31,080-square-foot retail building erected in 1965 and an 18,562-square-foot retail building completed in 1963.

East Hartford Mayor Connor Martin said he expects to have those buildings down and ready to hand over to a developer by the end of the year.

“This is truly a monumental moment for East Hartford to finally see some progress on this project,” Martin said.

The town is seeking a lot of progress in the area. It recently granted a temporary certificate of occupancy for logistics warehouses of 1.2 million and 1.3 million square feet at nearby Rentschler Field. Martin expects to finalize a deal that will lead to construction of a roughly 400-unit apartment complex at the 25-acre former Showcase Cinemas site behind Silver Lane Plaza.

With all this activity: “2024 is truly East Hartford’s year to shine,” Martin said.

The town is working with a development group to refine plans for redeveloping the blank slate that will be created with the demolition of Silver Lane Plaza. The partnership includes: Framingham, Massachusetts-based Grossman Development Group, Charter Realty Principal Daniel M. Zelson and Jason C. Hess, a veteran real estate attorney with New York-based mixed-use developer Leyland Alliance.

HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER
Demolition begins at East Hartford's Silver Lane Plaza.

The group was the only respondent to a city advertisement. Its initial response included three options with various mixes of street-facing retail in front of up to 93 tightly packed, small lots designed for factory-built modular homes.

Martin, on Wednesday, said the development team is still keenly interested in the site. Martin said he is hoping for a larger proportion of retail and commercial development. He is also looking for reassurance as to the quality of the homes to be built. 

One recent tenant of Silver Lane Plaza, who turned out for Monday’s action, had mixed feelings.

Dr. Catherine Lim, owner of Tooth Time, said it was arduous negotiating with the town’s representatives to cover moving expenses, costing her significantly in legal fees. She also was unable to find another East Hartford location, and will be moving to Albany Avenue in Hartford this March. That will cost her a good amount of her current client base, she said.
Conversely, Lim said she was glad to see demolition and the town’s redevelopment work because the plaza really needed help.

“I’m really happy this is being redeveloped,” Lim told the Hartford Business Journal. “It really needs it. But it could have been handled better.” 

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