UConn Site Project To Be Delayed Again By WeHa PZC: UPDATE

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The complicated process to transform a former college campus into a massive housing/commercial/retail development begins again next week.

But town officials said Thursday the process will quickly be continued to November.

After months of continuances, the West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission will have a special meeting next week to address the old University of Connecticut-Hartford branch site on Asylum Avenue.

The special meeting is slated for Monday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at West Hartford Town Hall's Room 314, 50 S. Main St.

But West Hartford Town Planner Todd Dumais said Thursday that it would be continued to Monday, Nov. 6, the PZC's regular meeting.

He said Monday's special meeting would not feature any testimony or discussion and would immediately continue to next month.

"An application of this size and complexity of this scope, there's a lot of staff review," Dumais said, adding town staff members still had some work to finish up before the meeting.

On Oct. 2, the PZC — which also acts as the West Hartford Inland Wetland and Watercourses Agency — opened up two applications on the agenda and immediately continued them to the Oct. 23 special meeting.

Those applications are for inland wetlands and watercourses permits through the IWWA, which are necessary given the project components are near designated wetland areas.

Initially before the commission over the summer, the applications ultimately ended up before the IWWA/PZC in September, where they were continued to Oct. 2, when they were continued again to Oct. 23.

Following IWWA approval, the project would have to come back before the West Hartford PZC for necessary zoning permits, a timeline that hasn't been unveiled yet.

The developer, "West Hartford 1," purchased the 58-acre site in January 2022 and it has filed applications under the names WEHA Development Group LLC and WEHA Development Group East LLC.

The development team has a working name for the project — "Oakwood Park" — and they've created a website of what they want to build.

In recent weeks and months, there have been some revisions to the scope of the project.

The component at 1700 Asylum Ave., for example, calls for the construction of four multi-story residential apartment buildings. This is down from the prior plan, which called for five.

Meanwhile, aspects of the other portion of the project — 1800 Asylum Ave. — have become a bit clearer as well.

That component calls for the construction of 14 new buildings to have a diverse array of uses, ranging from mixed-use to housing to commercial buildings.

According to a development presentation unveiled in February before the West Hartford Design Review Advisor Committee, the massive project has multiple facets.

Those include multi-family residential housing; boutique-style retail components; restaurants; medical offices; a spa; an organic neighborhood market; public parks walking areas, trails, and ballfields; and a structured parking component.

Redevelopment of the old UConn site, which served as the UConn-Hartford branch from 1970 to 2017, has been in and out of town conversations for years, ever since the campus relocated to downtown Hartford.

But after weeks and months of showing up in subcommittee discussions, formal applications were submitted, withdrawn and resubmitted again.

Recently, the developers released a statement about the project's changes in recent months.

“We are excited to bring our newest updated project plans to West Hartford’s land use, planning and economic development authorities. The reshaping of this village design, including the assisted living facility, single-family town homes, and enhanced buffering of woodland, meadows, and wetlands, are direct results of the feedback we have received from the town and through our engagement with the residents living closest to campus," wrote West Hartford 1 in a statement.

"We believe the resulting scale and vision will blend well with the character of the neighborhood and enhance the features that make West Hartford such a vibrant community.”

To review all documents related to 1700 and 1800 Asylum Ave. in West Hartford, click on this link.

For the minutes of the Oct. 2 West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission meeting, click on this link.

For more information on Oakwood Park, click on this link.

From July 25: 'West Hartford Reschedules UConn Site Development Hearings'