As wrecking crews demolish the Bank of America building at 99 Founders Plaza for one phase of the Port Eastside mega-development, East Hartford is applying for $9 million in state aid to help pay for converting a vacant office high-rise nearby into an even bigger part of the mixed-use project. Developers have estimated they’ll need $90 million to transform the 19-story office tower at 111 Founders Plaza into about 230 modern apartments. East Hartford is seeking $15 million in state assistance to make the project more financially feasible, and this week is applying for $9 million of that. “There’s no tax abatement for this project, no money from the town. We might be going for a state loan, but all the rest is private equity,” Mayor Connor Martin told The Courant. “We think if we can get all the funding pieces together, it’s realistic to think they can start construction in the beginning 2027. The developers have all their designs down.” A partnership of major developers and industry leaders from around Greater Hartford proposed Port Eastside three years ago, calling it an $850 million project that would generate nearly 1,000 apartments along with restaurants, entertainment venues and more. They’ve predicted it would transform East Hartford’s under-used waterfront by replacing much of the 1970s-era Founders Plaza campus of office buildings; the plan is for a highly walkable cluster of residential and commercial uses with a pedestrian path along the river and greater connections to the Hartford waterfront.
CT town applying for $9 million to boost sprawling housing redevelopment plan
