The state would lend $3 million to a developer to purchase a parking lot on a prominent corner in Hartford’s Bushnell South redevelopment area, a proposal that also would remove the property from among the options for a new federal courthouse. The loan would come from the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority, which along with the city and The Bushnell, have been key forces working for years to reshape a bleak swath of parking lots just east of The Bushnell and a short walk from the State Capitol. At the proposal’s center, is the $3 million loan that South Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners would use to purchase the parking lot for future, mixed-use development. Spinnaker is emerging as a major developer in Bushnell South and is now nearing completion of the conversion of the former state offices at 55 Elm St. into apartments. The $67 million project includes a second phase of new construction on parking lots around the historic building. The second phase is now in the planning stages and is across Capitol Avenue from the parking lot Spinnaker would purchase.
Plan for massive new neighborhood near CT Capitol could get $3 million boost