Massive West Hartford Development Clears Major Hurdle

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A major decision was handed down by West Hartford officials this week in favor of one of the biggest development projects in town history.

With a 7-2 vote, the West Hartford Town Council Tuesday said "yes" to a rezoning application helping the developers of the old University of Connecticut campus site at 1800 Asylum Ave. clear a key project hurdle.

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

Facets of the development 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.

"I'm really excited to be at this point where we can see what can be and hope it comes to fruition in the not-too-distant future," West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said prior to the vote Tuesday night.

After three hours and 47 minutes of testimony and discussions on Feb. 11, the council kept the hearing open to Tuesday's hearing, which was closed and then the application was decided.

The massive project is comprised of two components:

• 1700 Asylum Ave., which calls for the construction of four multi-story residential apartment buildings.

• 1800 Asylum Ave., which would build 12 new facilities for commercial/mixed-use residential development, a new private roadway, and parking lots.

The 1800 Asylum Ave. portion, comprising 33.5 acres, was subject to the council's rezoning vote Tuesday, changing the property zone from residential to business (shopping district).

The working name for the massive development project is "Oakwood Park."

Following town council input on 1800 Asylum Ave. and the now-approved rezoning proposal, the West Hartford Plan and Zoning Commission now has jurisdiction over the UConn site project, with necessary land-use permits to be decided, perhaps, as soon as this year.

Cantor said the site has been on the town's development docket for years.

"We have been talking about this particular development for years and, I think, it was (12) years ago that UConn gave notice that they were relocating to Hartford," she said.

"So since the actual move ... the property has been deteriorating right in front of neighbors' eyes," Cantor said.

She said initial plans have changed several times over the years as town officials perused them and offered input with the developers.

Most on the council generally agreed with Cantor, but there was a hint of opposition to the change, with the two dissenting GOP votes.

Republican Alberto Cortes expressed excitement at the prospects, but offered some words of caution, pointing to another larger project several years ago.

"This is an exciting project. It solves some issues," Cortes said, alluding to an empty site and alleviation of housing stock concerns. "The last time we had something this exciting was Blue Back Square. And that lies with my concern. There are still vacant spaces in Blue Back Square."

He said the council should send the project back to the developers for further fine-tuning, perhaps in a scaled back version that wouldn't allow for the same vacancies as with Blue Back.

Cortes said deciding such a massive application after 11 p.m. was, simply, "settling" for a project and moving on.

"I want to move on, but there are concerns that weren't addressed," said Cortes, who voted "no" along with fellow Republican Councilperson Mary Fay.

Before his "no" vote, Cortes said "we don't need a fourth supermarket," about one of the projects within this development.

History

Before Tuesday's decision, only wetlands permits had been approved for the old UConn site.

In West Hartford, the PZC acts as the wetlands agency when it comes to wetlands permits.

On Aug. 5, 2024, the West Hartford PZC voted 4-1 to approve a wetlands permit associated with the 1800 Asylum Ave. component.

The wetlands permit for the 1700 Asylum Ave. portion was approved in January 2024.

From Feb. 12: 'West Hartford Council Extends Rezone Hearing For Large Development'

For all documents related to the Asylum Avenue/UConn site project, click on this link.