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Court Square: base, better or best?

William Connolly shows an artist's rendering of the new building that would be built on State Street. Reminder Publications photos by G. Michael Dobbs
By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD William Connolly of Connolly & Partners, the preferred developers for the former Court Square hotel, doesn't like to talk about phases for the project instead he talks about "a base," "a better" and "the best" visions of the project,

Over the next 90 days, Connolly will be finalizing the financing for the project, which will determine how far the project will progress. Connolly is working with First Hartford Realty Corporation and Finegold Alexander and Associates.

The renovation of the hotel building was identified by the Urban Land Institute in that group's report on the city as one of the highest priorities in order to revive the downtown district.

At a press conference last week, Connolly explained that under the "base" plan the hotel block will be transformed into a multi-use facility that will feature 43 apartments, eight artists lofts, and a hotel with 82 rooms. The ground floor would be used for retail stores.

With the "better" plan, a 122-space parking garage would be built in the courtyard of the complex and under the "best" plan, there would be a new building added to the block on State Street side.

The estimated cost for "the base" is $30 million, $40 million when the parking garage is added and $60 million when the new building is added.

The apartments and lofts would be on the Elm Street side, while the hotel would be in the section of the building that extends to State Street.

Connolly said that he would be looking at public resources including federal and state historical credits, various grants, including ones for energy efficiency. He added the building would follow a deed model that would maximize the tax credits.

He said that at a recent convention in Las Vegas for the shopping center industry there was much interest in the project from potential retail tenants.

The goal in the renovation of the building would be "surgical," he said, in order to preserve as much of the historical character as possible.

The 13-31 Elm Street building was built in 1892 with an addition of a sixth floor in 1900. For many years the complex included a theater.

A deal to redevelop the property made by the Albano Administration was scrapped when the proposed waiver of back taxes on the property was deemed to be against state law. The building reverted to the Springfield Redevelopment Authority.

This project may not be the only new hotel for the city as others developers are going through the permitting process to build a 97-room hotel on Columbus Avenue in the city's South End neighborhood.

In 2005, the Pinnacle Group was hired to do an analysis of the city's existing hotel capacity and whether or not it was adequate to maximize the potential for conventions and trade shows to be conducted at the MassMutual Center.

The report's executive summary read in part: "Based on our analysis of two areas (Downtown versus Riverfront locations), we are in the opinion that a downtown location is a better area for new hotel development. Although both areas are viable options for new hotel development, the benefits of a downtown location outweigh the Riverfront.

"Furthermore, a downtown location would provide more benefit to the MassMutual Center which is strategically important to future growth in Springfield.

"Based on the specific types of lodging demand projected for Springfield, coupled with the type and quantity of existing lodging supply, we recommend the following facilities for a proposed hotel:

a hotel within the range of 120 -- 150 guest rooms;

an affiliation with a strong national hotel company such as Marriott;

a "select-service" hotel such as Springhill Suites or Courtyard;

at a minimum, three meals/day food and beverage service either operated by the hotel or outsourced to a third party;

a small fitness center;

a small indoor pool;

limited meeting space not to exceed 1000 square feet;

an adjacent parking facility or an agreement to use a facility nearby; and

open in July of 2007.

"We do not believe that more than one new hotel can be supported in Springfield."

If Connolly is successful in securing the financing, the project would break ground next summer, he said. When asked by local union representatives if the construction would use local union labor, he added he has been in talks about using union labor.

When asked about how Old First Church would tie into the project, Connolly said, "We've had discussion with ourselves." He did not detail what those talks included.