East Hartford's Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously Thursday night to recommend the Town Council acquire two derelict Silver Lane properties by eminent domain.
The parcels, 794-810 Silver Lane and 818-850 Silver Lane, are part of the Silver Lane Plaza, a shopping center with a long history of blight and deteriorating conditions.
Town officials have expressed interest in acquiring Silver Lane Plaza, both through good-faith negotiation and by eminent domain, as a part of efforts to revitalize the Silver Lane corridor.
Momentum is building for East Hartford to claim by eminent domain the Silver Lane Plaza, a huge and aging retail complex that town officials say is decaying due to neglect.
The town’s Redevelopment Agency is scheduled Thursday to vote on an eminent domain claim of two properties comprising the 22-acre plaza, which hosts three buildings with a combined 156,790 square feet of retail space.
“And then when I speak Spanish, they are like, ‘Oh my God,’ and you see the wall goes down. I’ve had people open up accounts, just because there’s a Spanish speaker here,” M&T Bank Assistant Manager Izzy Serrano said.
Silver Lane Plaza tenants in East Hartford expressed their concerns about the possibility of using eminent domain to acquire the long-blighted shopping center during a Redevelopment Agency public hearing Thursday.
A redevelopment plan for Silver Lane, based on a study done by Goman & York, was approved by the Town Council on Aug. 2. The plan focuses on the plaza because of its deteriorating conditions and negative impact on surrounding businesses.
The town of East Hartford has signed a memorandum of understanding with ND Acquisitions LLC regarding the company’s development at Rentschler Field, which will ultimately result in money for a new athletic complex and construction of a portion of the East Coast Greenway.
The terms of the agreement were presented at the Town Council meeting on Aug. 16. The agreement states that ND Acquisitions will pay the town $1.50 for every square foot of the development just south of Rentschler Field.