Farmington, CT CREW-CT – The Real Estate Exchange, an organization dedicated to supporting and advancing the achievements of women in commercial real estate, named the winners of its 23rd annual Blue Ribbon Awards for best Connecticut real estate projects completed in 2017. The winners were announced the evening of April 25 at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford.
There were 27 notable real estate projects nominated this year. The selection panel included Cecil Adams, director of museum services, Wadsworth Atheneum; Rebecca Nolan, vice president of global business development, MetroHartford Alliance; and Courtney Hendricson, vice president of municipal services, CERC. John Glascock, director of the center for real estate and urban economics at the University of Connecticut served as emcee for the event and announced the following winners:
Blue Ribbon Award
Honored with the Blue Ribbon as best overall project was Dunkin’ Donuts Park, Hartford
People’s Choice Award
The UCONN Hartford campus was honored in the category of Best in Class-Educational and by those in attendance for the People’s Choice Award.
Additional Honorees
• Best in Class Multifamily/Residential: Windsor Station Apartments, Windsor
• Best in Class Commercial/Retail: Goodwin Hotel, Hartford;
• Best Specialty Project: Talcott Brothers’ Mill, Vernon;
• Best Interior Design Project: Spectra Wired Café, Hartford;
• Best Lobby/Common Area Renovation: Asnuntuck Community College-Tower Lobby & Student Center, Enfield;
• Best in Class Educational: UCONN Hartford;
• Best in Class Healthcare: The Burnham Family Memory Care Residence at Avery Heights, Hartford;
• Community Impact: Crescent Crossings 1B, Bridgeport;
• Workplace Innovation: Upward Hartford, Hartford; and
• Blue Ribbon Award: Dunkin’ Donuts Park, Hartford.
Blue Ribbon Award: Dunkin’ Donuts Park, Hartford: Serving as home to the Eastern League’s Hartford Yard Goats, minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, the 200,00 s/f facility drew nearly 400,000 fans in its inaugural year and was named by the fans as the best Double A ballpark in 2017. Architects stated that one of the most important features of the design was its transparency. Pedestrians are allowed opportunities to peer into the interior concourse and the field to create spectator curiosity.
The ballpark was developed to drive economic activity and created 300 part-time seasonal jobs for Hartford citizens and youth and increased business to downtown bars and restaurants. The project received extensive corporate sponsorship and support, sold-out crowd, booked parties for community gatherings, and was used extensively by college and high school baseball leagues.
• Owner: City of Hartford
• Project Team: The S/L/A/M Collaborative, Inc., Architect of Record: Pendulum. Additional team members: Newman Architects, P.C.; BVH Integrated Services; Beta Group, Inc.
People’s Choice Award: UCONN Hartford: The UCONN Hartford project serves as a 180,000 s/f satellite campus serving 3,300 students and staff. The building’s three wings host lecture classrooms, laboratory spaces, offices, conference rooms, public atrium, student lounges, courtyards and a central utility plant. The project includes restoration of the façade of Hartford’s historical landmark, the Hartford Times Building, with new construction within. Built in the 1920s, the façade features beaux-arts architecture including decorative terra cotta, marble columns and sgraffito artwork.
The most challenging aspect of the project was the restoration and incorporation of the Hartford Times Building into the building. The historic structure was brought up-to-date with seismic and building code requirements. The project team developed a phasing plan to demolish and replace the old structure without compromising the integrity of the building.
• Owner: H.B. Nitkin Group
• Project Team: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company; H.B.; University of Connecticut; Robert AM Stern; Haley & Aldrich; BSC Group; Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates; and Nutmeg Planners, LLC.