HARTFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY
HARTFORD LANDS A BIG ONE
Hartford Courant Editorial Reprint
March 18, 2002
Wal-Mart's plan to open a 150,000 square foot store on the site of the former Charter Oak Terrace public housing project in Hartford is the biggest retail deal to hit the city in years.
The discount behemoth, which needs state and city design approvals, is expected to anchor a larger shopping complex with shops and restaurants that could generate hundreds of jobs and as much as $750,000 a year in additional tax revenue.
Residents would have more opportunities to find what they need without having to leave the city to make their purchases. Wal-Mart would conveniently straddle the New Park Avenue commercial corridor between Hartford and West Hartford. The avenue has in recent years become home to a 17 screen Crown Theatre, a Stop & Shop supermarket, Home Depot, BJ's Wholesale Club and Raymour & Flanigan Furniture.
Wal Mart would also have an entrance off the Flatbush Avenue exit of I - 84 and would be along the Path of the proposed New Britain - -Hartford Busway, a 9 mile road reserved for buses traveling between New Britain, Newington, West Hartford and downtown Hartford.
Wal - Mart would provide a much needed psychological shot in the arm for Hartford, which has grown all too weary of being perceived as a place that businesses shun for the suburbs. City officials could proudly use Wal - Mart's decision to locate in the city as a selling point in luring other commercial and residential projects.
Officials deserve credit for reeling in a major economic development project without relying on the state for assistance.
Special credit should go to John D. Wardlaw, executive director of the Hartford Housing Authority, which owns the property, and to Harry H. Freeman, executive director of the Hartford Economic Development Commission.
Their efforts reflect a refreshing can - do attitude that is being adopted by city government.
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