Ideanomics, a financial technology company, on Monday released long-awaited renderings of a sprawling $400 million mixed-use development proposed for the site of the former UConn campus in West Hartford, although formal plans have yet to be submitted to the town.
Brooks Fischer, principal at Newman Architects, said that Ideanomics will submit pre-application drawings to the town this week. Ideanomics CEO and President Alf Poor said that the site’s groundbreaking will likely take place in 2020.
In an animated video “tour” publicly released Monday, the company outlined plans for a walkable campus complete with living quarters, retail and restaurant space, a public art gallery and a community center. The campus has been dubbed “Fintech Village.”
“Fintech Village will be a unique and special project, the likes of which Connecticut has not seen,” Ideanomics Chairperson Bruno Wu said. “Starting today, we take our largest step from blueprint to reality.”
The preliminary concept shows a dramatic transformation of the 58-acre property, which is bordered by Asylum Avenue and Trout Brook Drive. Ideanomics bought the campus from UConn for $5.2 million in 2018.
In return for a $10 million loan from the state, Ideanomics has promised to bring hundreds of jobs to the West Hartford project.
West Hartford Town Manager Matt Hart said Monday that Ideanomics, with offices in China and New York, has not submitted any site proposals to the town. West Hartford officials would need to approve a rezoning of the property and sign off on Ideanomics’ plans before the company could begin building.
Under the concept plan, Ideanomics will be one of many companies housed at the former UConn campus. Wu said at a press conference Monday that the site will have 34 different companies, working on everything from financial technology services to medical innovations to clean energy.
The video released Monday begins with a tour of the west portion of the campus, where the former undergraduate building currently sits.
The tour meanders along a walkway, through a sizeable wetlands area that is depicted as preserved green space. The animation also shows numerous trees that currently stand on the property, including a centuries-old white oak tree.
But the greenery soon gives way to multi-story buildings, where massive glass walls contrast with light wood accents and metal supports.
The ground floors of the modern buildings will be open to the public, the video says, and the plans envision cafes, restaurants and shops in those spaces.
The western portion of the campus will also house “Ideanomics’ nerve center,” an energy-efficient building placed where the former undergraduate building currently stands.
Poor said in June that four of the five existing buildings on the campus, including the undergraduate building, will be demolished. The demolitions will be part of the remediation of the site’s PCB contamination.
The tour then moves across Trout Brook Drive — which is shown with a “newly engineered, traffic-calming design” and bike lanes — to the eastern portion of the campus.
This portion of the campus would include many of the “corporate living spaces,” along with a plaza of shops and restaurants and both on-street and concealed parking.
The community center is also on this side of the property, facing the large white oak tree.
On the other side of the sleek buildings, the animated mockup shows the existing ball fields, which are preserved under the design plan.
The tour’s narration notes that the fields will be accompanied by “plenty of accessible parking and dedicated pick-up and drop-off areas for the athletes and their families.”
At Monday’s press conference, Wu said that the development process has been slow during the past year, but he hopes it will now move forward more quickly.
But before constructing anything on the former UConn campus, Ideanomics must clean up the property, which includes the demolition of the four buildings.
Ideanomics representatives said in a release that a contractor is scheduled to begin a three-month asbestos abatement process at the site this week. They also said that the company is waiting for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approval the PCB remediation plan.
After submitting pre-application materials to the town this week, Fischer said, the company will work with town staff to fine-tune the plans and rezone the property.