UConn Trustees Approve Sale of West Hartford Campus to Town

As UConn Hartford moves downtown, the site of the campus in West Hartford will be sold to the Town.

A view of the Undergraduate Classroom Building at the West Hartford Campus. (Peter Morenus/UConn File Photo)

As UConn Hartford moves downtown, the site of the campus in West Hartford will be sold to the Town. (Peter Morenus/UConn File Photo)

The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the sale of its former Greater Hartford campus to the town of West Hartford, where the property lies.

The decision to sell the 58-acre site for $5 million plus 90 percent of the proceeds of the subsequent sale of the property comes a day after the West Hartford Town Council unanimously approved the deal.

“We believe the Town of West Hartford knows what’s best for its community and its residents,” said Scott Jordan, UConn’s executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer. “The Town is the most logical entity to own the site and determine its future.”

Under the terms of the agreement, the University would receive 90 percent of the proceeds of any sale of the property completed before Oct. 1, 2024, with the Town of West Hartford keeping 10 percent. In a memorandum to the board recommending the sale, Jordan and General Counsel Richard Orr said the arrangement benefits both the Town and UConn.

“The administration believes that securing a minimum $5 million purchase price and avoiding the risk of long-term maintenance costs justify sharing 10 percent of the purchase price with the Town,” they wrote.

The West Hartford site, which includes five buildings, parking lots for more than 1,000 vehicles, and Little League fields, is one of the last large parcels in the town open for development or redevelopment.

The agreement to sell the property comes as UConn plans to move its Hartford-area campus to the capital city, where it was located from 1939 to 1970, when it moved to the site in West Hartford.

When UConn Hartford opens its doors downtown in fall 2017, it will serve roughly 2,300 students and 300 faculty at a campus anchored by the fully renovated historic Hartford Times building.