UConn’s Board of Trustees has unanimously approved revised terms for the sale of the Greater Hartford campus property to the Town of West Hartford, where the site is located.
The University is leaving the 58-acre location to move operations to its new campus in downtown Hartford, and had been working with West Hartford on terms of the potential sale since announcing the move. The trustees’ decision Wednesday came a day after West Hartford’s Town Council approved the deal.
“Both UConn and the town believed that West Hartford should make decisions about the future of the Greater Hartford campus property,” said Scott Jordan, UConn’s executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer.
“Our shared goal was for UConn to sell the property to the town at a price that was affordable for the town, given the environmental costs associated with the campus and their potential budget challenges,” he said. “This agreement accomplishes that.”
The agreement to sell the property comes as UConn plans to move its Hartford-area campus to the capital city for the start of classes this fall. It was located in Hartford from 1939 to 1970, when it moved to the site in West Hartford.
Under the terms of the agreement, the University will receive 90 percent of the proceeds if West Hartford resells the property before Oct. 1, 2026.
The arrangement lets UConn avoid the risk of long-term maintenance costs at the site after operations move to Hartford, and provides the ability to recoup a significant portion of the value with the 90 percent share of the resale price.
The agreement also benefits the town by giving it control over the site, which includes five buildings, parking for more than 1,000 vehicles, Little League fields, and easy accessibility to I-84 and downtown West Hartford.
It is one of the last large parcels in town open for potential development or redevelopment.
Under the terms of the prior agreement, the town would have paid $5 million as a minimum price and would have provided 90 percent of any resale price to UConn. The minimum price was renegotiated to $1 million in light of potential environmental issues at the site and the town’s budget challenges. The town’s obligation to share the proceeds from a resale was retained and extended for an additional two years to 2026.
“We are very pleased that the town will be able to control this important property and determine its future use in the best interests of West Hartford and its residents,” Jordan said.
Now that the town and the University have received authorization to more forward, representatives from both will work together to complete the negotiations necessary to finalize the agreement.
Funds from the sale will be used to offset costs associated with closing the West Hartford campus and moving campus operations to the new downtown Hartford site.
