Bushnell Park South

The demolition of a state health department laboratory and major renovations to the State Office Building open a window of opportunity to transform an area of the city that is currently filled with a number of parking lots and defunct businesses into housing and significant economic development projects. CRDA is partnering with the neighborhood and the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts on a plan for revitalization.

One big difference in this particular project for CRDA is that the housing would be mixed use or retail and commercial, apartment rental and new home ownership. CRDA has sponsored nine redevelopment projects that have placed mothballed historic properties back on the city’s tax rolls and put over 1,000 apartment units in the downtown area on the market with a 96 to 97 percent consistent overall occupancy rate since 2014. The Bushnell Park South project includes Elm, Clinton, West, Washington, Hudson, and Buckingham streets and Capitol Avenue, which are within a couple of blocks of Main Street and Bushnell Park. Redevelopment of this area would form a connection with downtown and repurpose 12 acres of under-utilized real estate.

While the Department of Administrative Services is responsible for the $205 million renovations to the historic State Office Building (SOB), the Capital Region Development Authority is overseeing the construction of the $16 million garage being built to provide parking for the employees working in the SOB. The idea is for the 350-space garage to serve as “district parking” to be shared by businesses and residents around the redevelopment, allowing for the development of the many existing parking lots in that area.