Mansfield Downtown Partnership Offices

September 30, 2009

5:00 PM

DRAFT MINUTES

Present: Chair: Mike Gergler, Roger Adams, Curt Hirsch, Marty Hirschorn, Girish Punj, Steve Rogers, Rene Schein, Brian Wells

Staff: Cynthia van Zelm

Guest: Macon Toledano

1. Call to Order

Michael Gergler called the meeting to order at 5:04 pm.

2. Public Comment

There was no public comment.

3. Comments on Minutes

Rene Schein made a motion to approve the May 27, 2009 minutes. Curt Hirsch seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.

4. Update on Storrs Center Project

Cynthia van Zelm said that work has commenced on Storrs Road design. She said that BL Companies was chosen through a Request for Qualifications process to do the work.

Macon Toledano, master developer LeylandAlliance’s Project Manager, said that all improvements will be done in conjunction with the infrastructure work for Phase 1A/Phase 1. The Town and development team are working with the University of Connecticut on water, sewer and drainage connections to the site. Mr. Toledano said the entire team is working on the sequencing of the work with Storrs Road (addressing work UConn is doing near Mansfield Road) and Phase 1A infrastructure.

Mr. Toledano noted that Town Public Works Director Lon Hultgren will need to have a maintenance of traffic plan approved by the CDOT.

5. Update on Relocation

Ms. van Zelm said that Board President Philip Lodewick had sent a letter about two months ago to all the businesses affected by relocation to notify them about the timing on relocation (approximately two years from the date of the letter), and to reiterate the relocation plan as outlined in the Storrs Center Municipal Development Plan. She said that decisions related to relocation are being finalized in the next few months.

6. Update on Casting and Leasing Process

Mr. Toledano took the Committee through the tenanting for the two buildings as part of Phase 1A. He reiterated that the original plan for the Dog Lane-1 building as a stand alone building was not feasible from a cost perspective for both tenants and the developer. However, the plans for two buildings keep essentially the design and purpose of Dog Lane-1 intact. Mr. Toledano said the next steps are finalizing financing and tenanting for these buildings.

Mr. Toledano said there are about 123 units of housing planned for both buildings, and 25,000 to 30,000 square feet of commercial space.

Mr. Toledano said the plan for TS-1 (Town Square-1) is to have ground floor commercial with residences above. He said plans for the TS-1 building (wraps around corner of Dog Lane and Storrs Road) will include seven to eight tenants. This will include the Vanilla Bean, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Cosimo’s (Italian restaurant and pizza) (which have all signed letters of intent), a convenience store, and a sandwich shop. Mr. Toledano said he has about two spaces he is trying to fill and asked the Committee for suggestions. He said the special design district code allows for up to five and a half floors. Mr. Toledano said that the building will need to be at least three stories to create the character desired around the Town Square.

Ms. Schein suggested that the development team look into a bike shop for the project. She said she often gets requests at her business to repair bikes. She also suggested a place that serves breakfast. Ms. Schein also suggested a dance studio. Marty Hirschorn suggested a diner. Mr. Toledano said he was pursuing the diner option which has come up as a desirable use by many people.

Mr. Toledano said there are 14 commercial spaces in the Dog Lane-2 building. He said the goal is for an upscale restaurant which could have a mezzanine. He said that several current businesses have signed letters of intent including Body Language, Wings Over Storrs, Campus Cuts, Travelplanners, and Storrs Automotive to be a part of the building. He said that negotiations are on-going with a few of the other current businesses who are likely to be part of the first phase.

Mr. Toledano said that Phase 1A will be heavily weighted toward relocation tenants and restaurants.

Mr. Gergler said he would like the Committee to be helpful in continuing to provide leads to the development team about possible tenants. He would like to see this occur on a more regular basis, i.e., every two weeks by e-mail. Mr. Gergler will work with Ms. van Zelm on a strategy.

Mr. Hirschorn asked if the residents will be geared toward a 55 and above audience. Mr. Toledano said the plan was to include a mix of generations in the housing.

In response to a question from Ms. Schein, Mr. Toledano said there will be designated loading zones.

Mr. Hirschorn asked how a business such as Cosimo’s was chosen. Mr. Toledano said the development team including Live Work Learn Play, and Cushman & Wakefield, looked at feedback from the community including the Partnership as to what was desired. Mr. Toledano said that Cosimo’s was evaluated for how it fits into the project, and its business and financial record. He said the programming that Live Work Learn Play had done over two years ago, and was shared with the Committee, is playing out in the tenants that are signing letters of intent. The tenants are very close to the programming of uses done two years ago.

Mr. Gergler expressed interest in bringing in Evan O’Brien from Cushman & Wakefield to talk more about the tenanting. Mr. Toledano said he would talk to Mr. O’Brien to see if he could attend a meeting in the next 6 weeks.

7. Review of Committee Charge

Mr. Gergler said he would talk to Ms. van Zelm more about revising the Committee charge and bring it back to the Committee.

8. Review of Town Economic Development webpage

Ms. van Zelm passed out copies of the current Town economic development website which is in process. She asked for feedback at a future meeting.

9. Future Meetings

The Committee agreed to meet in a month to six weeks.

10. Other

Ms. van Zelm will include discussion of the Committee charge and the Town’s economic and community development website for the next meeting.

11. Adjourn

The meeting adjourned at 6:30 pm.

Minutes taken by Cynthia van Zelm.