DOWNTOWN MANSFIELD MUNICIPAL DEV. PLAN
Storrs, CT
Urban Partners participated in a consultant team led by
LooneyRicks Kiss Architects in the completion of the Down
town Mansfield Municipal Development Plan. Retained by the Mansfield Downtown Partnership -- a non-profit agency representing public, private and University of Connecticut interests -- the team was charged with developing a town center plan for a 15-acre University-owned site that that would serve both institutional and community purposes.
Urban Partners’ role in this project was to identify market
characteristics for a full range of residential, retail,
commercial, entertainment and hotel uses and to assist
the design team in developing community consensus
about desired uses and their appropriate placement
and massing. The project will be distinguished by a town square, small parks and terraces and an adjacent 30-acre conservation area -- made possible by the creation of a new mixed-use zoning classification that allows for a variety of civic and community spaces and higher density development within the town center. Overall, the Storrs Center will include 200-300 units of market rate rental housing, 400-500 units of market rate sales housing, up to 200,000 SF of retal space, up to 75,000 SF of commercial space and up to 25,000 SF of community-programmed
civic space.
Urban Partners also assessed the economic and fiscal
impacts of the proposed development program to
provide the clients with information about attributable
tax revenues and public service costs. The Mansfield Downtown Partnership has moved forward with our team’s recommendations. The University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees approved the sale of the 15-acre town center and 30-acre conservation area to the selected developer and the first phase of mixed-use development was tenanted in Fall
2012.
