Storrs Center approved; financing process underway

The Planning and Zoning Commission of Mansfield, Connecticut, approved the plan for Storrs Center, a mixed-use town center being developed by LeylandAlliance in cooperation with Mansfield Downtown Partnership, a public entity. A special zoning district with a form-based code clears the way for Leyland and the town to seek financing for the college-oriented town center. All future approvals for buildings and phases will be administrative, according to Macon Toledano, vice president of planning and development at Leyland, based in Tuxedo, New York.
The 48-acre site includes only 17 acres of intensive development — 30 acres will be preserved as a conservation area. The development program includes 150,000 to 200,000 square feet of retail, 40,000 to 75,000 square feet of office space, 600 to 800 rental and/or for-sale housing units, and up to 25,000 square feet in civic uses.
The site plan (see image on this page) includes four places of distinct character — a town square that will be the civic heart of the community; a market square with daily retail uses; a crooked mixed-use village street connecting the two squares; and a small residential neighborhood branching off of the village street.
The plan calls for transforming Storrs Road, aka State Route 195, which bounds the site to the west. Storrs Road is currently a suburban arterial with stand-alone commercial buildings behind parking lots on one side, and the University of Connecticut main campus, a regional high school, and a town hall on the other side.

Defining the edge
Storrs Center will form a one-sided main street along Storrs Road similar in concept to College Avenue in State College,  Pennsylvania, where Penn State University is located, according to Toledano. Stone walls and landscaping elements will define the edge of the street opposite Storrs Center. State and  federal funding sources have committed $6.5 million to transform the thoroughfare into a main street, he adds. Besides improving the  character of the place, the transformation will calm traffic so students and faculty can cross the street to Storrs Center.
The first commercial building - planned to accommodate existing businesses — could begin construction at the end of 2007, Toledano says, and infrastructure for phase 1 of the four-phase, $200 million project may be laid down in 2008. Before that happens, however, public and private financing have to fall into place. “We couldn’t get into the details of financing until we had the zoning,” Toledano says. “Now we can go ahead and work with private financial partners while the town and Mansfield Downtown Partnership work on public financing of the municipal garages that will support Storrs Center.” Two municipal parking facilities with approximately 1,100 structured spaces are planned in the first phases of the project. The estimated cost is $22 million, or $20,000 per space. The development of phase 1 will combine equity and debt financing, he says.
The conceptual master plan by Herbert S. Newman and Partners was developed into a full set of master plan documents and guidelines in collaboration with Urban Design Associates. Other consultants include attorneys Robinson & Cole, Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, engineers BL Companies, architect Patrick Pinnell, landscape designers LaQuatra Bonci Associates, and placemaking  retail specialists LiveWorkLearnPlay LLP.