Cromwell OKs razing vacant Red Lion hotel, hoping to revitalize space with retail plaza, apartments
If Cromwell grants a tax abatement and state traffic officials give their approval, a developer says the deteriorating and long-vacant Red Lion hotel in Cromwell could soon be razed to make way for 254 apartments, 20 townhouse condos and a mid-sized restaurant and retail plaza.
Town planners on Tuesday gave zoning approvals for the massive project, with several saying that it stands to revitalize a prominent blighted property while creating housing.
Developer Martin Kenny said he will set aside 5% of the apartments as affordable housing, but cautioned that the entire project is contingent on getting property tax breaks from the town. He has not specified how much he’ll seek, but is expected to make that request this fall to the economic development commission and the town council.
Despite reservations from a half-dozen neighbors, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved permits Tuesday night. Cromwell has been concerned about the future of the 13-acre property ever since the Red Lion, already in steep decline, was abruptly shut down by state tax inspectors in January of 2020.
So-called urban explorers have gotten into the building and posted YouTube videos showing the lobby, restaurant, pool and hot tub areas covered in debris from falling ceiling tiles. Puddles of brackish water, exposed wiring and broken wallboard are also visible.
“It has become a target for vandals and others. It has been heavily damaged, anything of value has been stolen, it’s full of mold and mildew,” according to Kenny’s attorney, Peter Alter.
The Crowne Plaza was already in decline when it was rebranded as a Radisson, and guest reviews and overall maintenance slipped further when it later took on the Red Lion name.
“It is in every way beyond redemption,” Alter told the commission during a three-hour hearing Tuesday night. “Everyone is aware of the unfortunate demise of that business over the past several years.”
Kenny’s plan would start with demolition of the entire building along with part of its parking garage. Because of environmental contamination, that job alone is estimated to cost $2.4 million, Alter said.
The Cromwell project will have a 31,000-square-foot commercial building along Berlin Road, with a restaurant, coffee shop and possibly retail tenants. Farther north on the property, the developer plans 254 apartments in four-story buildings, along with nearly 13,000 square feet of amenities space for a pool and other features.
Part of the hotel’s parking structure will be retained, and in total the new project will have 481 parking spaces.
Kenny’s Lexington Partners LLC has built The Borden, a 150-apartment mixed-use project in Wethersfield; the 130-unit Windsor Station apartment buildings in Windsor; and The Tannery, a complex of nine buildings in Glastonbury with a total of 250 apartments.
Closer to the Christian Hill Road neighborhood at the far northern end of the land, the company plans 20 townhouse condominiums. The theory is that they would serve as a transition between the existing single-family home residences and the commercial and high-density apartment buildings .
Construction is estimated to take two years, but won’t start until after the demolition and cleanup are completed. The company and its consultants emphasized that it’s too soon to discuss a specific schedule or completion target.
The regional chamber of commerce and about a dozen town residents sent letters of support for the project. Several homeowners from the Christian Hill Road neighborhood said they’re concerned about traffic, nighttime lighting for parking lots, noise and the overall size of the plan.
“Four stories is way too much,” neighbor Eugenia Falco said.
But the commission agreed that the developer’s engineers and consultants had addressed those concerns.
