Former Children’s Museum property in West Hartford sold for more than $10M. Broker says price sets ‘new benchmark.’
WEST HARTFORD — The developer of a luxury apartment complex on the site of the former Children’s Museum in West Hartford has paid $10.6 million for the property, with construction expected to begin this spring.
The price paid by New York-based Continental Properties for the nearly 4-acre property at 950 Trout Brook Drive near Farmington Avenue is about $2.7 million an acre — a price, brokers involved in the sale say, sets a new benchmark for development sites in central Connecticut.
“We’re seeing a tremendous demand for desirable sites throughout the Hartford area,” said John Cafasso, a principal at commercial real estate services firm Colliers International in Hartford, which represented the seller, Kingswood Oxford. “We expect to see more new multi-family development over the next 12-18 months.”
Continental plans to build a six-story, upscale development with a mix of 172 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments about two blocks from Blue Back Square. The complex will include such amenities as an outdoor pool with cabanas, a dog park and wash station, co-working space and a rooftop lounge. The development is expected to have more than 320 parking spaces.
While Continental said the development reflects the kind of residential community renters now seek, the proposal drew the ire of surrounding homeowners who opposed the scale of plans. Despite those concerns, West Hartford’s town council last fall approved a crucial zone change for the development. When built, the complex is expected to add $800,000 a year in new taxes to town coffers.
“Continental is committed to building and operating an iconic, first-class rental community that the town of West Hartford and its stakeholders can be proud of at this important location in the center of West Hartford,” Howard S. Rappaport, a principal at Continental, said, in a release.
In Connecticut, Continental has developed upscale rental complexes in Rocky Hill, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Milford, Shelton and Trumbull.
The museum occupied the site for nearly six decades, and sold the property to neighboring Kingswood Oxford, the independent day school, in 2002. The museum leased the property back but with the intention of finding a new location. Kingswood Oxford made the decision to sell the museum property in 2021, nudging the museum into making a decision about its future.
The museum is temporarily downsizing and has relocated to the Emmanuel Synagogue in West Hartford. It is still searching for a permanent home that has yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, plans call for the iconic, 60-foot, 20-ton Conny the Whale sculpture to be moved just across the street to the Trout Brook greenway. Conny was constructed in the mid-1970s as a symbol of the “Save the Whales” movement but had evolved into a playscape and mascot for the museum.
Reporting by Courant Staff Writer Don Stacom is included. Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
