Mansfield, CT – Construction has started on the first phase of the development of Storrs Center, a new mixed-use town center and main street corridor at the crossroads of the town of Mansfield and the University of Connecticut.
The first two phases of Storrs Center will include commercial and residential offerings. The retail and other commercial space will be owned and managed by LeylandAlliance LLC of Tuxedo, N.Y., a noted New Urbanist development company that has developed mixed-use projects in Connecticut, New York, South Carolina and Virginia.
Located along Storrs Road adjacent to the university, the town hall, the regional high school, and the community center, Storrs Center will include a new town square across from the School of Fine Arts complex.
The master plan will knit quality architecture, pedestrian-oriented streets, and public spaces into a series of small neighborhoods that will make up the new fabric of the town center. Ground floor retail and commercial uses opening onto landscaped sidewalks and intimate streets will reinforce shared community spaces and will be supported by residences above.
Storrs Center will combine retail, restaurant, and office uses with a variety of residence types including rental apartments, town homes and condominium apartments. Structured and surface parking will be provided.
Storrs Center is one of the most ambitious public/private initiatives in the history of the state. At its core is the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc., an independent, non-profit organization that is composed of representatives from the community, local businesses, the town and the University of Connecticut.
Storrs Center Alliance, LLC, an affiliate of LeylandAlliance, is the master developer of Storrs Center. Education Realty Trust (EDR) of Memphis, Tennessee is the co-developer and Erland Construction, Inc. is the General Contractor.
Eric Greene, vice president/regional manager of the Erland Connecticut office said, “Erland Construction is proud to be part of the Storrs Center team. As a Connecticut general contractor, we bring a strong commitment to the Connecticut businesses and local residents that will participate on this project, the UConn students and others that will call Storrs Center home, and the town of Mansfield that will benefit from this mixed use project on into the future.”
Since 2003, BL Companies was initially involved in the site development and permitting process and a key participant in the ongoing process of developing the master plan. In May of 2006, BL developed a conceptual space analysis of all the proposed commercial and residential uses in the entire development and have since designed the first two phases of
development.BL Companies serves as the Engineer of Record on the realignment and reconstruction of Mansfield Road at the intersection with Storrs Road (Route 195).
According to Carolyn Stanworth, President and CEO of BL Companies, “Working on this public-private project for more than eight years has given BL two significant opportunities: one, to create a cohesive, well-designed new mixed-use development, and second, to provide the Mansfield community with a new vibrant town center they so long deserved.”
Scheduled to be completed in 2012 and 2013, respectively, the first two phases of Storrs Center will include commercial and residential offerings. EDR will develop, own, and manage the apartments in the first two phases which include approximately 290 studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom apartments.
Andrew Graves, director of building design/engineering of BL Companies said, “ We have been working with Leyland Alliance for a number of years and have been involved with them in a number of projects. EDR is new to the team and they bring expertise in residential communities near universities. We see our relationship with our clients as co-creative collaborators. Our role on this particular project was to help manifest a shared vision of a new place, a center, a gathering place for the Town of Mansfield Conn.. As part of the process all of the stakeholders needed to be involved in a way that bought out a common vision that could still encompass the diversity of ideas and goals of all involved.”
As part of the early approval process of the master plan for the project, sustainability guidelines were introduced as a way of ensuring that all of the future development would be environmentally responsible. Guidelines are based on the LEED building rating systems.
The project features water efficient plumbing fixtures, low maintenance, native and locally adaptive landscaping, high efficiency mechanical systems, thermally efficient building envelop, low VOC building materials, and materials with significant amounts of recycled content.