MANCHESTER — The town has sold the Broad Street Parkade site for $3.6 million to the prospective developer of an $80 million mixed-use housing and retail project with 232 apartments.
After a 2022 request for proposals, Manchester selected Texas-based Anthony Properties to develop five properties formerly home to a blighted strip mall: 296, 324, 330, 334, and 340 Broad St. Under the developer’s site plan, approved in December 2025, the roughly 21.6-acre site will have a residential component accessed from Green Manor Boulevard with four 48-unit buildings and four 10-unit buildings, supported by a clubhouse and other amenities, and 13,000 square-feet of commercial “pad sites” with frontage on Broad Street.
The housing portion would feature 96 two-bedroom units, 88 one-bedroom units, and 48 studios, with 381 parking spaces on-site and along Green Manor Boulevard.
Director of Planning & Economic Development Gary Anderson issued a statement Thursday confirming that Manchester has closed on its sale of the Parkade site to Anthony Properties for $3.6 million, allowing the project to break ground “within the month.”
“This marks a major milestone in the town’s ongoing redevelopment efforts on Broad Street,” Anderson said. “The agreement signals the start of a transformational project, resulting from years of dedicated planning and public investment, and establishes the groundwork for the long-term transformation of the site.”
As part of the agreement, Anderson said, Manchester will contribute to public infrastructure projects that will support the project and “ensure long-term functionality of the site.” Planned improvements to Green Manor Boulevard will better address the needs of the new development and the wider public, and the extension of the Bigelow Brook Greenway through the project site will connect Broad Street as a whole to downtown Manchester, Center Springs Park, and the Cheney Brothers Historic District.
“These investments build upon prior public improvements in the corridor and reflect a continued strategy of leveraging private development to improve public spaces,” Anderson said.
Anderson in his statement that said town officials have identified new construction at the Parkade site as a “major piece” of broader plans to revitalize Broad Street, and the project by Anthony Properties reflects the town’s vision for a walkable, mixed-use district in the area.
“With the signing of this agreement, Manchester takes a significant step forward in realizing that vision and advancing a new chapter of growth and investment in the community,” Anderson said.
Redevelopment of the Parkade site would be the culmination of nearly two decades of efforts by town officials, starting in 2008 when the Board of Directors charged the Redevelopment Agency with creating a plan to revitalize Broad Street. The following year, the Board of Directors adopted the RDA’s plan and voters approved $8 million in bonds for Broad Street redevelopment.
Manchester purchased a blighted shopping mall in 2011, demolished the property in 2012, and chose Canadian developer Live Work Learn Play to study potential development of the site in 2013, following a town bid that only Live Work Learn Play responded to. The town signed a contract with Live Work Learn Play to redevelop the property in 2016, but the contract lapsed in 2018 before construction began in part due to legal issues surrounding some of the land.
In 2019, the town began negotiations with Easton-based developer Manchester Parkade I LLC, and the two signed a redevelopment agreement for the Parkade site in 2021. Manchester declared the contract null and void in 2022 and issued a new request for proposals, ultimately selecting Anthony Properties to explore redevelopment of the site. Manchester Parkade I LLC sued the town soon after, alleging a breach of contract.
The town settled the case for $2 million in 2023, allowing negotiations with Anthony Properties to resume and leading to a new agreement that was signed in 2024.
Article Source: https://www.ctinsider.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-manchester-parkade-redevelopment-housing-22234295.php