Hartford officials this week began exterior demolition on a hulking, vacant data center next to Dunkin' Park, tearing down a five-story structure that has sat empty and decaying for nearly two decades. The 150 Windsor St. building, constructed in 1968, had fallen into severe disrepair, with vandals stripping away most of its copper and leaving behind discarded drug needles, trespasser refuse, and spent batteries from the power saws metal thieves used to gut the place.
Mayor Arunan Arulampalam marked the occasion by climbing into an excavator and knocking out a boarded-up window during a ceremonial kickoff, according to Hartford Business Journal. He described the demolition as another step toward connecting downtown Hartford with the city's north end, and credited RMS Cos. founder and CEO Randy Salvatore, the state Department of Economic and Community Development, the Capital Region Development Authority, and other partners with advancing redevelopment around the ballpark. Demolition crews had already spent several months removing hazardous interior building materials before exterior work began this week, per the same report.
The roughly 3-acre, city-owned site sits immediately adjacent to Dunkin' Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats, and the nearly 190,000-square-foot structure's unusually designed, 1960s-era concrete construction has complicated the teardown, according to the Hartford Courant. Asbestos and other contamination in the building added further delays, the Courant reported.
Public Funding Figures Vary Across Reports
Hartford is using state funding to demolish the building, though accounts of the amount and its sources differ. Hartford Business Journal reports the city is drawing on $10 million in state funding, including $8 million through DECD's brownfield remediation program and $2 million through an Urban Act grant. Separately, a state announcement reported by Inside Investigator described a $4 million state brownfield grant earmarked for demolishing and abating the 150 Windsor St. property, while the Courant cited a $6 million brownfields clean-up grant as part of the project's financing. A listing reviewed by BldUp put total state grant support for the parcel at approximately $8.4 million through DECD. The discrepancies among these figures have not been reconciled, and BldUp also reported that American Environmental Inc. is listed as the demolition and abatement contractor on the city's permit.
DECD Deputy Commissioner Matthew Pugliese said the state's brownfield program is designed to return blighted properties to productive use, spur private investment, and add taxable property to municipal grand lists, according to Hartford Business Journal's report. The property is expected to be cleared and graded during the first quarter of 2027, with the demolition itself expected to wrap within 60 days.
A Decades-Old Eyesore Finally Comes Down
Andy Bessette, a Travelers Cos. executive and vice chair of the Capital Region Development Authority's board, said he had wanted the deteriorating building removed for decades, per Hartford Business Journal. The broader redevelopment push around Dunkin' Park began more than a decade ago with construction of the ballpark itself, and the former data center's demolition will open the property for redevelopment by RMS Cos., the Stamford-based firm that has steadily built out apartments in the surrounding blocks.
The site sits between Dunkin' Park and the former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus, and officials say it offers a chance to connect existing and planned development into a more cohesive neighborhood. RMS has already completed 507 apartments around the ballpark, including the Pennant, a 270-unit building finished in 2022, and the Portrait, a 237-unit building on a 5-acre parcel where leasing began in March 2026. The developer has also begun site work on a 286-unit building on the same parcel, supported in part by an $18 million low-interest CRDA loan.
Hotel and Apartment Plans Still Preliminary
Salvatore has said a combination of apartments and a boutique hotel remains his current preference for the former data center parcel, outlining in September a potential project with a 120-room boutique hotel and up to 250 apartments. The hotel would most likely be an independent boutique property with a restaurant and meeting space, Salvatore told Hartford Business Journal. He said RMS will still be the developer for the site, but cautioned that plans remain preliminary and that its final use has not been determined.
The parcel is one of four city-owned development sites around Dunkin' Park made available to RMS under a long-term development agreement. It was previously considered as a location for a state-backed AI training and business development center, but Gov. Ned Lamont announced in August that the $20 million state-backed project would instead be located at the State House Square office complex downtown. Salvatore said that decision, combined with the city's demolition plans, clears the way for more detailed redevelopment discussions, and he expects a clearer development concept within the next few months after talks with city officials and other stakeholders.
RMS envisions roughly 2,500 apartments across the surrounding neighborhood and the nearby former Rensselaer campus, though the final number and mix of uses remain uncertain. The company's North Crossing project could accommodate roughly 1,250 of those units, while RMS separately owns the former 12.7-acre Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus at 275 Windsor St., acquired for $3.82 million in November 2023. Salvatore envisions substantial residential development there, potentially mixed with commercial, cultural, or institutional uses, with the full buildout of both projects expected to take another decade.
