Vacant former data center in Connecticut nearing demolition date

A former Bank of America data center in Hartford, Connecticut, soon could be demolished thanks to brownfield-related funding to be provided by the state of Connecticut.

A June report from Data Center Dynamics indicates the five-story building has been vacant since the late 2000s.

The report by Dan Swinhoe says a demolition and redevelopment project on the nearly 3-acre site is being assisted by $4 million state brownfield funding allocated by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

A listing from Realtor.com indicates the 255,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1968, with at least one recent owner marketing the building as having the potential to be converted into condominium units.

The Data Center Dynamics report cites local media reports when describing the building as being “in a state of decay and [having] been ransacked for copper piping and other building materials.”

“Old, polluted, blighted properties that have sat vacant for decades do nothing to stimulate our economy, grow jobs and support housing growth," Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont says. "With these grants, we are partnering with towns and developers to take unused, lifeless properties and bring them back from the dead, rejuvenating land that can be used for so much more and can bring value back to these neighborhoods.”

The Realtor.com listing indicates the property’s ownership last changed hands in 2015, when the city’s government purchased it with the intention of working with Stanford, Connecticut-based RMS Cos. on a larger, planned residential development project.

RMS has built a 270-unit complex on land near the former data center. In the meantime, leveling the data center is expected to cost $9.4 million, including using other state and city funds, according to an early September report from the Hartford Courant.

That same report says the demolition project could start soon and could take up to six months.