March 21, 2022
Epstein recently served as the consulting architect and food-processing expert for the evaluation of an existing 215,000 square foot agriculture market on a 32-acre parcel in Hartford, Connecticut. The project team, which was led by HR&A Advisors, a NYC-based real estate development company, and also featured MASS Design Group and Commonwealth Ag Strategies, investigated the suitability of the existing facility, the needs of the local agriculture community, and how the redevelopment of the facility could better serve the needs of the residents and food producers of the city and state.
The team ultimately proposed a first-of-its-kind, 188,000 square foot municipal facility that combines aggregation, distribution, cold-storage, value-add food processing, education, research and development, retail storefronts, and a market for farmer-to-farmer transactions. The objective of the proposal is to give the state’s smaller food producers access to the types of processing and distribution that are currently out of their reach.
An article on this study and its potential impact on the region appeared in today’s Hartford Courant -
This project is another prime example of how Epstein strives to live up to its mission statement of enhancing our communities and improving our world.