But that is set to change, as the Depot Campus could see a renaissance as the new home to a planned test driving track for autonomous vehicles and research facility for high-tech transportation planning.
It would be the first of its kind not only in Connecticut, but in the entire Northeast.
UConn is working with a company to build a multi-million dollar "smart city" and research lab, which would allow companies and researchers to collaborate on emerging vehicle technologies and concepts.
The Connecticut Transportation Institute (CTI), which is part of the UConn School of Engineering, and Promesa Capital LLC have been developing plans for this "Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Smart City" and research facility at UConn since about 2019.
"The thought and idea is that we take this property, we do some upgrades, we create kind of a sandbox or a test bed for future technologies that would increase transportation safety," said Eric Jackson, executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute and director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at UConn. Jackson is spearheading the project alongside Steve Cortese, the owner of Promesa Capital.
At the smart city, the possibilities were practically endless, as Jackson said they could test things like traffic signals that talk to cars, smart lights, hydrogen refueling, electric vehicles, self-driving cars and more.
The development would essentially let car or startup companies to rent out the facility, fund research or work with faculty and students at UConn on testing, researching and developing technologies, he said, by figuring out how effective their technology is, how to improve safety or ways to build out infrastructure that help prevent and reduce motor vehicle crashes.
Eventually, the technology and algorithms developed at the Depot Campus could end up in cars, Jackson said.
The development itself is called a "smart city," which Jackson said refers to a worldwide movement in which physical infrastructure is smart and connected, with innovations like driverless cars linked to traffic signals. "So it's really using the Internet and cell service to track vehicles to provide them with information and then prevent traffic crashes or collisions from occurring," he said.
And that's what they aim to bring to UConn.
"It opens up a whole new world of research opportunities to have a facility like this in our backyard," Jackson said, "to be able to be kind of on the ground level of really being able to advance new technologies, work with companies and help with startup companies moving forward."
Construction of UConn's smart city would mean adding a 5G net over the area so that the technology can communicate, and creating physical infrastructure with various driving scenarios to test the vehicles and tech "in a controlled environment that's not going to endanger the traveling public," Jackson said.
"It just came up as kind of the ideal situation," Jackson said, "where the Depot Campus, the infrastructure here is falling apart to a point where it's very difficult that it could actually be used for anything... it can't really be habitable space for either residential or businesses. So this actually sets up really well for us to use it to drive cars around buildings that are kind of beyond repair."
Autonomous vehicle testing facilities, while groundbreaking, aren't completely new to the U.S., as there's a similar one at the University of Michigan, Jackson said. But that didn't diminish the significance of having one here.
"The Northeast is unique in that we have different weather conditions, we have a different driving culture," Jackson said. "So having something in the Northeast where we could interact with either other universities or other startup companies ... in New York or Boston that are interested in testing and deploying this technology, this would put something kind of their backyard, where they would have the ability to bring their vehicles here."
NEXT STEPS
This is all getting closer to becoming a reality as the UConn Board of Trustees is soon expected to vote on an option agreement between the university and Promesa Capital for the purchase of 15 acres of the campus and development of the project.
The total cost is projected around $15 million, which includes the cost of developing the smart city and the purchase price of the land, according to board documents. Promesa Capital would be responsible for fully funding the land purchase and development and operation of the smart city.
"UConn's not paying for any of it," Jackson said. "We're essentially selling the land for Steve to build it out and then develop a partnership for future research and development."
And while they've had no trouble getting people on board for the concept, the actual logistics of development have taken time to sort through, with several different iteration attempts, Jackson said. A previous version of the development included 105 acres, but Jackson sees the scaled down version as a common ground for UConn and Promesa Capital.
"So I think we're finally at a point where we're kind of at the final iteration of what this would look like, and everybody's kind of in agreement that this can move forward," said Jackson, who is spearheading the project alongside Steve Cortese, the owner of Promesa Capital.
Under the new option agreement, UConn would grant Promesa Capital the right to buy approximately 15 acres of land at the Depot Campus for the future development of a Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Smart City and research facility. Jackson said that the agreement should be ready for approval during the next Board of Trustees meeting, which is next month.
The one-year option agreement would give Promesa Capital time to complete design documents, cost estimates and seek zoning approvals from the Town of Mansfield, according to the agreement. Promesa Capital may then close on the sale after certain conditions are met, including financing confirmation and completing an operating plan acceptable to the College of Engineering, and would then enter into a purchase and sale agreement with UConn.
Promesa Capital would invest the money to do the upgrades, put the infrastructure in, and ultimately, work closely with the Transportation Institute to operate the facility, Jackson said.
©2024 Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
