UConn's Board of Trustees approves West Hartford campus sale

A vote happened on Friday in which the board approved the sale for $5.2 million.

"We are very pleased that we were able to pull this together," said Scott Jordan, UConn's executive vice president and chief financial officer.

The vote for the 58-acre property was unanimous.

Gov. Dannel Malloy announced earlier this week that the Seven Stars Cloud Group Inc. plans to move its global headquarters to the site.

It's a $238 million project being called "Chain Valley." The company plans to renovate five buildings on the property.

Malloy said the endeavor is expected to generate 330 jobs over the next five years.

Aside from board approval, the sale of the property also needs local approvals.

UConn moved its West Hartford campus's operations to Hartford last fall. It said it no longer needs the West Hartford property.

The Town of West Hartford had the opportunity to purchase the property first. However, the deal fell through.

"UConn's role in this transaction is to sell the property," Jordan said. "We have no contingencies on the sale for permitting, environmental, zoning or otherwise. Seven Stars Cloud will take that up with the town."

West Hartford issued a statement earlier this week that said working to develop the property was a priority.

"We did our part to maintain these buildings in usable condition for the next person and in that case, it was money well spent because it preserved the value of the buildings for Seven Stars Cloud," Jordan said.

UConn said there will be a period for public comment; however, if everything goes as planned, it anticipates closing on the property to happen in early fall.

The school said it will use the money from the sale for capital projects, including removing contaminants at the former site of the UConn-Stamford parking garage.