‘Adult playground’ with obstacle courses, restaurant planned for vacant department store
A new style of entertainment center that’s currently operating in Massachusetts and Rhode Island may be opening an outlet on the second floor of a former Connecticut Sears department store.
Level99 is proposing to use about 42,000 square feet of the West Hartford space to create a mix of indoor obstacle courses, logic puzzles, escape room-style challenges, scavenger hunts and other interactive activities.
So far the Massachusetts-based company appears to be following the plan that it used with its first locations: Repurposing defunct department store spaces in shopping centers for an entertainment experience with a heavy appeal to young adults.
Level99 started out in Natick, Mass., three years ago with a 48,000-square-foot space in the Natick Mall that had been a Sears. Last winter, it expanded with a Rhode Island in a roughly 40,000-square-foot space in the Providence Place Mall that had been home to a JCPenney.
The company now wants a third unit, and has focused on the busy property near Shake Shackand REI. New businesses have taken over some of the old Sears space, but the second floor has been vacant for years.
Level99 will make its case to town officials and residents next week at a town plan and zoning commission hearing, where the landlord, First Washington Realty, will be seeking a special zoning exception to allow recreational uses at a property that was designated as commercial.
The landlord’s attorney, Alter & Pearson LLC of Glastonbury, contends the entertainment complex would meet the goals of West Hartford’s long-term development plan.
“The proposed tenant use will continue to enhance Corbin’s Corner as a ‘regional center with national chain retailers as the predominant tenants.’ Level99 will be a unique use and revitalize a long-dormant space in a key commercial location,” Alter & Pearson said in a June 21 letter to commissioners.
“As such, it will help ‘[ensure] that residents have convenient access to goods and services; that there are employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for residents and non-residents; and that the town is not over-reliant on residential properties to support its tax base,” the law firm wrote.
The company plans a full-service restaurant with a lunch and dinner menu and a liquor permit. It operates similar facilities inside its Rhode Island and Massachusetts facilities.
Level99 said its Hartford hours would probably be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and and 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturdays. It maintains roughly similar hours in Natick and Providence.
The two existing Level99 locations impose no minimum age requirement, but the website emphasize that the activities aren’t intended for youngsters below age 10.
“While there is no age restriction, this really is an adult playground (remember, you can eat and drink any and everywhere),” Level99 says. “Many of the games are physically and mentally demanding, and younger children will struggle to complete them.”
Admission is based on two-hour, four-hour or all-day passes, which can be purchased in advance online. The two-hour pass runs $24.99 on weekdays, and prices progressively rise to the top level of an all-day pass on weekends or holidays that costs $54.99 for a holiday or weekend day.
Level99 warns that its facilities can get booked on busy summer weekend nights. Its locations host birthday parties and group outings.
The zoning hearing on the proposed West Hartford location is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. at town hall.
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