301 recast affordable-housing units bow in N. Britain

PHOTO | Contributed New Britain's 235-unit Industria Commons housing development; 66-unit Brytania Square.

PHOTO | Contributed Jay Gauthier Plumbing has chosen this Canton building as its new home.

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A pair of adjacent New Britain public-housing developments dating to World War II are now history, replaced with 301 modern units as part of an affordable-housing makeover whose redevelopment price tag topped $80 million, authorities say.

Owner-developer The Simon Konover Co. in West Hartford recently dedicated the former Corbin Heights and Pinnacle Heights Extension housing communities as Industria Commons and Brytania Square, respectively.

Both are part of the state's ambitious, $700 million initiative to redevelop and upgrade or upgrade thousands of units of affordable apartments, townhomes and duplexes in Connecticut's aging state-supported housing portfolio.

Under its May 2012 winning bid to buy the properties from the state's housing finance agency, Konover Co. razed dozens of apartment buildings making up Corbin Heights and Pinnacle Heights, to pave way for new construction.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority partly financed both redevelopments with proceeds from sale of low-income housing tax credits. National Equity Fund is the tax-credit syndicator.

The 28-month construction price tag for 235-unit Industria, located on Patton Drive, was $44 million, Simon Konover officials said. Haynes Construction of Seymour was Industria's general contractor.

Brytania, located on Jerome Drive, took half as long and cost $12 million to create its 66 units — 14 of which are equipped for handicapped residents. D'Amato Builders of Norwich was Brytania's general contractor.

For both, Konover Residential Corp. is property manager and New Haven's Paul B. Bailey Architect LLC was the designer.

The CHFA and the state Department of Economic and Community Development coordinated with lenders TD Bank and JPMorganChase, respectively, to provide equity financing for Industria and Brytania.

Rents for one- to four-bedroom units in both range from $273 to $1,411 per month, depending on qualifying occupants' household income, a Konover spokeswoman said. However, all the units in that range are full.

More available not long after the Oct. 8 grand opening were three-bedroom units, renting from $1,025 to $1,153 a month, the spokeswoman said.

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Morrow Realty leases

Broker Morrow Realty recently led a series of recent Farmington Valley commercial leases as sole broker.

In Plainville, Oasis Spa leased 1,500 square feet at 95 Forestville Ave. The building is fully occupied. Shi & Chow is the landlord.

CT Nail Spa leased 1,442 square foot retail space at 158 East St. 158 East LLC is landlord.

In Southington, Perfect Spa signed for 1,426 square feet at 722 West St. Southington West LLC is landlord.

In Bristol, landlord 110 Dolphin Road LLC leased 5,000 square feet of industrial space at the eponymous address to Amstek Metal.

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Gauthier Plumbing’s new digs

Canton's Jay Gauthier Plumbing and Heating has purchased a former Canton dental office on Route 44/Albany Turnpike to house office operations.

Gauthier Albany Turnpike Enterprises LLC paid $205,000 to seller Diane R. Drabin Revocable Trust for 325 Albany Turnpike.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties in Avon represented the buyer. Henry Bahre Realty was the seller's broker.

Gauthier currently lists offices at 9 Silver Mine Acres in Canton.

Deal Watch wants to hear from you. E-mail it, along with contact information to: gseay@HartfordBusiness.com.

Greg Seay is the Hartford Business Journal News Editor.

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