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May 12, 2023

70-unit apartment building proposed in West Hartford 

Google Maps 579 New Park Ave., West Hartford
By Michael Puffer

West Hartford-based multifamily developer and investor Hexagon Group is hoping to use the town’s recently adopted transit-oriented district to build dozens of apartments in a four-story building at 579 New Park Ave.

On Thursday, Jason Li, of Hexagon and architect Bret Bowin, of Urform LLC, approached the town’s Design Review Advisory Committee to present a tentative concept for a 70-unit apartment development at the New Park Avenue address.

Today, the 1.2-acre property hosts a 7,626-square-foot truck storage garage built in 1947, according to assessing records. It sits across from a LifeStorage facility and flooring sales and installation business, and next to Tile America, on a commercial and industrial strip that has seen rising interest in multifamily development with the advent of the transit-oriented district zoning implemented last June.

The district allows developers to build higher multifamily residential densities in a district near mass transit, with preference granted to applications that incorporate affordable housing, clean energy and underground parking in designs.

Members of the Design Review Advisory Committee – an advisory board meant to help vet and guide projects – voiced concern Thursday that the proposal might be too dense.

Town Planner Todd Dumais objected to plans to run the entry drive under a portion of the proposed building to access parking, and suggested shaving off a corner of the building instead. That would cost several units, something committee members suggested might be accommodated with shrinking unit sizes to increase counts.

Li, speaking after the meeting, said he hopes to keep unit sizes and counts by orienting the structure differently. 
 

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