Bond Commission to weigh $13.5M for Pratt St., Colt apts

HBJ File Photo An overhead shot of Pratt Street in downtown Hartford.

Write a Comment

By Matt Pilon

In its first meeting since September, the state Bond Commission next week will vote on authorizing $13.5 million in loans to spur the creation of 155 apartment units in downtown Hartford.

The bulk of that amount, $12.5 million, will go to a prominent development trio, the Pratt Street Initiative Partnership, to assist with the first phase of their envisioned $100 million Pratt Street revival, while a $1.5 million loan would go to the owner of Colt Gateway to help build out 26 apartments in a recently vacated magnet high school building.

The Pratt Street funding will be in the form of a mortgage and tax-credit bridge loan. It will be used to help with the project’s $30-million first phase, which will convert commercial properties at 196 Trumbull St. and 99 Pratt St. into 129 rental units -- a combination of studios, one-bedrooms and micro units -- as well as nearly 19,000 square feet of retail space.

The upper floors of the two buildings have been vacant for some time.

Construction has already begun at 196 Trumbull, and could wrap up by April, said Martin J. Kenny of Lexington Partners LLC, lead member of the development trio that also includes major Hartford landlord Shelbourne Global Solutions and LAZ Parking CEO Alan Lazowski.

The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) approved the financing back in October.

“Conversion to residential will add new value and life to the street and complement efforts in that area just east of the XL Center,” CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said Thursday afternoon.

Kenny said he and his partners hope to begin work on 99 Pratt St. -- the second piece of phase one -- in the first quarter of 2020.

Future plans include converting several other buildings on Pratt Street into more apartments and redeveloping the One Talcott Plaza parking garage and renovating the old Sage Allen building at Temple and Main street, which the Pratt Street developers have said they want to buy out of foreclosure.

Kenny said the developers need to finalize their conceptual plan for the second phase before approaching CRDA about any additional loans. The plan for phase two includes another 65 rental units and 13,000 square feet of retail space, he said.

He said he's pleased that the financing package for the first phase made it onto the Bond Commission's agenda quickly, particularly amid an ongoing "debt diet" instituted by Gov. Ned Lamont, which has curtailed new borrowing.

“We're delighted the state really prioritized this for downtown Hartford," Kenny said. “That speaks to the importance of the project, and we're gratified the state shares that vision.”

More Colt apts in 2020

Meantime, an affirmative vote for the $1.5 million loan for Colt Gateway LLC, an affiliate of CG Management Co., would allow the company to begin redevelopment work on the last major vacant building at the historic former Colt firearms manufacturing site.

The developer plans to build 26 units on the upper two floors of the building, which is known as the U-Shaped Building. There are also plans for commercial space on the first floor of the building.

CRDA approved the loan nearly a year ago.

Freimuth said if the loan is OK’d by the commission next week, the project is expected to get underway in the new year.

The U-Shaped units, combined with apartments already or under construction in the nearby South Armory and North Armory, would bring the total number of rental units at Colt Gateway to approximately 200.