Hartford moves to sell parking lots to developer planning 84-unit apartment building
HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER
(From left) Spectra Construction & Development President Daniel Klaynberg, Evan Levy and Matthew Levy are partnered in the nearly-completed conversion of the former Hartford municipal building at 525 Main St. (pictured above) into apartments.
Hartford officials are moving to sell 0.3 acres near City Hall to developers planning an 84-unit apartment building on-site.
New York-based Spectra Construction and Development Corp., working with its partners, brothers Matthew and Evan Levy, is nearly complete with its transformation of a former municipal office building at 525 Main St., into 42 apartments over retail space.
Now, Spectra and the Levy brothers are moving to launch construction of a six-story, 84-unit apartment building on an associated and adjacent parking area at 17 and 21 Wells St. The project is estimated to cost $20.8 million.
The paved parking area along Wells Street targeted for development is owned by the city.
The city, beginning in 2022, leased the lots to Wonder Works Construction Corp. – an entity owned by Spectra – under an agreement that would allow the company to buy the properties for $162,500, minus lease payments already received, for construction of a new apartment building.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam is requesting the City Council give him authority to finalize the sale to Wonder Works. A public hearing is expected on April 21. The developer has also requested a 26-year, tax-fixing agreement with the city to “make the project economically feasible,” according to a proposed council resolution accompanying Arulampalam’s notice to the council.
The Capital Region Development Authority Board of Directors, in February, signed off on a $7 million low-interest loan to support Spectra’s six-story development.
The plan includes two levels of parking. Over that, the developer would build 56 studio apartments, 16 one-bedroom apartments and 12 two-bedroom units. The building would share amenities with the neighboring property at 525 Main St.
The Wells Street lots are close to City Hall and a short distance off the southeast corner of Bushnell Park, near the “Bushnell South” area that the city and CRDA have targeted for dense multifamily development.
“It was always the city’s intention to build here, and I can see why,” Spectra President Daniel Klaynberg said. “It’s a major connecting piece in the city’s overall development scheme.”
Redevelopment of 525 Main St. is pretty much complete, and the development can start renting after Eversource connects power, which Klaynberg expects to happen in two or three weeks. After inspections, the building can be opened to tenants, possibly by early May, Klaynberg said.
The loan funding approved by CRDA for the Wells Street development still requires sign-off by the state Bond Commission, which Klaynberg also anticipates in May.
Klaynberg hopes to launch construction this summer and anticipates the project will take about two years to complete.
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