HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER
Carlos Mouta wants to convert a former coffee shop in his Parkville Market into a hookah bar and cigar lounge.
April 21, 2025
Focus | Construction & Design
Hartford’s popular Parkville Market adds events space; more attractions coming soon
HBJ PHOTOS | MICHAEL PUFFER
Developer Carlos Mouta in a roughly 12,000-square-foot events space recently opened beside his Parkville Market in Hartford.
After nearly $1 million in renovations over the past year, a new events space adjacent to Hartford’s Parkville Market opened its doors in late March.
The roughly 12,000-square-foot space was created on the lower level of a warehouse-style building, at 1390-1400 Park St., immediately next door to the market.
The new gathering space will allow the neighboring Parkville Market to grow its slate of community events and respond to growing demand for rental space, said developer Carlos Mouta.
Before the new venue opened, Parkville Market hosted small events — like monthly salsa dancing classes, “princess brunches” and even a wedding — that increasingly bumped up against room capacities.
“There were a lot of cases in which we didn’t have a big enough space,” Mouta said. “We actually had requests for weddings that we couldn’t do.”
The far larger events space — which can seat 430 people and has a standing-room capacity of about 700 patrons — will bring in new visitors to the Parkville neighborhood, helping make this up-and-coming section of Hartford more attractive, Mouta said.
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra, for example, is renting the market and adjacent events space for two days in May for its Bravo! Gala fundraiser. Mouta also has visions of hosting concerts and comedy nights featuring widely known acts.
“We used to sell out events all the time,” Mouta said. “Now, we can go bigger.”
Adjusted vision
Mouta has been a busy developer of apartments and commercial space in the Parkville neighborhood for decades.
His portfolio of revitalized properties includes Pope Commons (1200 Park St.), the 360 Main apartments, Hartford Design Center and Design Center Lofts (1429 Park St.).
He is widely known for creating the Parkville Market, an indoor bazaar of multicultural food stalls and bars in a converted 20,000-square-foot lumber warehouse.
The market opened in 2020 following a $5 million conversion. The Capital Region Development Authority assisted that effort with a $3.5 million loan, which has since been repaid.
In 2022, the CRDA signed off on a $4 million loan to support Parkville Market’s second phase of development, focused on the adjacent 34,475-square-foot industrial building. At the time, Mouta planned to redevelop the property by adding a bar, distillery and events space on the first floor; events space and food stalls on the second floor; and rooftop entertainment area.
Mouta, however, never tapped that loan, in part because a furniture store had a longer-than-expected lease to use the second floor as storage space.
Instead, Mouta turned to other funding sources to build the first-floor events space. A C-PACE energy efficiency loan covered about 75% of the roughly $1 million renovation; equity covered the rest.
The project involved replacing and relocating support columns to allow a wider central space. Lighting, HVAC systems, plumbing and bathrooms have been upgraded. The facility has two newly constructed bars and other cosmetic improvements.
The result is a hip, industrial-looking gathering space.
There is more work to do. Mouta plans to convert about 5,000 square feet of storage space into a kitchen and bar by the end of this year. He may also add a golf simulator, ax-throwing lanes and room dividers that would allow different events to run simultaneously.
Mouta said he doesn’t currently have any plans for the second floor of the industrial building at 1390 Park St. If that space becomes vacant, he will develop it consistent with market demands, he said.
In another nearby 10,010-square-foot building he owns, at 1420 Park St., Mouta is vetting an idea for a “dog bar,” where patrons can bring and treat their four-legged friends.
Hookah bar on deck
Mouta envisions the Parkville Market and surrounding amenities as a campus where visitors can spend a day. And he has more amenities planned for the market itself, including a hookah bar and cigar lounge.
Glastonbury resident Abdul Al-Qadomi, 40, is seeking a special permit from the Hartford Planning & Zoning Commission to open the Rose Hookah & Cigar Lounge in a former coffee shop space located in the lower level of the Parkville Market.
Al-Qadomi said he wants to create a relaxing, “VIP” experience where patrons can smoke and enjoy food from the market’s vendors.
“It basically gives an upper-scale seating area for the market,” Al-Qadomi said.
Al-Qadomi already operates two businesses within Parkville Market, Taste Mediterranean and Sugar and Bean Coffee. He also plans to soon open Pizza Picasso, a new pizza and burgers restaurant on Park Street. Al-Qadomi said the new restaurant will cost about $100,000 to establish. He expects to spend more than $400,000 on the hookah and cigar lounge, including a special ventilation system.
Al-Qadomi said he’s bullish on the future of Hartford’s Parkville Market and neighborhood, and believes the area’s proximity to bustling West Hartford will translate into success.
“It’s an area with good potential,” he said.
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