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Updated: September 8, 2020 The Real Deal

Hartford’s troubled nightclub district refreshed with $21M apartment conversion

HBJ Photo | Joe Cooper The Hartford Carriage House is now home to a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. The total 66 units are part of more than 400 apartments coming online in Hartford this year.
By Joe Cooper

Construction is wrapping up on a $21.1 million apartment conversion project that aims to revitalize downtown Hartford’s formerly troubled nightclub district into a key link between the XL Center and Union Station.

Leasing recently started at the 66-unit Hartford Carriage House apartments, at 103-21 Allyn St., after the city’s building department granted a certificate of occupancy for developer Paul Khakshouri.

Residents will begin moving into the three converted historic mixed-use buildings either in late September or early October, according to Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA).

Revival of the century-old buildings into market-rate housing is good news for a corridor that made headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years due to public safety concerns.

One of the converted Allyn Street structures once housed the now-shuttered Angry Bull Saloon, which closed its doors in 2017 after the death of an underage college student who fell from the building’s roof.

Just a few blocks away in 2013, the former Up or On The Rocks nightclub across the street from Union Station closed after two fatal shootings outside the venue.

“We thought it was critical to reboot the entertainment district,” said Freimuth, whose quasi-public agency provided a $6.6-million, taxpayer-backed loan for the project. “That bar district had grown problematic and it was in need of a major reboot.”

In the last seven years, CRDA has helped finance a number of apartment conversions in the area. That includes 26 units at 201 Ann Uccello St.; 66 units at 179 Allyn St.; and 60 units at 370 Asylum St., among other projects.

Developer Constantinos Constantinou is also weeks away from completing the conversion at 28 High St. into a 28-unit apartment complex. CRDA provided $1.9 million for the total $5.5 million project, which is expected to start leasing in October, Freimuth said.

In total, more than 400 new apartment units are expected to debut in Hartford in 2020, despite pressures from the coronavirus pandemic.

HBJ Photo | Joe Cooper
Allyn Street is seen as a key connection between downtown Hartford’s Union Station and the XL Center.

A look inside the Carriage House

After nearly two years of construction, the Carriage House complex is offering 40 studios, 23 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom apartments in a variety of floor plans ranging from roughly 500 square feet up to 1,000 square feet, according to the building’s leasing map.

Rent for studios range from $1,000 to $1,800 depending on the floor plan, while one bedrooms are going for $1,200 to $2,100. Two-bedroom units are priced between $2,700 to $3,000, the leasing map shows.

All of the pet-friendly apartments come with a washer-dryer combo, exposed brick walls and vinyl-plank flooring. Amenities in the building include a fitness center, nearby garage and surface parking options and a so-called “Amazon Hub” for package deliveries.

Khakshouri could not be reached for comment on how many units have been leased. Earlier this year, Khakshouri closed his 116-room Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel at the rear of the Carriage House facility on Asylum Street because of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 20-story building, now dubbed the Bond Residences, continues to operate for short-term apartment rentals.

Freimuth said ground-level retail space of the Carriage House will not include a bar or restaurant, and was reduced to both accommodate additional residential development in the rear while still providing a 3,750-square-foot unit for a service-oriented business like a coffee shop or dry cleaner.

“That increased the revenue stream on the building, and allowed us to shrink the retail space,” he said.

Built in the late 19th century by prominent local business leader George W. Pomeroy, the former Hartford Horse and Carriage Repository building once served as a hub for area residents shopping for winter sleighs, horse-drawn carriages and equine equipment.

Khakshouri acquired the buildings at 103-105 and 109-121 Allyn St. in 2017 from a family that used the upper floors of the facility in recent decades for manufacturing and warehousing space.

The building’s redevelopment started in fall 2018 with a projected completion date set for this spring. However, the project ran into a number of construction delays because of the pandemic. Freimuth said construction was delayed six or so months as the virus forced a reduction in crews on-site and, more recently, slowed the delivery of materials.

The same issues recently occurred at the 28 High St. conversion project, he said.

Joe Cooper is HBJ’s web editor and real estate writer. He pens “The Real Deal” column about commercial real estate.

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