Landlord trio eye $100M downtown hub via Pratt St.

Rendering | Contributed A trio of prominent Hartford developers are proposing to transform the Pratt Street retail corridor through a $100 million project.

Write a Comment

By Gregory Seay

Three of downtown Hartford’s most active landlords propose a $100 million residential-commercial development linking Trumbull and Main Streets, via the Pratt Street retail corridor.

Landlords Martin Kenny, Alan Lazowski and Shelbourne Group told the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Thursday night the unnamed project would “create a central hub for live work and play’’ downtown.

It would create 375 new apartments and townhomes, plus 45,000 square feet of retail, mainly along the south side of Pratt, where Shelbourne owns much of the commercial space. Of those, 196 units will be created by renovating current student-housing space to the rear of The Lofts at Main & Temple.

Also, the developers’ plan calls for acquiring the building at 900 Main St, owned by late developer Marc Levine, and incorporating its upper living spaces into the project.

Kenny said the project would finally make Pratt Street a vibrant link from Trumbull Street and the XL Center to Main and Morgan Streets, on the edge of the Downtown North quadrant. Lazowski and Shelbourne officials were present.

Their development could complement the ambitious $200 million DoNo redevelopment that Weston developer Randy Salvatore envisions with hundreds of living units, parking spaces and acres of retail space next door to Dunkin Donuts Park.

“We are fully committed to Hartford,” Kenny told CRDA officials. “We know what Hartford can be.’’

The development also would encompass the vacant Talcott Garage, which Lazowski owns. It would undergo a renovation/expansion to create 865 spaces, with another 100 surface slots in a Laz lot fronting Main Street.

This would be the first major joint development involving some of downtown’s most active landlords and involve several significant Hartford area realty investors.

The partnership, in a short presentation outlining development to the CRDA board, said $80 million of the projected cost would be in the form of private equity and debt.

For the rest, Kenny asked CRDA’s board to commit $20 million to the development.

CRDA Chair Suzanne Hopgood thanked Kenny for presenting but the board took no immediate action.