Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

February 24, 2025 Deal Watch

Middletown’s vibrant downtown, geographic strengths attract new developments

COSTAR A recently completed apartment building in the first, 240-unit phase of Springside Middletown.
By Michael Puffer

By the close of January, about 30 tenants had moved into Springside Middletown, a roughly 480-unit luxury apartment complex taking shape off Newfield Street in Middletown.

The finishing touches of the Springside's first, 240-unit phase — announced as an $83.5 million endeavor in 2023 — are expected to be completed in May. A second phase of roughly equal size is planned.

The team behind Springside Middletown includes Harbor Group International -- a real estate investment and development firm that, with its affiliates, controls about $20 billion in assets -- and Northeast-focused PB Development. 

Peter Petron, managing director of asset management with HGI, touted the Middletown site’s proximity to major highways and employment centers, like New Haven and Hartford, as well as the vibrancy offered in Middletown.

Springside will provide contemporary apartments in a previously underserved market, Petron said. Middletown’s nearby downtown is “replete with restaurants, music, culture and other activities, including those at Wesleyan University,” he said.

Middletown — a city of nearly 48,000 residents — is experiencing an increase in development interest, as is its smaller, suburban neighbor Portland just across the Connecticut River.

Samuel Gold, executive director of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, noted the advantage these communities share being along major routes near the center of the state.

Middletown and Portland are also working to add public amenities like the Air Line rail trail, which would connect to both, Gold noted. Located on opposite banks of the Connecticut River, Portland and Middletown officials are working separately to open up access to this long-underappreciated natural resource, Gold said.

Middletown’s vibrant downtown, well stocked with quality restaurants and retail opportunities, provides a benefit for both communities, he said.

“I think Portland and Middletown have a vision for development and growth and to build off their historic strengths,” Gold said.

Areas of both Portland and Middletown also offer public sewer and water, Gold noted, which is a great asset for large-scale development.

Portland has been somewhat overlooked for development historically, but the new Brainerd Place multifamily project, if successful, could help change that, Gold said.

That ongoing redevelopment of the former Elmcrest Hospital grounds, a short distance off the Arrigoni Bridge, will ultimately include 229 apartments in two buildings, and 119 units in a building for 55-and-older residents, mixed in with restaurant and retail offerings.

“If Brainerd Place is successful, which I think it will be, it will encourage more development in town,” Gold said.

In Middletown, city officials have partnered with New York-based Spectra Construction and Development on a plan to bring a large-scale, mixed-use project to a municipal-owned site just off Route 9, near City Hall.

Early plans for the “Village at Riverside” development call for a 258-unit apartment building, 19 rental townhouses and 18,000 square feet of amenity space, along with 38,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a new public parking garage.

There’s also a plan to build a pedestrian bridge from the site over Route 9 and into Harbor Park along the Connecticut River.

There are still a few hurdles to clear, including sealing development agreements with the city, Spectra President Daniel Klaynberg said.
Klaynberg said he was attracted to Middletown’s vibrant Main Street and the presence of Wesleyan University, which enrolls just over 3,800 undergraduate students.

There’s “a lot of activity in an area where there seems to be not enough housing to serve the current population,” Klaynberg said.

More broadly, Middletown is engaged in a multi-decade effort to encourage development along its portion of the Connecticut River. Its “Return to the Riverbend” plan includes clearing away blighted industrial and commercial sites that have traditionally monopolized the riverfront, in order to create a 220-acre space for new restaurants, multifamily housing, entertainment, trails and parks.

The state’s Community Investment Fund has provided a $12 million grant to help begin demolition and shore stabilization. The city is interviewing environmental firms to help plan the work, said Christine Marques, Middletown’s director of economic and community development.

Middletown officials are also embarking on a study to determine how to improve four main corridors that run through the city, Marques said.

Middletown’s traditionally “healthy” pace of growth has picked up over the past three years, she said.

“Middletown itself is a big draw for people,” Marques said. “There’s lots of affordable land. We have a Main Street with a very nostalgic feel. There is a very wide appeal. A lot of people feel like they fit in here. We have a lot to offer, and I think that draws people here.” 

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF