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June 22, 2020

New Britain developer adds 20 downtown apartments

New Britain apartments Photo | Contributed The historic Andrews Building at 132 Main St. in New Britain prior to being renovated.
By Joe Cooper

A New Britain developer has completed a 20-unit apartment conversion of downtown’s historic Andrews building.

Avner Krohn, owner of Jasko Development LLC, in an interview said his firm recently finished a year-long redevelopment of the upper four floors of the 28,473-square-foot building at 132 Main St. 

Krohn declined to disclose the total cost of the “multimillion-dollar” renovation project, which he said was spurred by state historic tax credits. He acquired the property in 2005, and had previously been using the building’s upper floors as office space.

The office-to-apartment conversion adds 20, one-bedroom apartments to New Britain's steadily growing downtown corridor, Krohn said. Several leases have already been signed for a variety of one-bedroom layouts sized 500 square feet to 700 square feet. The first tenants will begin occupancy in early July.

Photo | Michelle Wade Photography
Avner Krohn has been one of the most active downtown New Britain developers in recent years.

The market-rate units, he estimated, are roughly 20% to 30% cheaper than comparable spaces in Hartford and other nearby towns.

“New Britain can really use market-rate housing downtown,” said Krohn, whose firm has now redeveloped three historic properties downtown. “There is definitely a large demand.”

Krohn said renovation work continues on 6,000 square feet of ground-level and basement commercial space that will be suited for either one large tenant or divided between several. Commercial leases are currently being negotiated with a handful prospective tenants, but Krohn said that process has been slowed due to COVID-19-related hiccups.

“We feel that downtown is lacking and needs additional restaurants and bars,” Krohn said. “With approximately 200 apartments coming on market [downtown] in the next year, we feel that for success, the ground floor retail is going to be essential for people being comfortable living and playing in the same location.”

Krohn said Jasko fully gutted the historic property, built in 1903, but was still able to maintain décor that dates back to the early 1900s. That includes preserving original hardwood flooring and crown molding in hallways. Black and white marble flooring in the atrium, and windows mirroring the building’s original style, was also installed to add features reminiscent of the Prohibition era.

Units are also equipped with keyless entry and lighting systems that can be managed from a smartphone.

“We tried to bring the building into the 2020 era with the newest technology available,” Krohn said.

Rendering | Contributed
A rendering of how New Britain's Andrews building looks today after a year-long redevelopment project.

In a statement, Mayor Erin Stewart applauded Jasko's commitment to maintaining and improving historical properties downtown.

“With the opening of Columbus Commons and these new beautiful apartments, close to 100 new housing units have been added to downtown New Britain," Stewart said.

Jasko is wrapping up the New Britain conversion project as it's also looking to build a 111-unit multi-family housing development on vacant Bloomfield land. 

In recent years, the firm has been actively building medical, retail and other multi-family sites in New Britain, Meriden, Bristol, Torrington and Enfield, among other towns in Connecticut. Krohn expects that momentum to continue.

“We have our eyes on additional possible projects in the core of downtown and its neighboring locations,” he said.

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