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January 8, 2025

Spectra Construction, partners seek $7M CRDA loan for new 84-unit apartment building in Hartford

Michael Puffer | Hartford Business Journal Left to right: Spectra Construction & Development President Daniel Klaynberg, Evan Levy and Matthew Levy are partnered in the nearly-completed conversion of the former municipal building at 525 Main St., pictured here, into apartments. The trio is also seeking a loan of up to $7 million from the Capital Region Development Authority to help pay for construction of an 84-unit apartment building on neighboring lots.
By Michael Puffer

New York-based Spectra Construction and Development, and its partners, are seeking a low-interest loan of up to $7 million from the Capital Region Development Authority toward construction of a new 84-unit apartment building near Hartford City Hall.

The $20.66 million project will move forward on a 14,000-square-foot parking lot at 17 and 21 Wells St.

Spectra these days routinely partners with brothers Matthew and Evan Levy. Together, they are close to wrapping up conversion of a former municipal building at 525 Main St. into 42 apartments over three retail spaces. The first units are expected to be occupied in February.

Spectra is currently leasing the adjacent Wells St. lots from the city. Spectra has an option to purchase the properties for $162,000, provided the city accepts its development plans.

contributed
A rendering of Spectra Construction & Development's proposed six-story, 84-unit apartment building at 17 and 21 Wells St. 

These properties are steps from City Hall. They also back up to the “Bushnell South” area around Bushnell Park. The city and CRDA are working with various developers to transform empty lots and underused buildings in that area into a vibrant new neighborhood centered around multifamily housing.

“This is very central to all the redevelopment happening in Hartford,” Daniel Klaynberg, Spectra’s president, said of the planned Wells Street project. “It’s just another piece connecting different parts of the city.”

The new building would be adjacent and connected to the renovated 525 Main St., and tenants would share amenities, including a lounge, theater, games room, business center, pet spa in 525 Main St, as well as parking and bike storage in the newer building.

The project will be introduced to the CRDA’s Housing & Neighborhood Committee at a meeting Friday morning. Staff of the quasi-public development agency are recommending a loan of up to $7 million at a fixed rate of 2% to 3% over 10 years. Loan repayments would be interest-only during construction, a period not to exceed 30 months.

That would be paired with $2.1 million in developer equity, $10.14 million in a construction loan, and $1.41 million in deferred developer fees to finance the project.

The new wood-framed building is planned to have four floors of apartments over two floors of parking, with 58 spaces. The building will include 56 studio apartments, 16 one-bedroom units and 12 two-bedroom units. The exterior sheath will mix porcelain or metal panels with glass.

Spectra is one of the busier developers in Hartford. The company has led about $1 billion worth of apartment and condominium construction in Connecticut and New York. Its ownership portfolio, with partners, includes about 1,000 apartments in New York and Hartford. This includes more than 550 apartments the company and partners have created in six converted office and hotel properties in Hartford since 2011.

Spectra, working with the Levys, is also converting the upper floors of a former fire station at 275 Pearl St. into 34 apartments, with the first units expected to be ready for occupancy in March. The conversion of the first floor into a 4,200-square-foot restaurant space will take longer.

The new year will also see Spectra and the Levy brothers launch a conversion of a 33,000-square-foot office building near the northern edge of Pope Park into 48 apartments. The partners paid $1.5 million for the former United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut headquarters at 30 Laurel St. last year.
 

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