Abul A. Islam, president and CEO, at left, and Daniel L. Whittemore, associate vice president, of AI Engineers Inc. in front of the now demolished Broadcast House on Constitution Plaza. Islam now hopes to build apartments at the site. Photo by Cloe Poisson/cpoisson@courant.com.
Plans for housing in downtown Hartford are starting to proliferate, with hundreds of new apartments envisioned for the central business district in the next three to five years.
Builder Abul Islam knows the market couldn’t absorb a flood of units all at once, but he does believe there will be consistent and growing demand for apartments.
Islam is abandoning his plans for a 12-story, $40 million office tower on the site of the old Broadcast House on Constitution Plaza and instead hopes to build an apartment building there with between 120 and 192 units, mostly studios and one-bedrooms.
“There’s a lot more support for residential units now than there is for commercial units now,” Islam told me.
When Islam announced his plans for the AI Technology Center office tower in late 2008, downtown office vacancies were above 20 percent and now stand at more than 30 percent. An office market is considered robust if the vacancy rate is in the low teens. When the rate falls below 10 percent, a market is considered ripe for new construction.
Plans for the AI Technology Center office tower, shown in a 2009 rendering above, is being redesigned for apartments. Rendering by CBT Architects of Boston.
The plan joins others downtown, including the conversion of the old hotel on Constitution Plaza and the former Bank of America tower. My colleague Jenna Carlesso reports that the city’s planning and zoning commission approved the plans for the BofA tower, at 777 Main St. this week.
Read more about the approval here.
Islam told me his plans, which are still in the early stages, include little office space, no more than 20 percent of the building. His firm, AI Engineers, Inc., now based in Middletown, would likely be the sole commercial tenant.
The $45-$50 million development could rise as high as 14 stories and would likely be L-shaped at the corner of State Street and Columbus Boulevard.
Islam said he is not unveiling any renderings or designs until he lines up financing. When Islam proposed his office building, he had a splashy announcement but then found signing tenants and securing financing difficult.
Still, Islam told me he hopes to break ground this year and is in active discussions with potential partners and investors.
Financing will rest heavily on state funding from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s initiative to promote housing for low- and moderate-income households throughout Connecticut. The program is expected to provide $500 million over the next decade.
Islam has already sunk $2 million of his own funds into the project, buying the old Broadcast House. He demolished it in 2009 and since then, it has been a fenced-off, empty lot.
“I don’t want to have a hole in the ground with a fence,” Islam said. “I’m fully interested in building something that will benefit the city of Hartford. I don’t want to sit on this hole or make it into parking.”
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23 Responses to New Apartment Plan For Hartford’s Constitution Plaza Joins Growing List in City
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I don’t have children, but might want a second bedroom for guests or as a home office space.
More apartments but no jobs. I would NEVER move to Hartford even if you gave me the apartment for free. There is nothing in Hartford.
Pete, if I may be so bold, but when was the last time you came to Hartford?
Pete: I love that you freely share your dismal view of Hartford. For the record, better that you just stay where you are – we don’t WANT you in Hartford.
I can see one bedroom or studio units for students or corporate leases, but not a place for families.
no one is building housing for families downtown. the greatest demand is for studios and 1 bedrooms as young people are less interested in having a roomate than they were in generations past. and Downtown residential areas always start with young people because they are the ones who want to go to dinner and bars almost every night. at some point, those young people will want bigger places, and at that time you will see more demand and therefore more 2 bedroom apartmetns built. If you want 2 berdrroms you rent in Hartford 21 or Buy in Bushnell towers.
I don’t know why people still have this mentality that there’s nothing in Hartford. I go out in Hartford with friends at least once or twice a week (and I live in West Hartford). There are plenty of good bars/restaurants. It just needs to get more residents to live downtown to really drive the commercial/retail market. This will help.
Exactly!
Lets not forget about The Whale, The Science Center, The Bushnell…
Nancy,
There would certainly be some two-bedroom units in this development.
This is exciting! Housing for families will prove to be important in a successful downtown, but I think at the moment what is needed is “realistic” affordable housing (as opposed to apartments only people in lucrative fields can afford -and small apartments for young people and retirees is a good place to start). That kind of socio-economic diversity will be hugely important to population denisty as well as spurring different kinds of businesses and offerings downtown.
P.S. On most days there is way more to do in Hartford than a person can reasonably do. I’m often having to make tough decisions and find myself missing fun events. Hartford has a terrific sense of community and although it certainly has it’s flaws and drawbacks, those who bash it do so from a place of ignorance and prejudice. I hope they decide to spend more time in the city and form their own decisions based on real experiences.
@Jane – Well said!!! I love Hartford and find myself frustrated, more often than not, at the quick dismisal from people who obviously know nothing about this city.
It’s sad that in this area its ‘cool’ to dump on Hartford and ‘uncool’ to say anything remotely positive.
Does anyone know of a person who is on a waiting list for a studio or one-bedroom in downtown Hartford?
Ken, I suggest you reach out to Martin Kenny, or PMC group that now owns 55 on the park. they would surely put you in contact with some of their people to you can interview them.
Remember the late 1980′s when condo development was the craze of the day and people would make money by buying pre-construction condos and flipping them in a few weeks? Do you remember what happened next? History is about to repeat itself except this time around we are dealing with apartments with no tenants!
Yes, I agree that Hartford has its positives and there are young people out there who will live downtown as you have close highway access, restaurants and such. I moved out of Hartford and then returned and bought a multifamily on the downtown outskirts and I am so pleased with that decision. I have 2 wonderful single tenants who love it here (and are gainfully employed). Hartford is not much different than other CT town with its share of issues.
I am a huge follower of the city of Hartford. I have stopped believing that Hartford can rebound though. People don’t just poop on Hartford because it is cool to do so. People poop on Hartford because it gets worse and worse. A new Science Center is nice for school kids from the burbs but not an attraction for residents. A few bars and restaurants are expected in a city. What else is there? A grocery store can’t even survive. The new movie theatre will be out of business by next year. Northland is paying for it’s ridiculous love affair with Hartford. Hartford has the bear minimum incentive for any business person to move there. No middle income to upper income person would put their families in danger like that and would have to pay for private schools. Why do that when there are good suburbs schools. No companies move TO Hartford, they just move out. When one of the big musical chair institutions decides to head south, Hartford’s slow death will pick up momentum.
So the market won’t support building apartments in Hartford, so taxpayers should subsidize building where fewer and fewer people want to live? Maybe the city should fix its quality of life issues first so people will actually want to live there and not live there because its subsidized?
I have read all the posts. Johnny and MC make the most sense. I love Hartford. But write this down… This project is a bust. And, if built, it will go the way of the old hotel right next door.
As long as these apartments don’t allow section 8. That’s when sh#t hits the fan
Hartford is just wasting away, and for the Mayor to think that these apartments will do anything to bring back Hartford, he’s dreaming. Mayor Mike should have never broken down the public housing units. That’s when Hartford’s crime went up. Why people still hold him up as being the greatest Mayor is beyond me because he did NOT do much to quell the violence either. All he did was cheer for Franklin Avenue all week long.
The more housing (for professionals) that is developed in downtown the better. The older delapitated office buildings they are generally converting have been brought back to life and created a healthier mix of feet on the street. 10 years ago you might just run into someone asking for gas money, while now you are more likely to see someone walking their dog at 6 AM. As this population grows more entertainment venues will open and the city will become more attractive to companies looking for space. Downtown living is ABSOLUTELY a generational thing, and the nations demographics back this up. Americas cities are on the comeback right now. Why would Hartford be any different? While this particular project has the largest hill to climb, apartments are viable in this city, and the owner seems committed to doing something here. So good for him!
there are like 1000 apartments in the works right now based on office conversions, but there are 3 potential new construction projects. Thats Amazing to me! the more of these surface parking lots we fill the better this city will be!
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