Hartford Business Journal

12 Hartford Business Journal • February 24, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com W hile many old va- cant office build- ings in Hartford have found new life in recent years, a key block that welcomes visitors downtown has struggled to be redeveloped. A number of separate landlords controlling an office building, former Jewish synagogue, and the previous downtown home to the Hartford YMCA on Jewell and Pearl streets say they have been unable to redevelop their historic properties due to financial or logistical reasons. Meantime, another vacancy sprout- ed in the area last month when the city decommissioned the old Hartford Fire Department headquarters, add- ing 64,000 square feet of empty office/ storage space to an increasingly quiet Pearl Street corridor. The mothballed buildings — sur- rounding performing-arts venue TheaterWorks — are some of the first properties visitors see when entering the city's central business district off Interstates 84 or 91. They are also surrounded by five parking lots that occupy prime downtown real estate and serve as ideal loca- tions for infill development. City and economic development of- ficials say the area has plenty of rede- velopment potential that could build off TheaterWorks into an arts hub, or add new housing and dining options. But a larger, collective effort to transform the block is challenging because each of the properties and parking lots have different owners, including some with limited devel- opment experience. "They are all coming at it from dif- ferent perspectives, and I don't know if it translates into a larger effort," said Michael Freimuth, executive director of the quasi-public Capi- tal Region Development Authority (CRDA). "I suppose it could, but I don't see anybody orchestrating it." Despite the varied interests and lack of coordination there are nu- merous ideas for the area and new reasons for investors and developers to be bullish about it. Last fall, 35-year-old TheaterWorks wrapped up a nearly $6-million reno- vation aimed at giving the theater company a higher profile among the top production houses in Connecticut. The long-vacant former Ados Israel Synagogue next door at 215 Pearl was also acquired last year in a foreclosure auction by Hartford attorney Jose L. Del Castillo, who now plans to invest up to $1 million to convert the 3,900-square-foot brick-and-limestone edifice into an affordable event/meeting space and a "rooftop garden" lounge. Moreover, the city in the coming months is inviting developers and investors to submit proposals to buy and redevelop the three-story fire- house at 275 Pearl. Hartford boosters say the century-old, brick structure would be best suited for apartment, restaurant or craft brewery space. TheaterWorks spokesman Mi- chael McKiernan said a brewery or restaurant would thrive in the area and help visitors extend their stay on Pearl Street. The theater would also welcome another arts venue in nearby vacant buildings, he said. Mayor Luke Bronin said the empty fire station "creates the opportu- nity for us all to think bigger and for property owners in that area to think bigger about what that part of town could be." Sara Bronin, chair of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, said she hopes surface parking lots off Jewell and Pearl streets are devel- oped over the next decade into uses that complement and support future redevelopment projects there. Sara Bronin, also a UConn School of Law professor and architect who is married to the mayor, floated arts and cultural uses as being ideal ad- ditions near TheaterWorks. "If you could see that whole south- ern part of the Pearl Street block converted into arts and cultural uses, that would attract people to the city and would make that area a destination," she said. Gottesdiener weighs in Larry Gottesdiener, the CEO and chairman of Newton, Mass., develop- er and downtown Hartford landlord Northland Investment Corp., is a key player who could help determine the Pearl Street block's fate. Gottesdiener, who built and owns the 36-story Hartford 21 luxury apartment tower, has eyed the 11-story deteriorating former YMCA building, at 160 Jewell St., as a prime target for redevelopment into apart- ments since Northland acquired the property in 2008. (Built in 1938 and expanded in 1972 with 11 floors of office space and transient housing, the YMCA vacated the building in 2006, for new, expanded space in the then- newly renovated XL Center.) In 2015, Northland proposed a $70-million project to knock down the current building and erect a seven-story, 200-unit apartment complex. The project also incorpo- rated converting the historic fire station space into a restaurant or brewery, Gottesdiener said. Northland asked CRDA for a $25-million taxpayer subsidy for the project (including $5 million for de- molition), but its request didn't gain support. CRDA officials have said the proposal was too expensive. However, Gottesdiener said he never got a formal response on why his project was rejected, and that his funding request was in line with the same subsidy, about $100,000 per unit, as the Front Street Lofts, a $35.7-million, 121-unit ground-up apartment development. Gottesdiener said he still believes the tower facing Bushnell Park is "a great site" for multifamily housing, but the city and CRDA are currently prioritizing development on the outer edges of downtown instead of filling in the city's central core, which still has an abundance of parking lots and older, underutilized buildings. He cited the planned mixed-use Downtown North (DoNo) and "Bush- nell South" developments as examples. "While both DoNO and Bushnell South are exciting long-term oppor- tunities, the city and state are at risk of making the same mistakes they made with the Patriots and then the FOCUS: COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT Hidden Jewell Vacant buildings, parking lots continue to blanket a key gateway to downtown Hartford Several historic properties on Jewell and Pearl streets, a central gateway to downtown Hartford, have sat vacant for many years. Some say the area is ripe for redevelopment opportunities, but major challenges remain. SAM RODRIGUEZ | ALL AMERICAN AERIAL LLC

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