Hartford Business Journal

18 Hartford Business Journal • May 18, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Hartford apartment leasing slowed by COVID-19 crisis By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com A pair of long-awaited apart- ment conversion projects in downtown Hartford wrapped up in recent weeks, adding more than 300 new living units to the center city's steadily growing residential market. However, the early April debuts of Spectra Pearl at 101 Pearl St. and the North Armory at Colt Gateway were overshadowed as COVID-19-related business closings caused financial uncertainty for some prospective renters and marketing challenges for building operators. Leasing at both properties has been slower than initially projected this spring, landlords say, as a hand- ful of potential deals with residential and commercial tenants fell through due to the public health emergency. "The challenge is it's still a secret. A lot of people don't know it's done be- cause there aren't feet on the street now," said Jeffrey D. Ravetz, principal of New York City developer Girona Ventures, referring to the completion of the 101 Pearl St. apartments. Girona partnered with Wonder Works Development and Construc- tion Corp. in the $50-million conver- sion of the former office buildings at 101 and 111 Pearl St. into apartments. They also own hundreds of other apartments downtown on Trumbull Street and Constitution Plaza, all under the Spectra banner. It only took six months to lease up the 101 studio, one- and two- bedroom units at 111 Pearl St., which debuted just over a year ago. Because that building leased quicker than anticipated, Ravetz said he expected the 157 units at 11-story 101 Pearl St. to be fully occu- pied by this fall. But that likely won't happen since it has 20 apartments, or 13% of all units leased. "When we leased 111 Pearl St. we leased it during what we viewed to be a challenging period," Ravetz said of disruptions on-site caused by ongoing construction at neighboring 101 Pearl. "101 should have at least been able to lease up at the same rate of six months." Ravetz said three prospective commercial tenants, including at least one food-oriented business, were negotiating lease terms to oc- cupy most of the 15,400 square feet of retail space at 101 and 111 Pearl, but those deals have been put on ice. "We had three tenants that had other locations and wanted to be in the epi- center of downtown Hartford and our projects were going to have 258 ten- ants right on top of their heads," Ravetz said, noting that he's still bullish on future leasing. "At some point this will be further and further in our rear-view mirrors and we will be in better times." Colt Gateway, the final piece of a $120-million redevelopment of the former Colt gunmaking facility ad- jacent to Interstate 91 on Huyshope Avenue, has experienced similar leasing challenges. "Ashley Percy, a leasing manager at Colt Gateway, says the property has leased 26 of the 48 studio, one- and two-bedroom units at the five-story North Armory building. That hasn't met leasing goals, but Percy said she's still pleased with the level of inquiries for space at the North Armory, converted for $14 million by the development team of Hartford-based CG Management Co. and majority partner Chevron Corp. "Without COVID-19 we were hoping to be 90% leased by June," she said. "But it really hasn't impacted us the way I thought it would. We've been able to lease a couple units a week, and we are still getting good traffic." Leasing, marketing during a pandemic Colt Gateway and Spectra Pearl are turning to virtual marketing strategies to promote available apartments via social media, email, videoconferencing and other online marketing tools. In- person tours, at a safe social distance, are also provided upon request. Colt's North Armory, which compli- ments 129 apartment units at the com- plex's South Armory, has implemented new maintenance protocols that involve regular deep cleanings of the property. Other rule changes include staggering move-in dates to ensure incoming resi- dents are not sharing common areas, stairwells or elevators, Percy said. The Colt complex is usually busy this time of year with commercial tenants that include insurance-soft- ware and services provider Insu- rity and Hooker Brewery. But the property is much quieter now that nonessential businesses there are either closed or working remotely. "I definitely think things are slower around our community," Percy said. "There's definitely a different vibe around the property but still good." At 101 Pearl, Spectra is also adopt- ing new rules for cleaning common areas, a two-floor fitness center and a 6,000-square-foot rooftop lounge that houses outdoor and indoor seat- ing, a kitchen and outdoor theater area. Other common area amenities being maintained include a bocce court, art studio, pet spa, meditation room, yoga studio and virtual golf/ hockey/baseball simulator. Amenity spaces at Spectra apart- ments, now equipped with hand sanitizer stations and wall signs announcing maximum capacity rules, are expected to be available again the same day Connecticut plans to gradu- ally reopen the state — May 20. "I know that my cleaning expense is going way up," Ravetz joked. "Ame- nity spaces used to be a big attrac- tion. Now it's a little complicated." Spectra also continues to rely on virtual, self-guided tours, which it typically only used for tenants coming from overseas or out of state, said se- nior property manager Laurie Waddell. Although leasing at 101 Pearl has been more modest than expected, Waddell said overall inquiries are up, in part, because people are hop- ing they will get a discount on rent during the pandemic. Spectra is also fielding numerous calls from New York City residents looking for three- month leases to flee Manhattan until the COVID-19 crisis subsides. Waddell said several New York residents have signed leases at Spec- tra properties downtown, including at least one healthcare worker. "We are seeing more leads than we did at the same time last year," she said, adding that lease renewals are also up year-over-year. "We definitely see people wanting a deal." Joe Cooper is HBJ's web editor and real estate writer. He pens "The Real Deal" column about commercial real estate. Colt, 101 Pearl apartment rents The North Armory at Colt has 16 studios, 20 one-bedroom and a dozen two-bed- room units. Units are leasing between $1,195 for studios and up to $2,350 for the largest two-bedroom apartments. 101 Pearl St. has 121 studios, 35 one- bedroom units and one, two-bedroom unit. Rents range from about $1,000 for studios up to roughly $2,000 for the largest two-bedroom unit. THE REAL DEAL Hartford welcomed 300 new apartments at 101 Pearl St. (left and top right) and the North Armory at Colt Gateway (bottom right) in early April. Leasing, landlords say, has been slower than expected due to the coronavirus pandemic. HBJ PHOTO | JOE COOPER PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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