Hartford Business Journal

HartfordBusiness.com | March 22, 2021 | Hartford Business Journal 15 block-long, one-lane thoroughfare hugged on both sides by multi- story commercial buildings as an underleveraged asset that could be the cornerstone of Hartford's downtown revival. In 2019 Shelbourne bought nearly all of the commercial buildings on Pratt Street's south side, from 196 Trumbull St. to the building next door up to 57 Pratt St., and is part of a triumvirate of developer- landlords pushing forward with a redevelopment vision they say will not just transform Pratt Street, but the entire corridor stretching from the XL Center and Trumbull Street, to Main Street and beyond to the Talcott Plaza parking garage. Once fully complete, the partners say their ambitious redevelopment will count several hundred new or refurbished apartments; 45,058 square feet of retail on Trumbull/ Pratt/Main streets; and about 1,000 parking spaces for residents and shoppers. The project has been slowed by the pandemic, but some progress is apparent. For example, last summer 32 apartment units debuted at 196 Trumbull St., as part of an $8 million office-to-residential conversion. Lazowski said his development team is ready to begin construction in April on 97 apartment units at 99 Pratt St. Everything's in place to begin work — and demolition has already begun — except a last bit of project financing that needs approval from the state Bond Commission, which is scheduled to meet March 26. The bond commission canceled its first two meetings of the year, stalling the project's start date, but plans to meet in late March, according to a source in the governor's office. "We hope to get that approval soon," Kenny said. Kenny said the project's ultimate success — financially and otherwise — will depend on filling up the apartment units, but a lot of the planning has focused on attracting ground-floor retail tenants. Downtown Hartford for decades has struggled to fill retail space and the pandemic has only exacerbated the challenges felt by small merchants. Vacant storefronts dot much of downtown right now. A recent proposal by the city council to fine landlords with long- term retail vacancies struck a nerve with many downtown businesses and property owners. The measure didn't gain much traction but it did spotlight the frustrations many have had with the center-city's long-term inability to capture more ground-floor commercial activity. Part of the issue, developers and economic-development experts have said, is the lack of people living downtown. Some estimate the city needs at least 5,000 downtown residents to attract more retail activity — like a grocery store, dry cleaner, etc. — beyond bars and restaurants. There are close to 3,000 apartment units downtown today, including 2,000 CRDA- backed units that have been built since 2012, according to Freimuth. Hundreds of more units are in the development pipeline. Kenny said he and his partners are trying to re- imagine retail on Pratt Street, both in terms of the tenants they recruit and lease structures. "The financial stability [of the redevelopment] comes from the residential but you really need some things for people to do," Kenny said. "You need to have a bakery that people can go to in the morning or a beer garden to go to at night without having to get in a car. We have to get live music in this town so we can take advantage of the streets. We have a lot of work to do." Kenny said talks with potential tenants are starting to pick up and they've had some significant in-person showings lately; targets include restaurants, retailers and entertainment-type venues. There are serious discussions ongoing with a brewery to establish a downtown presence. Two Pratt Street favorites — the Professional Barber Shop and The Tobacco Shop — will remain tenants although their spaces will be renovated and moved next to each other. "Most of the people who are looking at new concepts are people who have made money in Hartford before and believe in the city," Kenny said. "Those are the best places to start. People who have run restaurants and businesses here in Hartford and have succeeded." Traditionally retail tenants pay a monthly fixed rent, but Lazowski said his team is rethinking that model to try to attract entrepreneurs willing to take a risk being downtown. That could mean offering rents, at least in the short term, that are tied to a percentage of revenues, giving tenants more flexibility. Kenny said he wants to see a sports-betting facility in the XL Center because that would bring more feet on the street. The redevelopment also stretches beyond Pratt Street to the Sage- Allen building on Main Street. Kenny said final funding for that phase of the project is pending before the Capital Region Development Authority. Plans include converting 42 townhomes in the rear of the building into 88 apartments; 13 townhomes will remain. They'll also need to fill storefronts in that property, including space formerly occupied by the Dish Bar & Grill. Upgrades will also be made to the adjoining Lofts at Main and Temple apartments. Promoting Pratt St., the city Shelbourne's Schlossberg said Hartford has not done enough over the years to showcase its many assets — from its vibrant arts and entertainment scene (during non-COVID times) to its top-notch restaurants, colleges, corporate and other employers and hospitals. "Hartford has not been a great cheerleader for the great resources that it has," he said. "We believe that Hartford is really a sleeper city. It's a secondary city in the Northeast that for 40 years has basically been ignored." Shelbourne wants to change that in several ways. First it's planning, in partnership with the city and other stakeholders, a "Welcome Back Hartford" campaign this spring through the fall that aims to breathe new life into the city as the pandemic increasingly fades into the rearview mirror. Shelbourne Chief Operating Officer Michael Seidenfeld is working on the campaign but declined to disclose many details — announcements could be coming in the next month or so. Seidenfeld said he views the next six months as an "activation period" for both Pratt Street and the rest of Hartford as it begins to recover from COVID-19. A new brand and look is also being developed for Pratt Street as well as a historic district website that will promote restaurants and retail in the area. "So, instead of these small shops having to survive on their own, they're part of a district," Seidenfeld said. "If someone's having a special, if there's an event going on, we're going to use our megaphone through social media, through our website, through other means of communication, to promote it. We have a lot of exciting things coming up to reenergize and bring the life back." Hotel concept In January, the Hartford Business Journal relocated its office to 100 Allyn St., leaving vacant its former home at 15 Lewis St., which is owned by Lazowski and previously served as LAZ Parking's headquarters. Lazowski, who relocated his company last year to the Gold Building, said he still wants to convert 15 Lewis St. into a hotel — despite the severe beating the hospitality industry has taken over the last year. He said he's in talks with Washington D.C.-based Abdo Development, which opened the micro-hotel concept Hotel Hive in its hometown in 2016, and recently bought a building in Providence, Rhode Island to open a second location there. The micro-hotel concept features affordable small rooms (about 250 square feet on average), but also amenities like a rooftop bar. That's the vision for the Hartford hotel. Jim Abdo, president and CEO of Abdo Development, said his company would like to pursue a Hive hotel in Hartford sooner rather than later. It would likely have 100 or fewer rooms, feature a quick-service pizza shop in ground-floor space formerly occupied by Vito's and a rooftop bar with beers and liquor from local breweries and distilleries, Abdo said. It would also fit nicely into the company's strategy of targeting secondary cities. Abdo said if the project moves forward, which hinges on financing availability and market conditions improving, redevelopment of the building would likely take 18 months. "There's a lot of softness taking place in the office environment [in downtown Hartford], there's already a rather substantial amount of apartment development going on," Abdo said. "We just think that's something that will resonate in that marketplace." Jim Abdo A major $100 million redevelopment is in process on Pratt Street (shown above) in downtown Hartford. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED A rendering of the office building at 15 Lewis St. in Hartford converted into a Hive Hotel. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED

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