Hartford Business Journal

26 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 12, 2023 POWER 25 | REAL ESTATE a focus on a percentage of units deemed affordable. "Apartments are where careers go to sleep, and that is what Berlin is full of — careers," Edge said of the professional working population in town. "Residents want access to busi- nesses and businesses want to be near apartments," Edge said. "The mix really works." He also promotes new and existing businesses and business opportunities through ribbon-cutting ceremonies, hosting one every Monday since the pandemic, and an online marketing campaign called "It's All in Berlin," which highlights everything in town from apartments, restaurants, retail shops and events. Edge has been with the town of Berlin since January 2015, after transitioning from a role finding jobs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with the ARC of Farmington Valley in Canton. Previously, he was the director of real estate overseeing CT SiteFinder, a statewide commer- cial real estate database. He also served as the economic development coordinator for the city of New Britain under Mayor Lucian Pawlak. Evan Levy, Daniel Klaynberg & Matthew Levy D aniel Klaynberg, president of Spectra Construction and Development, learned the construction business at the side of his father, Joseph, a prominent developer in New York City and a partner in the transformation of several Hartford office buildings into apartments. Matthew and Evan Levy are members of a family with real estate holdings across Connecticut and Massachusetts. Their father, Coleman Levy, is a prominent attorney long involved in Greater Hartford development. Together, Daniel, Matthew and Evan are combining their resources and talents to build on their family legacies — starting with a long-an- ticipated redevelopment of a former downtown Hartford firehouse on Pearl Street, and conversion of an empty municipal building on Main Street into a mix of apartments and restaurant/retail space. The trio plans to build 42 apart- ments in the municipal building at 525 Main St., and 35 inside the former firehouse at 275 Pearl St., with both buildings featuring first-floor retail. The projects got underway earlier this year, and the partners are confident they will be completed by June 2024, and quite likely even earlier. Daniel Klaynberg, 37, said his construction expertise melds well with the legal and landlord expe- rience of the Levy brothers. Both Klaynberg and the Levy family bring contacts with investors and bankers. "We've had a great time working on these projects together so far," Klaynberg said. "We have a great synergy between us." The development team is designing a roughly 80-unit apart- ment building for the parking lot next to the municipal building, at 17-21 Wells St. They had promised the city to begin building within five years of taking control of the municipal building and firehouse, and are not wasting any time. They hope to begin construction before the end of this year. Meanwhile, Klaynberg and the Levy brothers are partnered in a proposal to build a 600-space parking garage, about 300 apart- ments and 30,000 square feet of retail space on a downtown Middletown parking lot owned by the city. The trio is investigating addi- tional development prospects in Hartford and beyond. TOTAL PROJECT SIZE: 17,000 SF Building For Your Success LIBERTY MAZDA HARTFORD, CT Building car dealerships is a passion of ours. Having previously built their original facility in Hartford, PDS recently completed a renovation to the currently occupied Liberty Mazda building. Totaling 17,000 square feet, this project includes a new drive-in service reception area, showroom, offices, customer lounge, parts department, exterior wall panel, glass and more. PDS is no stranger to the automotive industry. Having built over a dozen dealerships in our prolific history, we work to accommodate your budget and timeline. For over 55 years, PDS has always built relationships based on trust, efficiency, and transparency to provide the highest quality end result. SPOTLIGHT ON: AUTOMOVITVE 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 | 860.242.8586 | pdsec.com THINK • PLAN • BUILD

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