Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 13, 2024 19 Contact Us John McCormick | +1 860 987 4736 | john.mccormick@cbre.com Anna Kocsondy | +1 860 987 4749 | anna.kocsondy@cbre.com www.cbre.com/hartford Boutique Office Space Available 100 Allyn Street | Hartford, CT Under new Ownership, 100 Allyn Street is an excellent choice for tenants seeking boutique, urban office space with a convenient CBD location. Current space available includes a �2,500 SF on the fourth floor, ideal for a small tenant looking for something unique in downtown Hartford. Storage space is also available. 100 Allyn Street is located directly across from the XL Center Coliseum, with parking available in the immediately adjacent lot on Allyn Street. Retail amenities include Agave Cantina Bar & Grill and Aladdin's Pizzeria restaurants. Come see what this unique building has to offer! 100 Allyn Street boasts distinctive turn of the century architecture and high- quality finishes including exposed brick and wood beam ceilings, polished hardwood floors, mahogany wood trim and modern thermopanel windows. Also known as the Crosthwaite Building, 100 Allyn Street was originally constructed in 1911 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Contact Us John McCormick Anna Kocsondy space in Greater Hartford is vacant; CBRE lists Greater Hartford's office vacancy rate at 23.7%.) Luckily for Konover, its office space exposure is limited to just a few properties, including its West Hart- ford mixed-use headquarters, at 342 North Main St. Conversely, on the residential side, the influx of residents to Connecticut during COVID has created the sort of crisis in residential housing avail- ability that a company like Konover can turn into an opportunity. "We see a lot of room for growth in multifamily here in New England, and we've been successful with it over the last six or seven years. That's going to drive our future development, our future investment," he said. Multifamily portfolio Simon Konover Co. is active in building and managing in all sectors of housing, including supportive and workforce housing, Section 8 apartments and luxury developments. Konover says Connecticut needs growth across the board. And despite the controversies over housing bills in the legislature in the last two sessions, he does see movement in the debate. "I think you're seeing at least some towns start to realize that first of all, apartment is not a dirty word, and even affordable housing is not a dirty word. These communities can actu- ally be beneficial in terms of driving local real estate taxes," he said. He is active at the legislature, and has lobbied them on issues like land- lord and tenant regulation, saying that Connecticut does not want to stand out as a state that is not welcoming to landlords and apartment developers. Konover is continuing to innovate on the residential side, including office-to-apartment conversions. Its first foray into such projects will be in downtown Hartford, where it plans to convert the office space above the Society Room on Pratt Street. The project will eventually yield around 40 apartments while preserving the venue space and other retail on the ground floor, at 31 Pratt St. Konover is working with the Capital Region Development Authority on that development, and a separate new build in East Hartford that would lead to 130 apartments on the Connecticut River. Konover says with the expansion of Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford is hot right now, and the development is planned on a familiar model for his firm. "We've built a lot of three-story, multi-building, garden-style apartment communities. They are high end in terms of their finishes, and one of the key components which you're seeing almost across the board in multifamily is that you're providing an amenity package." That means incorporating a gym, community room and other features that allow the development to func- tion as a community. Right direction Brian Zelman was a colleague of Greg Konover during his time at Konover Development, and now his own company Zelman Real Estate has engaged the Simon Konover Co. to manage some of the assets that he's developing in partnership. "He's very savvy," Zelman said of Konover. "There's something to be said for generational real estate; being able to maintain that, staying true to the vision and having the disci- pline to stay strong cycle after cycle. And certainly Greg embodies the qualities that will carry that forward." He also notes the Konovers' long reputation for philanthropy, which he says Greg is continuing. "They're extremely generous," Zelman said. "It's definitely a known and respected name in the community." Greg Konover says he has no plans for wholesale changes at his grandfather's company as he takes the reins. "My philosophy in general is, you don't need to fix what's not broken," he said. "We're certainly going to evaluate what the market is telling us and make changes based on that. But we're headed in the right direc- tion already, and we've been headed in that direction for a while." Simon Konover's West Hartford headquarters at 342 North Main St. PHOTO | COSTAR

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