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28 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 24, 2024 POWER 25 | REAL ESTATE Alexandra Daum F ormer state Department of Economic and Community Devel- opment Commissioner Alexandra Daum has spent the first half of 2024 in a new role set in familiar territory: New Haven. She left her state government post in late 2023 to become Yale University's associate vice president for New Haven affairs and University Properties. University Properties manages Yale's commercial real estate holdings in New Haven. According to its website, it has over 85 retail tenants as well as 500 residential properties in its portfolio. Daum is also tasked with bolstering Yale's impact on the city's "economy, public schools and youth, neighborhoods, local businesses, and community." The Harvard Business School graduate has lived in New Haven with her husband and two children, and has managed a personal portfolio of Elm City properties under a real estate investment firm she founded called Field Properties. She began her career in real estate develop- ment at Trammell Crow Residential in its northern California division. Previously, she worked as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. Since joining Yale, her department has announced several new deals. In April, it was announced that national fashion retailer 2nd Street USA will take over space formerly occupied by L.L. Bean in The Shops at Yale. That same month, Yale purchased for $2.58 million an abandoned industrial factory on Daggett Street that once was slated for an apartment redevelopment. Daum and university officials said there was no plan in place yet for the property, but they noted its key location near Yale and its flagship hospital. Avner Krohn & Brian Zelman D eveloper Avner Krohn has been one of the most active multifamily developers in Greater Hartford. While most of his attention has been on New Britain, Krohn has branched out to other communities including West Hartford, East Hart- ford and Bloomfield. As he expands his focus in Connecticut, the New Yorker has also partnered with West Hartford-based developer Brian Zelman on a string of commercial and apartment developments. One of their biggest projects is a plan to build more than 300 apart- ments on the former Showcase Cinemas site in East Hartford. The duo hoped to be further along with redevelopment of the 25-acre site off Silver Lane, but higher construc- tion costs and interest rates made finding financing more difficult. In West Hartford, they are partnered with Rich and Zach Korris on a roughly $20 million, 48-unit apartment devel- opment with more than 10,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space on Farmington Avenue. Krohn's ongoing developments in New Britain include: • Redevelopment of the former Burritt Bank property on Main Street into a 107-unit apartment building with 5,450 square feet of restaurant space; • Turning the former Amato's Toy & Hobby building into 114 apartments with 3,000 square feet of restaurant space and another 3,000 square feet of retail; • Construction of a new 100-unit apartment building on a city-owned lot near the corner of Main and Chestnut streets that used to house the Strand Theater. Your wealth is a serious endeavor, and we are equally committed to its success. 340 Hebron Ave Glastonbury, CT 06033 gottfriedsomberg.com Avner Krohn Brian Zelman