Manchester hotel proposed for apartment complex conversion
MANCHESTER — A developer seeks to convert an extended stay hotel on Spencer Street into more than 100 apartments, counting in part on commuters’ interest in easy highway access.
ParedimPartnersproposes remodeling the 104 units at Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, 191 Spencer St., into 84 studio or one-bedroomapartmentsand24two-bedroomunits, a pre-application notice before the planning and zoning commission says. The commission is to discuss the proposal at its meeting Monday at 7 p.m.
Paredim, which owns and manages apartment complexes through much of the state, also wants to create four to six more units at the Spencer Street site in areas used for officesandconferenceroomsandexpandand upgrade the gym.
Thecompanyisundercontracttopurchase theproperty, whichthetownappraisedin2016 at $2,156,900. Owned by Kautilya Manchester Hotel LLC, the property includes seven buildingstotalingabout78,560squarefeetona 3.7-acreparcel, accordingtoassessor’srecords.
The current units are 500-800 square feet, all with kitchens, in six buildings. A seventh building houses a reception and lobby area, kitchen, bar area, gym, laundry facilities, management offices and two large conference rooms. The complex also includes a sports court and swimming pool. Paredim’s proposal includes replacing the sports court withlandscapedrecreational areas, including a fire pit and grill station.
Thecompanyseekschangestozoningrules to allow conversion of hotels and motels to multifamily developments. The draft regulation would be patterned after the regulation allowing conversion of historic mills to multifamily developments, according to the pre-application review.
The site’s proximity to I-84 and other highways makes it “extremely attractive for commuter residents,” the document says.
“This type of interest is not asurprise given the uncertainty in the hotel industry stemmingfromthepandemic,” townplanningand economic Developer Gary Anderson said of the Paradim proposal.
Lined with retail and service businesses, the Spencer Street commercial corridor sits between I-84, I-384 and the East Hartford border. Development includes ongoing construction of Spencer’s Landing, anover-55 apartmentcomplexthatAndersonsaidistobe completed this year, and the finished conversion of the former All Star Sports Bar at 119 Spencer St. into an auto dealership.
Also, the former Lynch auto dealership property at West Center and Spencer streets and Hartford Road recently was sold, Anderson said.
Other big changes since 2012 include the sale of the Squire Village subsidized housing complexin2016toJonathanRoseCompanies, which spent about $13 million on improvements that included renovations of all 379 units and a new 7,000-square-foot community center.
The big hole in the picture is the site of the former K-Mart at 205 Spencer St., which sits vacant withnorecentdevelopmentproposed. In 2013, the planning and zoning commission approved Wal-Mart’s application for a 152,430-square-foot supercenter store at the site, but Walmartabandonedtheplan in 2017, a decision in line with a nationwide retreat from brick-and-mortar retail and the rise of e-commerce. The decision was good news for Shoprite, which anticipated a death blow to its Spencer Street store if the supercenter had been built.
The PZC meeting is to be shown on Cox Channel 16 at channel16.org/CablecastPublicSite/watch/1?channel=1. To speak at the meeting, fill out a form at manchesterct.seamlessdocs.com/f/RequestToSpeak Planning, by 4:30 p.m. on the day of the meeting.
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