Teaching moment
Apartments in Capitol Center building being marketed to educators
Downtown Hartford apartments are being marketed to teachers.
HARTFORD — Hartford’s Capitol Center building has an enviable location across from Bushnell Park, yet it stood vacant for nearly two decades, a casualty of redevelopment plans that never turned to reality.
But now a Newark, N.J.-based developer is close to finishing up a $21 million conversion of the former office building at 370 Asylum St. into 60 mixed-income apartments. The apartments — studios, one- and two-bedroom units — are being heavily marketed to teachers, from the elementary level to the college level.
The apartments — partly financed by public funding — are expected to be ready for occupancy Jan. 1.
Here are nine things to know about the development:
Why teachers?
The developer, RBH Group, led the redevelopment of a rundown part of Newark, transforming it into Teachers Village, a community of teachers who instruct at nearby schools and collaborate where they live. The vision for Hartford — Teachers Village Hartford — is more modest but with a similar goal: Communities of teachers will support each other and give cities and towns a better chance of retaining educators.
The project’s name has been changed from Teachers Corner to more closely brand it with the Teachers Village in New Jersey.
Are the apartments restricted to teachers?
No. Housing fairness laws would not permit that. But teachers will be given preference with a 10 percent discount off market-rate rents. (The development has 18 units that can be leased at lower rents by tenants who meet certain income guidelines, socalled “affordable” apartments.)
Teachers also are being offered other incentives: a year of free parking, which goes for $120 a month, and a month’s free rent. The offer is being made because the teachers would have to move in the middle of the school year.
How much is the rent?
The starting “asking” rents for market-rate units are $1,100 for lofts, $1,595 for a one-bedroom and $1,980 for a two-bedroom.
What is the teacher market in the city of Hartford?
RBH says the demand by educators could be significant in a city where the public schools alone employ about 1,700 teachers. Will the rents be affordable to teachers?
In the city of Hartford, the starting salary for a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree was $48,946 for the 2016-2017 school year, according to the school system. The average salary was $76,694.
While it is a tenant’s decision on how much to spend monthly on housing, a general rule of thumb calls for spending no more than 30 percent of gross monthly income — before taxes — on rent.
What do the apartments come with?
The apartments include stainless steel appliances, Caesarstone countertops, central air conditioning, heating and hook-up for internet and cable. Building amenities include a fitness room, “internet-based” pay laundry, some covered, indoor parking, a “multipurpose” room, a common kitchen and WiFi.
What about those street-level storefronts?
RBH is seeking tenants for two