Housing with a history
Conversion of former student housing downtown into apartments takes name of Sage-allen, historic department store that occupied site for nearly a century
HARTFORD — The courtyard in the old college housing at the rear of the former Sage-allen & Co. department store property in downtown Hartford is all concrete and not much to look at, much less spend time in.
Developers who are converting 42 townhouse, dormitory-style buildings into 78 garden-style and 13 townhouse rentals have plans for a courtyard with patios, commercial grills, benches, strings of lights above and Astroturf under foot.
Astroturf was chosen because the courtyard is right above a 343-space parking garage.
“Rather than it being blah, we want to make this pop,” Martin J. Kenny, president of Hartford-based Lexington Partners, said Wednesday, during a tour of the property. “This, to me, looks a little bit like a Hollywood setting. We need to fill in the blanks a little.”
Interior demolition is now well underway on the $9.1 million conversion, at Market and Temple streets. The entire property will now take the Sage-allen name, after a store that drew shoppers for nearly a century, and will include what had been called the Lofts at Main and Temple.
The Lofts face Main Street, with the student housing behind them, and incorporated the historic facade of the Sage-allen store. But the name never gained much recognition, Kenny said. Upgrades and improvements also are planned for the former Lofts — now the Sage-allen Residences — as part of the project. The converted student housing will be christened the Sage-allen Apartments.
The conversion of the student housing will include studio, one- and two-bedroom units averaging from 724 to 1,377 square feet. Ten percent of the units will be leased as “affordable” units for a 10-year period. Average monthly market-rate rents will range from $1,378 to $2,150, with parking to be included, at least for the first year.
The larger, four-bedroom townhouses will average 1,449 square feet with an average market-rate rent of $3,180.
Plans call for granite countertops,
stainless steel appliances and new cabinetry. Amenities will include an upgraded fitness center and a business center with an area to privately participate in Zoom meetings. The parking garage will have electric vehicle charging stations.
Kenny and his partners — Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC of Brooklyn, N.Y., downtown Hartford’s largest commercial landlord, and parking magnate Alan Lazowski — are pushing ahead at a time when the path of the pandemic remains uncertain.
Kenny said he is optimistic about leasing the new apartments but he says it will be crucial to find storefront tenants for the building facing Main Street and elsewhere in the heart of downtown.
“That’s going to be the difference-maker to having people live downtown,” Kenny said. “And we’re really hoping that corporate Hartford will start coming back to work.”
Surges in COVID-19 have delayed the return of office workers to downtown several times. Last week, The Hartford Financial Services Group pushed back the return of senior managers amid concerns about the omicron variant.
Kenny said he is upbeat about leasing storefront space. He’s entered final negotiations for a locally-owned Mexican-themed restaurant in space formerly occupied by Dish, at the corner of Temple and Main streets. He’d also like to see a locally-run coffee shop or brewery in the space formerly occupied by Freshii market.
“Our retail has got to be local, and it’s got to be run by local people who care about the immediate area,” Kenny said.
The converted student housing would hit the downtown rental market along with hundreds of other apartments in the next 18 months or so. Those include 270 mixed-income apartments near Dunkin’ Donuts Park, while another 147 could come if the upper floors of the struggling Hilton hotel on Trumbull Street is converted to apartments.
Kenny and his partners also are converting historic buildings on Pratt Street into apartments, which will add about another 100 rentals.
“To me, I’m not concerned,” Kenny said. “It’s like the restaurant center in West Hartford Center. When you get a critical mass of restaurants, everyone gets better.”
Apartment occupancy downtown dipped in the pandemic, but, so far, occupancy has recovered, settling in at the low-to-mid 90% overall, according to statistics from the Capital Region Development Authority for rental projects they have helped finance.
The Sage-allen project is a complex one because the mortgage on the property, which had been in foreclosure, had to be purchased, pushing the total cost to nearly $36 million. CRDA has loaned $2 million in state-taxpayer backed funds to the redevelopment.
The conversion of the student housing is part of a larger, $100 million vision pursued by Lexington, Shelbourne and Lazowski that also involves Pratt Street and the redevelopment of the Talcott Street garage. Crucial to those plans are a mix of shops, restaurants and entertainment spaces to transform the area into a destination from both inside and outside the city.
The existing student housing, first built for the University of Hartford, was never considered a resounding success in attracting college students to live downtown. It is often overlooked, especially when the pandemic forced downtown employers to cancel summer internship programs. Interns often stayed at the townhouses in recent years.
Kenny hopes changing the name to Sage-allen will open a new chapter for the property by drawing back on its roots. A mural of the department store building in its heyday will grace the courtyard. Framed historic photos are planned as artwork for hallways.
“We love tying into the history and this place has such a rich history of the department store — that and G. Fox,” Kenny said. “When you say Sage-allen, everyone knows that.”