A $13 million renovation of the former Horace Bushnell Apartments on Vine Street in Hartford’s Upper Albany Avenue neighborhood is complete and ready for reoccupancy, authorities say.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Hartford developer Sheldon Oak Central, along the mayor and other local, state and federal dignitaries, will officially unveil the renamed 4-40 Vine Street at 35 Vine St.
4-40 Vine now consists of 74 apartments in nine brick, three-story 1920’s buildings on the east side of Vine, between Albany Avenue and Mather Street. The buildings are historically significant and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The buildings were dilapidated and facing foreclosure before Sheldon Oak acquired them in 2012. Four of the nine buildings were boarded and condemned; one had been severely damaged in a fire in 2009.
Twenty-three families remained in what had been an 89-unit affordable-housing complex, officials said. Sheldon Oak helped temporarily relocate those families until their new Vine Street apartments were complete. The units’ new amenities include in-unit washer dryers, central air conditioning and landlord-paid heat and hot water.
Connecticut’s Klewin Construction was general contractor. Hartford architect William W. Crosskey was designer.
The $13 million equity investment that made the project possible was provided by a Red Stone Equity Partners-sponsored investment fund in which Aetna is a major investor.
Eversource also funded the project through purchase of state historic tax credits and state housing tax credits, officials said. The state Department of Housing, and an allocation from the city’s Section 8 rental subsidies also were funding sources.
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