National affordable housing developer WinnCompanies announced Thursday its completion of an $18.7 million rehab of the 84-unit apartment complex in Hartford, in what it describes as Hartford’s “oldest neighborhood.”
WinnCompanies acquired the Bedford Gardens complex in the city’s Clay Arsenal neighborhood in June 2024, announcing plans for an exhaustive overhaul of the 10, three-story residential buildings dating back to the 1920s.
Plans called for upgrades to the brick exteriors, new roofs, balconies, windows, HVAC systems, kitchen cabinets, appliances, bathroom fixtures and security features, along with the addition of on-site laundry facilities and a property maintenance office. Nine of the units were to be converted into handicap accessible spaces.
WinnCompanies, on Thursday, touted nearly $3 million in contracts awarded to minority and women-owned business enterprises, along with $7.7 million in contracts for small businesses.
“We’re proud to be able to make long-term capital upgrades that will benefit residents and protect the affordability of this important housing resource for decades to come,” WinnDevelopment Executive Vice President Adam Stein said. “We thank the city, the various state agencies and the dedicated private funders who worked with us to get the job done.”
Apartments at the complex, now named “Claystone Commons,” range from studios to four bedrooms, and are affordable to households whose incomes are at or below 60% of area median income. Twenty-five apartments are also subsidized by project-based vouchers through a Housing Assistance Payment contract with the City of Hartford through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.
The project was backed by private and public organizations, including funding from the state Department of Housing and a loan from the Capital Region Development Authority.
The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority issued tax-exempt bond financing and provided the construction and permanent mortgage, as well as a loan.
WinnDevelopment worked with the city and Rhode Island-based consultant Public Archeology Laboratory to create the Bedford-Garden Streets Historic District and secure its placement on the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the U.S. National Park Service.
That designation qualified the project for federal and state historic tax credits, which were allocated by the U.S. National Park Service and Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office.
WinnCompanies has developed and managed multifamily communities in Connecticut for more than 40 years. The company now owns 10 apartment communities in the state. WinnResidential manages those properties and operates 21 other multifamily sites in Connecticut on behalf of private or non-profit owners.
WNC & Associates provided equity as syndicator of the low-income and federal historic tax credits. Eversource purchased the state historic tax credits with BlueHub Capital serving as its financing partner. The Connecticut Natural Gas Corp. provided energy incentive funding in its capacity as administrator of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund.
Robinson + Cole served as transaction counsel.
Keith Construction of Canton, Mass., served as general contractor.
