An affiliate of the West Hartford Housing Authority is proposing to demolish most of a shuttered synagogue to make room for a 49-unit multifamily building.
Trout Brook Realty Advisors, the nonprofit development arm of the West Hartford Housing Authority, plans to retain the front façade, including stained glass, of the existing 1969-vintage Agudas Achim Synagogue at 1244 North Main St., attaching it to a new 20,750-square-foot building on the 1.8-acre property.
Tentative plans for the development will go before West Hartford’s Design Review Advisory Committee at its Thursday meeting. This is a chance for city staff and commission members to hear the proposal and make suggestions prior to a formal submission.
Jill Corrado, CEO of Trout Brook Realty Advisors and executive director of the housing authority, said her group has two options to present. Both have indentical square footage and unit counts but vary in the design of the exterior building envelope. Both would incorporate the front facade of the existing synagogue.
“We are really excited about it,” Corrado said. “It’s a cool adaptive reuse of an existing structure. We wanted to pay tribute to it by not demolishing the entire structure. It has some cool features we want to preserve.”
Corrado said Trout Brook has a purchase-and-sale agreement in place for the property. Trout Brook will apply for funding early in the coming year, which could make for a late 2024 groundbreaking, Corrado said.
Economic Development Coordinator Kristen Gorski anticipates a special development district will eventually be sought through the Town Council to accommodate the proposal. The Design Review Advisory Committee can help address any potential concerns prior to a formal submission, she noted.
“I think they will look to the committee to get an impression of which direction they should go in,” Gorski said. She also complemented Trout Brook’s efforts to work a portion of the existing building into the new development.
Trout Brook “is looking to preserve some of the architectural features of the existing building and really bring back energy to a site that’s been vacant for quite some time,” Gorski said.
The Agudas Achim Synagogue ceased operations as a house of worship several years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Rabbi Chagie Rubin, who previously led the congregation. Attendance had been dwindling for some time, he said.
The Design Review Advisory Committee, on Thursday, will also continue review of a proposal by West Hartford-based Hexagon Group to build a 70-unit, four-story apartment building at 579 New Park Ave. That proposal was first aired in May. The developer is returning to the committee with a new architect and design concept.
The 1.2-acre property Hexagon proposes to develop currently hosts a 7,626-square-foot truck storage garage built in 1947.
