The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) is considering a $6.5 million loan for a planned $45.35 million conversion of two downtown Hartford state office buildings into 108 apartments and a restaurant. CRDA’s Housing and Neighborhood Committee in May gave its blessing to the loan request from a development team consisting of Philadelphia-based Pennrose and The […]
The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) is considering a $6.5 million loan for a planned $45.35 million conversion of two downtown Hartford state office buildings into 108 apartments and a restaurant.
CRDA’s Housing and Neighborhood Committee in May gave its blessing to the loan request from a development team consisting of Philadelphia-based Pennrose and The Cloud Co., of Hartford.
The Pennrose-Cloud team was among six bidders to apply to a state Department of Administrative Services solicitation in 2021, for the redevelopment of the two surplus office buildings at 18-20 and 30 Trinity St.
The buildings are located off the southern edge of Bushnell Park. According to the CRDA, the partners plan to acquire them for a combined $1 million.
Plans call for 108 apartments, mixing studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Twenty percent of the units would be set aside as affordable.
Plans also call for a ground-floor restaurant at 30 Trinity St., and, possibly, interior public space where people could wait, work and take calls in between meetings at nearby state agencies.
For now, the development team is hunting down financing to see if the project is viable. CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth told board members the developers have until August to complete due diligence and commit to a purchase. They are still about $5 million to $6 million short of their targeted budget, but the CRDA approval will be an important step to closing on other funding sources, Freimuth said.
Freimuth said the buildings have some challenges that impact the budget, including central space that can’t be converted into apartments, and structural issues. They are, however, buildings of critical significance, located adjacent to Bushnell Park, the Bushnell Theater and within sight of the Capitol, he noted.
Freimuth said his agency has been working with the development team for about a year trying to resolve the budget and financing hurdles.
CRDA would be able to help the project by setting aside up to 108 parking spaces in its nearby Bushnell South parking garage for rent by apartment tenants, Freimuth noted.
Freimuth said CRDA is speaking with other state officials and agencies to try and close the funding gap. He also said there is a pending federal funding request.
“It’s an answer that has yet to be put on the table, and we have to solve it by August,” Freimuth said.
The CRDA loan will need further approvals from the quasi-public agency’s full board of directors, as well as the state Bond Commission.
The 30-year loan is proposed at 1.5% interest for five years, with a rate adjustment in year five.
