The return of Carbone’s Ristorante to Hartford has been pushed back by at least six months as construction delays slow progress at its new downtown location.
The upscale Italian restaurant, long a staple of Hartford’s dining scene, closed its South End location in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Its owners are working, with the help of government loans, to reopen in an 11,000-square-foot space in the city’s Front Street entertainment district that once hosted an Apple Cinema.
Under the terms of a $1.7 million low-interest loan granted by the Capital Region Development Authority in 2023, reconstruction of the space was to be completed by Jan. 1.
Late deliveries of construction material have led to delays, CRDA staff said.
On Thursday, the quasi-governmental economic development agency’s Regional Economic Development subcommittee endorsed a proposal to push the completion deadline to Sept. 1 and delay the start of loan repayment until July 1.
The proposal still requires approval from the full CRDA board, but the subcommittee’s unanimous vote — along with strong backing from staff — signals likely support.
CRDA Deputy Director Anthony L. Lazzaro said Carbone’s owners expect to complete construction by June 1, but staff recommended a three-month buffer.
Lazzaro noted Carbone’s owners have already spent about $1 million of their own on the retrofit of the former cinema space before dipping into government loan funds. CRDA staff have visited the site to see how the project is advancing.
“There is good progress at the site,” CRDA Executive Director David Steuber said. “They are moving forward, and so we are not concerned about them eventually completing. We fully believe they will, and I think it’s quite reasonable for them to hit their June soft opening target as well.”
