The Stamford developer of Hartford’s four Downtown North (DoNo) parcels on Tuesday said construction could begin on the mixed-use project sometime in April.
Randy Salvatore, founder and CEO of RMS Cos., said his development firm last week filed a site plan with the city of Hartford for “Parcel C” along Main Street, which aims to build about 270 apartment units, ground-level retail and a parking garage with 330 spaces on surface parking lots surrounding Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Plans for the first phase of development, estimated at $46 million, have grown by about 30 or so residential units in recent weeks, city officials say. The quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has pledged $12 million towards RMS’ first-phase development.
“If all goes well with our approval process, I would expect that within the next six to eight weeks that you will start to see some activity on the site and we will be full blown into construction with the idea that this first phase of about 270 apartments would be delivered in about 18 months,” Salvatore said Tuesday morning at real estate promoter CREW CT’s breakfast-forum on planned development in downtown Hartford at the G. Fox Building.
“We are actively working on our final construction and architectural plans,” he told the crowd of developers, brokers, architectes and economic development officials.
Erin Howard, the city’s director of economic development, who also participated on CREW CT’s panel Tuesday, said the site plans submitted by Salvatore will now be considered for approval by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. A new rendering of the DoNo project will be available sometime next week, Howard said.
In an effort to meet residential market demands, Salvatore said living spaces at the estimated $200-million DoNo development — housing up to 1,000 new apartments when the entire project is completed in the next six or so years — will be “highly amenitized” with luxury features unseen in Hartford or across the state. In particular, Salvatore last month said he is committed to bringing a grocery store to “Parcel B” in the second phase of the development.
“Because of the fact that this building is on the other side of [Interstate] 84, I recognize that we need to provide a reason for residents to go across 84 and to live in this development,” he said. “That is so critical to residents today, particularly in urban areas, they are looking for everything that you can imagine.”
[Read more: Here are popular apartment amenities sprouting in Hartford]
Salvatore, which the city selected as its preferred developer for the DoNo parcels, began to move forward with the project last summer after a Superior Court judge discharged the liens on the parcels around Dunkin’ Donuts Park. RMS has recently been at the site conducting inspections and other due-diligence work, city officials say.
Under Mayor Luke Bronin’s leadership, the Stamford developer, who broke into downtown when he bought and redeveloped downtown’s Hartford’s historic Goodwin Hotel in recent years, said he views Hartford as a “development friendly” city that encourages community feedback and collaboration.
“They understand the process and what it takes in order for development to happen,” he said. “You need to get community buy-in to get community input in order to develop a successful project.”
He continued: “That process, that we have gone through, been at it for the past few years … has been an amazing process and the result has been a project that is a lot better than what originally I envisioned for it … .”
Joe Cooper is HBJ’s web editor and real estate writer. He pens “The Real Deal” column about commercial real estate.
