🔒DoNo developer moving to break ground

At one point, it looked as if developer Randy Salvatore’s vision for revamping Hartford’s Downtown North parcels would be the city’s sole redevelopment project for some time.

But in the aftermath of turmoil surrounding the delayed, overbudget construction of the downtown baseball park that led to a weeks-long court trial that ended in victory for the city of Hartford and those parcels being released for development, Salvatore’s proposed $200 million DoNo project has some potential redevelopment company.

A trio of landlord-developers with extensive downtown realty holdings have come forward with their $100 million vision to remake the Pratt Street corridor, from XL Center on Trumbull Street to Main Street and including the Talcott Plaza parking garage.

Landlord Martin Kenny, Alan Lazowski, founder-CEO of LAZ Parking, and Shelbourne Global, a New York realty investment group, are looking to start their first conversions of upper-floor office space along Trumbull and Pratt streets into apartments this fall.

But Salvatore, who says lawyers on both sides are reviewing final terms of his DoNo lease with the city for its parcels, hopes to have construction crews turning dirt — by yearend, at the earliest — on the first phase of his yet-to-be-named development on Main Street, adjacent to Dunkin’ Donuts Park, that will be the site of about a 250-300-vehicle garage wrapped by 200 apartments.

Salvatore says he’s not dismayed by the scope of the Pratt-corridor makeover, nor that it may be first to break ground.

“I think it’s all positive,’’ he said. “Anytime people are willing to put private dollars into the city, it’ll bring more people, more retail and establishments to downtown.’’

Meantime, Salvatore says his design team, New Haven’s Ken Boroson Architects in collaboration with Torti Gallas + Partners, of Washington D.C., a specialist in restoring historic neighborhoods, has assembled sketches and blueprints for review. Salvatore’s firm, RMS Cos., is the builder, he said.

Salvatore said he never lost faith in Hartford or DoNo during the city’s contentious lawsuit with the project’s former developer, Centerplan Construction, that held up his development. However, he admits that, if the judge had not released Centerplan’s liens, it would have thrown the DoNo project into jeopardy.

“I always believed the city would prevail and that these properties would be released for development,’’ he said. “I’m as bullish now as ever on Hartford.’’

Centerplan’s lawyer, Raymond Garcia, previously said his clients would appeal the court’s July verdict that sided with the city.

Salvatore’s first realty foray into Hartford was three years ago, with his $5 million acquisition of the then-shuttered Goodwin Hotel portion of the Goodwin Square office-tower property during the skyscraper’s 2016 sale.

Following an extensive makeover of every one of The Goodwin’s room, lobby and restaurant-bar space, the hotel reopened in spring 2017. Salvatore says the hotel “is doing very well.’’

In Stamford, Salvatore says his boutique Hotel Zero Degrees that opened a decade ago is about to undergo renovation and a rebranding.

In Hartford, Salvatore knows the Pratt-Street redevelopment players, but said they have not approached him about partnering in either their project or his. He acknowledged, though, the possibility down the road.