The land would give the West Hartford-based developer unconditional vehicle and utility access to its site at 341 East River Drive.
East Hartford is preparing to give nearly 1.8 acres of town-owned land near the Connecticut River to the Simon Konover Co. to help advance a long-planned 150-unit luxury apartment complex.
On Tuesday, the Town Council voted to send the proposed donation of 1.79 acres along East River Drive to a subcommittee for review. The land would give the West Hartford-based developer unconditional vehicle and utility access to its site at 341 East River Drive, where it already has approvals to build four apartment buildings on 10 acres.
“It’s really just an excess piece of land East Hartford owns,” Konover Vice President Newton C. Brainard said. “Transferring it to us will clean up a lot of historical easement and access issues that are painful in a lot of different ways. It will allow us to control our own entrance.”
In exchange, Konover would grant the town a 468-square-foot parcel within the East River Drive right of way. The developer has already agreed to transfer far larger pieces of its 35.3-acre property: 6.9 acres occupied by a middle school to the Capital Region Education Council, and 19.7 acres to the town as conservation land.
Konover is working to finalize financing and aims to break ground in the second half of the first quarter of 2026, Brainard said. Construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months.
“We are happy to get this going early next year,” Brainard said. “We are looking forward to it.”
East Hartford Mayor Connor Martin Town said the relatively small land contribution is justified by the project’s economic returns — new tax revenues. In May, East Hartford approved an eight-year tax abatement valued at roughly $5.2 million.
Consultant Mike Goman of Goman + York estimated the $28 million development would generate about $4.2 million in real estate taxes in its first decade.
Martin said the project also bolsters East Hartford’s broader push for riverfront and Silver Lane redevelopment. The Konover site sits just south of the proposed “Port Eastside” project, a plan backed by a group of local business leaders to remake Founders Plaza into a mixed-use district featuring about 1,000 housing units and roughly 400,000 square feet of entertainment, restaurant and retail space.
Martin also noted Konover’s earlier donation of land abutting the Great River Park trail.
A final Town Council vote on the land transfer is expected in January.
