Former Hartford HealthCare manager builds 300-plus unit CT real estate portfolio

By his mid-30s, Alex Ilchenko said he was managing more than 150 Hartford HealthCare staff providing inpatient and outpatient dialysis and rehabilitation services. A decade into his nursing career, Ilchenko had established himself in management when a real estate opportunity in late 2019 changed his career path. His attorney, who is also a family friend, was selling two four-unit apartment buildings in Burlington. Ilchenko used his savings and proceeds from the recent sale of his Avon home to make the down payment on the $680,000 purchase of the buildings, which were constructed in 1971. Ilchenko quickly caught the real estate bug and began buying more properties. “I always wanted to do my own thing and build something,” Ilchenko, 42, said during a recent interview. “I felt if I could do this 10 or 12 more times, I could quit my job and work for myself. After buying my first property, I felt this is something I can do and I’m passionate about.” By early 2024, Ilchenko’s portfolio had reached about 150 units. He decided that expanding further would require him to leave his healthcare career and focus entirely on real estate. With the support of his wife — Mi Hong, a nurse practitioner — Ilchenko quit his job to focus full time on Blue Key Property Group. Today, Ilchenko owns 80 apartments outright and has a stake in more than 220 additional units spread across Connecticut. In August, Blue Key marked another milestone by moving from the second floor of a 4,264-square-foot Farmington office-and-retail building Ilchenko bought for $500,000 in 2022 into a newly acquired headquarters building in Plainville. The Farmington property — which hosts a barber shop, hair salon and accounting office on the first floor — is under contract to be sold, Ilchenko said. Blue Key’s new headquarters is a 5,061-square-foot building at 62 Newtown Ave., which Ilchenko purchased for $250,000 in January. Built in 1960, the property gives the company room for its staff as well as lawn mowers, snow-removal equipment, trailers and other maintenance tools needed to service its growing portfolio. Blue Key is operating out of the building while it undergoes extensive upgrades, including new siding and a complete interior renovation. Ilchenko is using Blue Key’s in-house contractors as well as subcontractors who regularly work with the company. He estimates the renovation will cost $100,000 or less and be completed by October. Investor backing Many of Blue Key’s properties have been acquired through joint ventures with investors, Ilchenko said. In 2020, Ilchenko said he ran out of cash after making the down payment on his second investment property, a 1,475-square-foot, four-unit apartment building in Canton that cost $375,000. Eager to continue buying, he approached doctors he knew through Hartford HealthCare and offered them opportunities to invest in properties with projected returns of 10% to 20%. Ilchenko and his investors bought at an opportune time, as residential real estate values began to soar. “The way the real estate market trajectory went after COVID, everything doubled in price, so, obviously, the returns were a lot higher than projected because the market increase was so high,” Ilchenko said. Blue Key’s primary focus remains on Connecticut multifamily properties, a top-performing real estate sector where competition for deals is significant. To make his offers more competitive, Ilchenko said he sometimes waives contingencies, giving up conditions that could allow him to back out of a purchase. He is also interested in diversifying into other types of real estate, including retail, hotels, conversion opportunities and industrial properties of up to 40,000 square feet. “We look at everything,” Ilchenko said. “We don’t rule out anything until we review the deal.” Blue Key is also branching into ground-up construction. It completed a four-family, 4,032-square-foot apartment building in Canton in 2024. Ilchenko is seeking land-use approvals to build 14 townhouse-style apartments on a 3.4-acre Simsbury property that already contains two office buildings. Constructed in 1984, the buildings total 13,766 square feet. He also hopes to begin construction this fall on a two- or three-family building on a vacant downtown Bristol lot he bought for $5,000 in May. Bristol expansion Blue Key has focused significant attention on the small central Connecticut city of Bristol. Last year, Ilchenko and his investors paid $3 million for three buildings on nearly an acre along North Main Street in downtown Bristol. Built in 1913, the properties contain 26 apartments and six ground-floor retail spaces. In July, Blue Key paid $4.1 million to a New York-based seller for 40 apartments spread across six downtown Bristol buildings, each containing six to eight units. Five of the buildings are more than a century old, including one constructed in 1860, the year before the start of the Civil War. The most expensive property in the portfolio, a 3,044-square-foot, six-unit building completed in 2013, sold for $615,000. Ilchenko said half of the units in the newly acquired properties have been renovated, while the remainder still need upgrades. Blue Key isn’t finished buying in the city. Ilchenko said he expects to close within weeks on another Bristol portfolio containing four buildings and 20 apartments. The firm targets properties that can benefit from renovations and improved management, supporting gradual rent increases. Ilchenko said he tries to avoid steep rent hikes because he wants to retain existing tenants. Blue Key has grown to 11 employees, including an office manager, two property managers and eight contractors. That has allowed the firm to provide property management and light construction services for other multifamily investors, while building capacity for its own continued growth. “It gives us an opportunity to scale up,” Ilchenko said. “We are fully staffed, so we could easily keep growing. Right now, our team is well-equipped to manage a 500-unit portfolio.”