East Hartford officials are working to salvage a years-long redevelopment agreement with developers Avner Krohn and Brian Zelman after the pair missed a key construction deadline for a large-scale apartment complex planned for the former Showcase Cinemas site.
The town transferred ownership of the 25-acre property to Krohn and Zelman for $1 on June 12, 2025, with the expectation that construction would begin within one year. After that deadline passed on June 12 of this year, Mayor Connor Martin granted the developers a 90-day extension to resolve outstanding issues before the town considers further action.
Martin told the Town Council during its June 16 meeting that terminating the agreement now would likely spark lengthy litigation while making the project even more difficult to complete.
“This is not something I was looking to do, however I don’t think it is in our best interest to end the project today and to be in litigation with the developer over the next couple of years trying to get this property back,” Martin said.
Under the development agreement, the town could revoke the project’s tax stabilization agreement because the construction deadline was missed. Martin said doing so would make the development financially unfeasible.
Instead, the town is exploring ways to keep the project alive. Martin said officials are discussing whether Krohn and Zelman could hand the project off to another developer or reduce its scope to move it forward.
Martin said the development remains close to becoming a reality but has encountered several obstacles. One question is whether the project — which is receiving about $10 million in state funding for infrastructure — will be subject to prevailing wage requirements. Infrastructure bids have also exceeded available funding, Martin said.
In addition, the Capital Region Development Authority, which is administering the state funding, is seeking a performance bond to ensure the project is completed.
“It is all hands on deck for the next 90 days,” Martin told the Town Council. “We will put in as much time as necessary to chart this path forward and see where we are at the end of 90 days.”
East Hartford selected Krohn and Zelman in 2021 to redevelop the former Showcase Cinemas property into a high-density, market-rate apartment community intended to help spur the revitalization of the aging Silver Lane corridor.
The project has advanced in fits and starts over the past several years as rising interest rates and construction costs complicated its financing.
Under agreements reached with the town in 2022, Krohn and Zelman initially committed to building at least 360 apartments in an amenity-rich development, although town approvals gave them the flexibility to build as many as 477 units.
The following year, the developers successfully petitioned the town to reduce their minimum commitment to 300 apartments, while maintaining that their goal remained to build more than 400 units.
The town conveyed the property to Krohn and Zelman last June after the developers demonstrated they had access to approximately $70 million needed to complete the required 300 apartments.
Agreements with the developers do not include a provision allowing the town to reclaim the property if the project is not completed, although it does allow for potential financial penalties and the possible revocation of the tax stabilization agreement.
Zelman said Wednesday he remains “extremely confident” the project will move forward. He noted that his team has already invested millions of dollars in predevelopment work.
“We are all committed to sitting at the table and working through these issues together,” Zelman said.
Zelman said the momentum of redevelopment along Silver Lane has only strengthened the project’s prospects. He pointed to Pratt & Whitney’s plan to add a 465,000-square-foot building to its nearby campus, the town’s efforts to redevelop the Silver Lane Plaza shopping center and the arrival of new restaurants in the area.
“We are still excited about the project,” Zelman said. “We think it’s great for East Hartford. Since we began this process years ago, a lot has changed in terms of development momentum. We are even more confident right now.”
