🔒Hartford’s economic development director resigns after 18 months

Hartford Economic Development Director Patrick Pentalow has submitted his resignation, effective Aug. 1, following 18 months in the city role. Pentalow, a former Wethersfield Town Council member, was appointed to the job by Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam in the first days of his administration. He has been a visible figure working on the city’s drive to expand market rate apartment housing and retail in the downtown. Pentalow, on Tuesday, said he does not yet have another job lined up, but would like to work in economic and community development in a bigger role. “I just want to do what I am doing now, but I want to serve a community in a larger capacity,” Pentalow said. Regarding the departure from the Hartford job, Pentalow said he was following a “gut feeling” that it was the right time to leave. He plans to enjoy the summer and spend time with family while he explores his career options. “I think I just accomplished what I set out to accomplish here,” Pentalow said. “It’s in a good place, where I am comfortable leaving it. There have been a lot of seeds planted.” Those seeds include private developers’ plans to open housing for up to 200 University of Connecticut students downtown by August 2026, as well as an ongoing effort to demolish a long-empty data center on 3 acres next to Dunkin’ Park. The city’s current plan would replace the data center site with a hotel, parking garage and artificial intelligence hub. “I really appreciate Pat’s service to the city,” Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said Tuesday. “We worked closely on a number of projects.” Arulampalam said he received Pentalow’s resignation earlier this week and has not yet determined how to identify a replacement. In the meanwhile, Arulampalam said, he’s confident the city’s development services staff can handle the economic development workload. “Moving forward, we are hoping we can attract someone to this role who will continue to build on some of the big movements we have had in economic development,” Arulampalam said. “There is a lot of wind in our sails.” That progress, Arulampalam said, included the building of new upscale apartment blocks and conversion of office buildings to multifamily use in the downtown, a drive to build an AI hub to cement and grow the corporate presence in the city and a push to redevelop the Constitution Plaza office park. “Our hope is there will be no shortage of folks who want to participate in building on that potential,” Arulampalam said. Pentalow garnered praise from prominent officials and developers who learned of his pending departure Tuesday. Randy Salvatore – who has built 417 apartment units in and around downtown Hartford since 2022, and has more under construction – described Pentalow as responsible, reliable and knowledgeable. “He follows through on what he has to do for the city,” Salvatore said. “In that role, it’s critical cities have people who are responsive, who understand processes for economic development and continue to move things forward. I’m sorry to see him go.” Anthony L. Lazzaro Jr., deputy director and general counsel for the Capital Region Development Authority, said he would often have daily interactions with Pentalow concerning developments large and small. He called Pentalow “one of those rare individuals” who understands both the economics of development and the mechanics of government. “Pat was an asset for the City of Hartford, especially for the CRDA,” Lazzaro said. “I think he’s going to be missed on the big-picture projects, as well as a lot of the smaller ones.”