Randy Salvatore’s ambitious push to add about 1,000 downtown Hartford apartments has run into a string of supply chain woes, but the Stamford-based developer said he is still on track to begin leasing apartments in late spring. Salvatore said he will begin advertising apartment availability for the first 270-unit building of his North Crossing project […]
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Randy Salvatore’s ambitious push to add about 1,000 downtown Hartford apartments has run into a string of supply chain woes, but the Stamford-based developer said he is still on track to begin leasing apartments in late spring.
Salvatore said he will begin advertising apartment availability for the first 270-unit building of his North Crossing project — located next to Dunkin’ Donuts Park — on May 1.
About half of the building’s apartments will be ready for occupancy in June, Salvatore said. The first tenants will arrive as construction carries on in other parts of the roughly 300,000-square-foot building.
Salvatore’s company — RMS Cos. — has an agreement with the city to develop several vacant parcels around Dunkin’ Donuts Park, with a target of 1,000 apartments.
The project began on a vacant, 3-acre property at 1212 Main St., just to the south of the stadium in 2020. A 332-space garage was completed last September.
The first, partially-completed six- and seven-story apartment building wraps around Trumbull Street to Main Street and then down Morgan Street. The building front faces downtown Hartford’s high-rise office towers. The I-84 and I-91 interchanges are a block to the southeast.
As of March 17, much of the building exterior was still without siding. Many windows were missing. The central area, near the intersection of Morgan and Main streets was further along, with glass in all windows and exterior walls mostly covered in siding.
Salvatore said his contractors faced delays in cabinetry, electrical supplies, roofing insulation, interior doors, appliances and more. Even so, they’ve been rolling with the supply-chain punches, shifting tasks as materials become available to keep the project’s first phase within a few weeks of its original schedule and within its $50 million budget, he said.
“We were waiting for windows for a long time, getting partial shipments,” Salvatore said. “It’s just juggling things. We had issues with a lot of different things like that: electrical, plumbing and the elevator. Nothing held up the end dates but there was a lot more logistical planning.”
Salvatore said most of the amenity spaces should be at or near completion when the first tenants arrive. There will be a game room, fitness center, rooftop lounge, outdoor amphitheater-style cinema and more. The rooftop lounge will offer a view of the neighboring ballfield with everything but the batter’s box visible.
The new apartment building will host a mix of efficiency, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units with upscale finishes, including quartz countertops, luxury vinyl tile flooring and walk-in showers.
Phase two of North Crossing will see 550 apartments and a 530-space garage built on a vacant 5-acre lot at 1139 Main St., just to the west of the first building across the intersection of Main and Trumbull streets.
Salvatore said he recently began speaking with city officials to fine-tune designs. He anticipates gaining site plan approval in time to launch construction in late spring or early summer.
Phase two will be split into multiple parts, with construction of a garage and 237-unit apartment building beginning in summer and lasting about 18 months at an estimated $60 million cost, Salvatore said. A second building containing the remaining units would be built at some later point, Salvatore said.
Future development will follow, using a site at 150 Windsor St., which formerly hosted a data center, and at a vacant parcel at 1261 Main St. The scale and design of those future projects have not been determined, Salvatore said.
Salvatore is also lining up a project to transform the top dozen floors of the struggling Hilton Hotel on Trumbull Street into 147 apartments. Salvatore has described this as necessary to save the hotel from failure, and as a defensive move to protect the value of his neighboring development.
The state Bond Commission has approved an $11 million loan to help fund the conversion. Salvatore said he is finalizing legal agreements for the project with the city and Capital Region Development Authority.
