🔒Once a nightlife hot spot, downtown Hartford’s Allyn Street corridor in search of a rebirth

Once a hot spot for nightlife, the roughly six-block Allyn Street corridor west of downtown Hartford’s XL Center was already trying to regain its footing before the pandemic struck.

Now, with the federal government eyeing a roughly 2-acre parking lot in the center of the area for a new $335-million courthouse, and upgrades underway to get more activity into the XL Center, there is fresh hope for this struggling stretch of downtown Hartford.

The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has launched $15 million in renovations to the XL Center, including the creation of a new sports betting lounge on the building’s western face.

CRDA is also negotiating with Los-Angeles-based sports entertainment company Oak View Group for a deal that could result in $100 million in additional renovations and upgrades to the aging arena, unlocking the potential for more events and the crowds that come with them.

Some investors see building momentum around Allyn Street and are buying in. Others, less bullish, are moving on.

The challenges

A decade ago, Massachusetts developer Dakota Partners spent nearly $15 million renovating an 1884-vintage, five-story building at 179 Allyn St., into 63 apartments with first-floor retail. CRDA supported Dakota’s project with a $3.25-million low-interest loan and $3.25-million equity investment.

Dakota put the building up for sale in fall 2022, with one principal remarking the area hadn’t popped to life as he expected.

“That happens to be a location that is not as we were hoping it would be,” Roberto Arista, a principal with Dakota, said in September. “The bet was this was an area that would turn around. It hasn’t really.”

Arista, in December, said 179 Allyn’s apartment occupancy is above 90%, but the rents the building is able to command haven’t climbed in step with rising costs.

Hugh Russell, who runs the Caribbean-themed restaurant The Russell on the first floor of 179 Allyn, described the area as “a ghost town.”

Russell’s downtown Hartford restaurant — one of three greater Hartford locations — is kept alive by supportive regulars, but only opens for dinner Wednesday through Saturday.

Even so, Russell said he plans to hold onto the Allyn Street location, anticipating brighter days. He expects a boost from the new sports betting facility, even though it will offer food and beverages.

The more dining and entertainment options, the better, Russell said, adding he eventually plans to open for Sunday brunch.

Government investment

Completing the sports betting facility continues to be a challenge. It was originally targeted to debut at the start of the fall 2022 football season, but supply chain problems delayed the opening into the spring.

CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said supply chain delays and shortages continue to be a problem and the hope is now to open in late spring.

There is no formal revitalization strategy drafted for the Allyn Street corridor, Freimuth said, but it’s a priority area with natural advantages. It enjoys charming 19th-century architecture; easy access to highways and public transportation; and is just a few minutes’ walk to the heart of the Class A office towers in downtown Hartford.

Developers seeking assistance to build in the Allyn Street corridor will find a receptive ear, Freimuth said.

CRDA has funded seven projects along and around Allyn Street over the past decade, yielding 255 new apartments in the area.

“We’ve prioritized it for housing investment or any kind of mixed-use investment because we see it as a critical corridor that runs from the XL Center to the train station,” Freimuth said. “It’s really been rebooting what had been the old entertainment district, which had fallen on hard times.”

New investors

Several new investors arrived on or near Allyn Street in 2022.

In December, New York real estate investment company Greyhill Group paid $5.9 million for the 48-unit Union Place apartment building opposite Union Station. Greyhill Managing Partner Moshe Bloorin described the property as holding “tremendous promise,” and said investment will be made to create a product appealing to Hartford’s young and energetic working tenant base.

Around the same time, Simsbury couple Jack and Donna Sennott paid $1.25 million for a century-old office building at 100 Allyn St.

Its first floor hosts the Aladdin Halal and Agave Grill restaurants. The upper floors of the four-story, 24,000-square-foot building host office tenants that include Hartford Business Journal.

Jack Sennott, a former insurance executive, said he is encouraged by a string of high-profile developments across the city, including a new 270-unit apartment building near Dunkin’ Donuts Park and advancing plans for a new neighborhood south of Bushnell Park, among others.

Sennott’s building is directly across Ann Uccello Street from the western edge of the XL Center, where the sports betting lounge is under construction. On the opposite side of Sennott’s office property is the site being eyed for a federal courthouse.

“COVID, obviously, was heavily impactful for (Hartford) and we are going to have to deal with the meaningful Class A office space vacancy rate, and that will take some time to work through,” Sennott said. “That doesn’t stop the fact that the level of residents is increasing and Hartford punches above its weight considerably culturally, whether its Hartford Stage, the Wadsworth (Atheneum), the symphony, the Mark Twain House — we have a lot to offer. Ultimately, that’s what good communities are built around.”

A new sports bar and grill — Exit Hartford — will shortly join the lineup on Allyn Street.

Amin Khan said he and a partner hope to open at 179 Allyn St., in a space next to The Russell, in late March. His plan is to open from 11 a.m. to midnight daily, with a full bar and kitchen serving American fare.

Khan said he already owns two restaurants — one seafood and another pizza — in New Jersey, and had managed a bar in Manhattan. He was attracted to Connecticut because his sister’s family lives in the state.

Khan said he and a business partner decided to open in Hartford — rather than Bridgeport, New Haven or elsewhere — because of the city’s Hart Lift program, which offers matching grants of up to $150,000 to outfit spaces for new, ground-floor retail and restaurant ventures.

Exit Hartford qualified for the maximum grant amount.

Khan said he looks forward to the new sports betting lounge because the more dining and entertainment options available in the area, the greater the attraction.

“We are just making a bet,” Khan said of his investment. “It’s a gamble. Hopefully we can bring some life and entertainment to the area.”

Across the street, the former home of the popular Up Or On The Rocks nightclub was put up for sale late last year as a potential redevelopment opportunity.

The 8,800-square-foot, two-floor building at the corner of Allyn Street and Union Place is being marketed as a potential site for a restaurant/bar, retail, medical office space or residential apartments.

Filling the gaps

Aaron Gill, an engineering consultant and developer who volunteers as vice chair of Hartford’s Planning and Zoning Commission, recalled frequenting Allyn Street bars and clubs with his wife shortly after moving to the city from Chicago in 2008.

Gill sees the surface parking lots peppered throughout the city as a challenge, especially on Allyn Street. They leave uninviting gaps. He’d like to see infill development bringing more apartments with first-floor retail.

“That’s one of the worst corridors to think of in the city as far as a waste of space,” Gill said. “Surface parking lots are every bit of a blight on a city as a blighted building. And that neighborhood is inundated with them. So, until we can fill in those areas, there’s naturally a drag on that whole block.”

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said he would like to see the surface parking lots replaced with mixed-use housing.

“I think the key to activating Allyn is infill development that increases density and connects that corridor,” Bronin said.

The biggest surface parking lot in the area — the roughly 2-acre parcel being considered as a finalist location for the new federal courthouse — is jointly owned by Shelbourne Global Solutions, the city’s largest landlord, and Hartford-based business magnate Alan Lazowski.

Shelbourne Chief Operating Officer Michael Seidenfeld said his company is looking to “maximize” the property’s value, while also considering the needs of the community. Shelbourne sees the lot as the strongest contender for the federal courthouse, given its easy highway access and proximity to Union Station, which offers rail and bus service.

It’s a development that would help revitalize the area, Seidenfeld said.

“We have previously explored other possibilities for the site, but at this point we are working with the federal government in their process,” Seidenfeld said.

Another Pratt Street?

Lazowski is a major investor in Hartford real estate development and heads one of the largest parking empires in the nation. LAZ Parking manages the roughly 2-acre Allyn Street surface lot.

Lazowski said he sees the sports betting lounge as a boon for activity on Allyn Street. He agrees the lot he co-owns should be developed, if not as a courthouse, then as a mix of apartments and retail.

Depending on how much land the courthouse needs, it’s possible there would be room for additional infill development, Lazowski said.

He said the area should be revived like the historic Pratt Street retail district — a nearby brick-paved thoroughfare lined with new shops and upper floors either recently converted, or slated for conversion, into apartments.

“That used to be in the mid-80s a very lively street with clubs and restaurants and things like that,” Lazowski said of Allyn Street. “I think it could come back and more could be built. …That whole space from the train station to the XL Center should look and feel like Pratt Street.”