Amber “Ace” Andaleeb is not a well-known name in Hartford’s development circles, but he and his family-owned real estate company have been active investors in the capital city.
Bloomfield-based Andaleeb Enterprises LLC was recently chosen by the city of Hartford to redevelop a fire-scarred, half-acre site on Albany Avenue into 40 apartments with 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space in two buildings.
It’s an estimated $10.7 million project.
The Andaleeb family has — either independently or with investors — committed more than $6.3 million buying at least a dozen commercial and mixed-use apartment properties in Hartford over the past three years.
Eight of the properties are on Albany Avenue, a well-traveled thoroughfare that serves as a gateway to downtown Hartford, but has also been plagued by extensive blight.
The family got its start on the turnpike in 2008, when Amber Andaleeb, who handles the real estate investments, opened a small convenience store with his mother, Kavita Ahmed, and sister, Neha Andaleeb, at 690 Albany Ave.
The 2,858-square-foot retail building was one of several Andaleeb managed for a New Jersey landlord. Over time, the store evolved into a Boost Mobile location, one of several owned by the family.
The Andaleebs bought that property in 2020, along with an adjacent 10,572-square-foot, mixed-use building for $950,000.
The 2020 purchase represented the Andaleebs first foray into larger multifamily and commercial property investments. Prior to that, they owned a handful of two- and three-family rental homes in the Hartford area and beyond.
Over the last three years, the Andaleebs have remained active Hartford buyers, with a focus on Albany Avenue, where they could find attractive prices on commercial properties in a familiar area with little competition.
Other properties were acquired on nearby stretches of Maple and Farmington avenues and Park Street.