Work On Apartments For Teachers May Begin In Summer – Hartford Courant

A downtown apartment project stalled for months may finally start construction later this summer, but it would be without building owner Community Solutions, Inc. and its nationally-recognized founder, West Hartford native Rosanne Haggerty.

Developer RBH Group, of Newark, N.J., is purchasing the long-vacant office building at 370 Asylum St. near the western end of Bushnell Park as part of a $20 million rental conversion that would be heavily marketed to teachers.

The six-story Capitol Center building was donated to the nonprofit Community Solutions in 2011 by the foundation of Stamford industrialist Milton B. Hollander and his late wife, Betty Ruth.

Haggerty hoped to develop the building into mixed-income rentals much the same as another nonprofit she founded, Common Ground, had done with success on the next block, at 410 Asylum, which was also donated by the Hollanders and now bears their name. Both nonprofits have worked on developing permanent housing for the homeless and working poor.

Community Solutions embarked on converting Capitol Center in 2013. But after two failed attempts to put together financing, the nonprofit in 2015 sought out RBH as a partner. Community Solutions later agreed to sell the building and step back from the project, retaining only a stake that could give a share of future profits.

"I believe they felt a good project was happening and so, for them, it was mission accomplished," said Ron Beit, RBH's founding partner and chief executive.

Haggerty did not respond to multiple requests by phone and email for comment. A spokesman for Community Solutions also did not respond.

Beit said RBH's financing a combination of public and private funds is nearly complete, but it is under pressure to start construction. The Capital Region Development Authority is lending $4 million, but the authority says it is reluctant to sit much longer since RBH has been involved for about 18 months.

"This project has been one long slog," Michael W. Freimuth, CRDA's executive director, said, "it either starts this summer or we'll have little choice but to redirect our funds."

Beit said rising construction costs have made it increasingly difficult to live within the $20 million and has stretched out closing on financing.

Community Solutions also ran into problems with financing but it was tied more to wanting a higher number of units affordable to low- and moderate-income tenants. CRDA, a key source of taxpayer-backed funding for downtown housing projects, was focused on increasing market-rate rentals and could support the mix sought by Community Solutions.

The conversion now envisioned by RBH is for 60 studio, one- and two-bedroom units, with 70 percent market-rate and 30-percent based on income.

The inspiration for redeveloping Capitol Center comes from RBH's "Teachers Village" in Newark, N.J. The development transformed a rundown part of downtown Newark with the construction of school and affordable rentals, aimed at teachers. The goal was to create a community of teachers who instruct at nearby schools and collaborate where they live.

In Hartford, "Teachers Corner" would be on a far more modest scale, but with the same intent, with the preference for apartment leasing going to Hartford teachers, both public and private, Beit said. Some of the space will be used for space where teachers could pursue further education, he said.

Beit said he envisions plenty of demand in a city where the public schools employs 1,710 teachers. The starting salary for a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree was $48,946 for the 2016-2017 school year, according to the Hartford Public Schools. The average salary was $76,694, the school system said.

Estimated rents for a studio would range from $747 for an affordable unit to $1,184 for a market-rate unit; $747 to $1,493 for a one-bedroom rental; and $882 to $1,751 for a two-bedroom apartment, Beit said. Parking, under the building, is not included.

Beit said he expects the units to be ready for occupancy for the 2018-2019 school year, with pre-leasing to begin this spring, an aggressive construction schedule.

Community Solutions still is pursuing the $32 million conversion of the historic Swift & Sons gold leafing factory in the city's North End.

The factory would be used as a Community Food and Job Creation Hub that will serve three neighborhoods in the northern half of the city. The space is expected to include commissary space for Bear's Smokehouse, an indoor aquaponics farm growing produce, food incubator space and a community health clinic.

Haggerty and Common Ground had gained national attention after converting a dilapidated hotel in New York's Time Square in the early 1990s to permanent housing for the homeless, part of a redevelopment wave that took Times Square from seedy to family friendly.

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Work On Apartments For Teachers May Begin In Summer - Hartford Courant