IN PROGRESS: 917 Main Street

[The Voice of Reason]

New Apartments Available In Downtown Hartford

Units start at $900 for a one-bedroom apartment and can go as high as $1,800, he said, adding that the spacious apartments give tenants a lot of extra space for their dollar. A construction manager with Nyberg's College Street company said the units range from roughly 1,200 to 1,600 square feet.

Commercial property owners all have too much space on their hands already

[Chessplayer]

^^^^

Here's the full article:

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news4582.html

[jcrc]

Curtiss Clemens Sr. of Clemens and Sons Realty, which handles downtown rentals and sales, said Nyberg

[The Voice of Reason]

I think this just about sums up the problem facing Hartford.

[beerbeer]

I think the real effect will come in the spring. There will be an unexpected 70 degree day and the folks will all come out of their buildings. On that first really warm day of spring, they will notice what they didn't see in the winter. There are a lot of folks living within a few blocks of each other. Restaurants. coffee shops and the park will be alive with people. Women will be wearing short dresses.

We used to go through this every year at UConn. That first warm day, it was always like, where did everyone come from? Well, they were there all along, just not outside. Suddenly, frisbees were in the air and everyone felt great.

This winter, the CBD has seen increases at H21, Sage Allen open and now AA coming online. That is a significant number of folks in a few square blocks. It's difficult to gauge how much change there has been in the winter, folks get off the streets quickly, they don't linger. It should be an interesting April/May this year downtown.

[The Voice of Reason]

I think the real effect will come in the spring. There will be an unexpected 70 degree day and the folks will all come out of their buildings. On that first really warm day of spring, they will notice what they didn't see in the winter. There are a lot of folks living within a few blocks of each other. Restaurants. coffee shops and the park will be alive with people. Women will be wearing short dresses.

We used to go through this every year at UConn. That first warm day, it was always like, where did everyone come from? Well, they were there all along, just not outside. Suddenly, frisbees were in the air and everyone felt great.

This winter, the CBD has seen increases at H21, Sage Allen open and now AA coming online. That is a significant number of folks in a few square blocks. It's difficult to gauge how much change there has been in the winter, folks get off the streets quickly, they don't linger. It should be an interesting April/May this year downtown.

[T52]

One question that this project will answer is "how important is parking to Hartford's newest Downtown dwellers?"

I know that as other Developers have put their projects together, the parking component has been a drain on the pro-forma interms of first cost, operation and upkeep.

With better local retail and mass transit, lack of parking becomes less of an issue - is Hartford there yet?

[beerbeer]

Okay, March is here. Did the building start renting units?

[The Voice of Reason]

Okay, March is here. Did the building start renting units?

[T52]

A former City building official mentioned that the rooftop eatery will never get a Certificate of Occupancy - has anybody heard anything?

[The Voice of Reason]

A former City building official mentioned that the rooftop eatery will never get a Certificate of Occupancy - has anybody heard anything?

[T52]

I dont care if its against code that would be the best boost to the area come summer.

[The Voice of Reason]

That doesn't sound like you really thought about what you are saying. The codes are there to protect lives and are requisit to any development.

[beerbeer]

So we're being protected from eating on a roof. Absurd. Almost every city has some rooftop dining. Can you eat on Black-eyed Sally's roof deck.

[HartfordTycoon]

So we're being protected from eating on a roof. Absurd. Almost every city has some rooftop dining. Can you eat on Black-eyed Sally's roof deck.

[T52]

I don't know, but you can party on the roof a Blu and they haven't shut that practice down. It would be absurd if the city won't allow this bar to open the way the owners envision it. Isn't there rooftop dining at Elbow Room?

[beerbeer]

The way the code works in Hartford is that it protects the friends of Eddie Perez and punishes the others.

[T52]

The way the code works in Hartford is that it protects the friends of Eddie Perez and punishes the others.

[jcrc]

As a former Construction Manager, you understand that the issue is not if you can create such a space but rather what is required by Code if you are going to create such a space. The code is generally not an obstruction to developing but rather a foundation for creating spaces that address life safety, energy and create accessibility for those with mobility issues. If there is a problem with the roof top eatery, I am pretty sure it can be addressed from a technical perspective but perhaps the cost of the solution isn't justified by the potential income derived by it. It may be hearsay and therefore I am reluctant to mention exactly what I heard but it seems that all of the required aprovals/permits were not in place for the wor completed.

For what it is worth, I have been involved with construction for more than 35 years with more than a billion dollars worth of construction experience in this country and others. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't learn something new about codes, regulations, conflicts between code requirements, construction problems and technologies - it is all still great and I have tremendous respect for the system that creates safer, more pedestrian freiendly environments. A few years ago there was a night club fire in RI that resulted in a lot of deaths that is a pretty good example of the risks associated with not paying attention to code requirements. By abiding by the standards put forth in the codes we are not assured that there will be no life safety issues but rather that the risk of problems will be reduced to an acceptable level of risk.

[beerbeer]

This gets dumber by the minute. Good grief.

[T52]

This gets dumber by the minute. Good grief.

[jcrc]

I'm not sure it got dumber - my first post was a question if anybody had any insight on the problem based on a non-specific comment that I heard last week and it quickly turned into a discussion of building codes as a tool to thwart development vs life safety etc.

Typically, L&I looks for a sign off from Zoning, Design Review , Advocacy, Engineering, Army Corps, DEP, STC etc. but I believe that the responsibility for the having all requird approvals in place lies with the owner/developer/contractor. If sombody missed a step, shame on them. Navigating through the process is not an easy task and is particularly difficult when you are changing usesand adding to old buildings.

Lets hope they make it through the process and make it happen.

[beerbeer]

Hartford inspectors are notorious for bleeding businesses dry. Thye ask for change after change after change until the money is gone and all that is left is an empty store front. Ask Corny Thompson.

[The Voice of Reason]

I went inside the building and I can say with confidence that this place will fill up fast. The prices are much more reasonable than other places recently opened, and they are BIG. I really think they should reconcider selling it as condos. Many units would sell immediately, and they could just rent what does not sell.

People including myself have indicated the lack of parking as a problem. I am no longer worried about it. If you work downtown you likely have company paid parking, or at least company assisted. Filling these 100 apartments will not be a problem.

The lobby is even pretty nice, and the whole downstairs is quite a bit nicer than I expected. I have been to woodys after work and seen that area ad a disaster. now that Quiznos is back open and the apartment lobby is fixed up, woodys looks great in there. they even finished up one of the street front retail units to look like some kind of office. not sure what, but just a basic office.

They plan on gorilla marketing the building. no major press. craigs list, napkins at clubs etc. They really only want "young" renters.

there are 4 signed leases and they literally just started showing units. In fact today they held their open house for industry people (other realtors). The building opens its doors at the end of the month. There is still lots of little details to finish.

Cheers

[HartfordTycoon]

I went inside the building and I can say with confidence that this place will fill up fast. The prices are much more reasonable than other places recently opened, and they are BIG. I really think they should reconcider selling it as condos. Many units would sell immediately, and they could just rent what does not sell.

People including myself have indicated the lack of parking as a problem. I am no longer worried about it. If you work downtown you likely have company paid parking, or at least company assisted. Filling these 100 apartments will not be a problem.

The lobby is even pretty nice, and the whole downstairs is quite a bit nicer than I expected. I have been to woodys after work and seen that area ad a disaster. now that Quiznos is back open and the apartment lobby is fixed up, woodys looks great in there. they even finished up one of the street front retail units to look like some kind of office. not sure what, but just a basic office.

They plan on gorilla marketing the building. no major press. craigs list, napkins at clubs etc. They really only want "young" renters.

there are 4 signed leases and they literally just started showing units. In fact today they held their open house for industry people (other realtors). The building opens its doors at the end of the month. There is still lots of little details to finish.

Cheers