COMPLETED: Hartford 21

[HartfordTycoon]

Getting into a strange car late at night with four guys and you are by yourself? Sounds kind of strange. Drug deal gone bad?

I think I would tend to agree. The story is very lame. Who does that?

[MadVlad]

I think I would tend to agree. The story is very lame. Who does that?

"Yes officer, I was asking ... um.... directions and they beat me up".

Officer: "You got in a strange car to ask directions?"

Guy: "Yessir, that's how we do it in ....... Avon/Glastonbury/Simsbury. We hop right in and they sel.. give directions"

Officer: "I see"

[ctman]

husky shop is moving out from pratt street to the 4th floor of the hartford downtown mba campus with the goal of solely serving the mba students. yet another loss for pratt.

[mikel]

husky shop is moving out from pratt street to the 4th floor of the hartford downtown mba campus with the goal of solely serving the mba students. yet another loss for pratt.

Too bad. They had the cheapest prices for Ipods and accessories around. The clothes are so ugly though.

[JimSawhill]

I am not in commercial real estate, but I can't for the life of me understand why a coffee shop and a cell phone store would be rejected, especially given that your space needs--I presume--weren't extraordinary, certainly not the scale of a Borders, B&N or clothing retailer. If I'm a national retailer, I'd look around Hartford and think, this supports no retail. But if a few stores like yours are moving in, then I think, ok, it's not a developed retail market, but there are enough feet on the street to support these businesses. I mean, especially given that people don't need a cell phone every day. If you thought you had enough of a customer base in Hartford to support a store, then surely shops that generate more frequent visits should have an interest.

I still would love to see someone start a mom & pop business selling books. IF Border's and B&N doesn't want to be in Hartford, someone should. I'd call it 'Huntington's of Hartford'. I would sell maps and books plus have a small cafe. Not only that -- an open mic night, meetings for book clubs andmeeting space for other groups.

JimS

[beerbeer]

According to the Hartford Business Journal on January 14, H21 is 62% rented and right on schedule to be at 90%-95% at the two year mark of its opening in September '08.

A little quick math means that over 160 units are rented. Sooner or later these numbers have to have a positive impact on downtown businesses.

[HartfordTycoon]

According to the Hartford Business Journal on January 14, H21 is 62% rented and right on schedule to be at 90%-95% at the two year mark of its opening in September '08.

I read that as well and it is great news. Pretty much consistent with Northland's original projections. Now the real question is when will it translate to the retail starting to fill up?

[The Voice of Reason]

I read that as well and it is great news. Pretty much consistent with Northland's original projections. Now the real question is when will it translate to the retail starting to fill up?

62% is 162.44 units rented. The building definately has more lights on at night each month, but its still fairly dark unfortunately. Although 162 rented units downtown is great, there are still 100 Vacant units. I am thinking that this summer might really be the tipping point for downtown. Assuming no additional losses, I think we as a city are well placed to see that final push to make a real difference this summer. As far as retail in H-21 who knows. You would think that with 162 captive customers living above it, 120 or so up the street at sage allen, 100+ in trumbull on the park and another 800 long term residents of downtown that market is getting close to large enough for that grocery store and liquor store to make sense. As the AA building comes online this spring and the units at 266 Pearl fill up I think downtown will start to feel much more alive. Part of my reasoning is that AA and 266 Pearl spread the residents around some rather than having most everyone on Trumbull. I think Pratt street will get a huge boost by Kyoto opening and the AA building having more residents on main street. There will be a very nice energy around the intersections of Temple, Main and Pratt. Also I am hoping that Front street will be well under construction leading to local retailers returning to downtown as national chains will be in Front street.

[beerbeer]

162 units is more than 162 customers. It is probably well over 200.

Add in the 120+ folks or so up the street at Sage Allen,

100+ in Trumbull on the Park

30 condos sold at the Metropolitan.

55 on the Park has leased 135 units.

That's 547 relatively new units within two blocks of H21 including the tower itself which still has 100 apartments available. There should be some meaningful number of units coming on line in the American Airlines building this year. And the Bond hotel has kitchens in every suite which should drive some guests toward a grocery.

Some retail should be viable in this environment.

[The Voice of Reason]

162 units is more than 162 customers. It is probably well over 200.

Add in the 120+ folks or so up the street at Sage Allen,

100+ in Trumbull on the Park

30 condos sold at the Metropolitan.

55 on the Park has leased 135 units.

That's 547 relatively new units within two blocks of H21 including the tower itself which still has 100 apartments available. There should be some meaningful number of units coming on line in the American Airlines building this year. And the Bond hotel has kitchens in every suite which should drive some guests toward a grocery.

Some retail should be viable in this environment.

I agree, but I would think just barely viable. That is why I think this summer might be the turning point. Especially if the AA building does well. If in 6 months another 50 Apartments rent in H-21 and 10 more condos sell at the Met plus AA Building, that additional push should go a long way in encouraging retail. I am not completely concerned about new retail as much as I would like to see some of the existing businesses extend their hours as a responce to these residents.

[uconn99]

I agree, but I would think just barely viable. That is why I think this summer might be the turning point. Especially if the AA building does well. If in 6 months another 50 Apartments rent in H-21 and 10 more condos sell at the Met plus AA Building, that additional push should go a long way in encouraging retail. I am not completely concerned about new retail as much as I would like to see some of the existing businesses extend their hours as a responce to these residents.

How many of the units in Hartford 21 are corporate leases with nobody in them on weekends and in some cases whole weeks?

[jcrc]

How many of the units in Hartford 21 are corporate leases with nobody in them on weekends and in some cases whole weeks?

On any given night, I'd say 20% of the units are lighted. Assuming 10% of the units are leased but tenants have not move in, that means about 30% of the units are corporate leases or 50% of the units that were leased. Another way to guestimate it is use the same percentage as Bushnell Park apartment.

[beerbeer]

On any given night, I'd say 20% of the units are lighted. Assuming 10% of the units are leased but tenants have not move in, that means about 30% of the units are corporate leases or 50% of the units that were leased. Another way to guestimate it is use the same percentage as Bushnell Park apartment.

That number would seem insanely high. Especially since 55 on the Park has an agree with Oakwood, who is one of the the country's largest corporate leases.

[jcrc]

That number would seem insanely high. Especially since 55 on the Park has an agree with Oakwood, who is one of the the country's largest corporate leases.

If the place is 60% leased, and most are not corporate leases, then don't you think the place should be at least 50% lighted at night? It is not. I drive by there every night at 8pm.

[The Voice of Reason]

If the place is 60% leased, and most are not corporate leases, then don't you think the place should be at least 50% lighted at night? It is not. I drive by there every night at 8pm.

some of the executives at my company need to keep an apartment is some combination of here, NY, Atlanta and The Hague. I am sure that some of the renters over there travel a great deal due to their works demands. Hell, my wifes boss is in Brasil for 3 days right now.

I am not disagreeing with you Jcrc, just saying that some of the darkness may be due to the caliber of renter.

I will try and count the number of lit up units tonight before I go home if I remember. multiply that by 4 and we can have an estimate of people in that building at 6-6:30PM on a Tuesaday in the winter

[Bill Mocarsky]

I will try and count the number of lit up units tonight before I go home if I remember. multiply that by 4 and we can have an estimate of people in that building at 6-6:30PM on a Tuesaday in the winter

Even an occupied 2BR unit might only have lights on in 1 room.

[The Voice of Reason]

Even an occupied 2BR unit might only have lights on in 1 room.

I am familiar with the layout of the units in the building (I got the free tour ) I should be able to see about 98 units on any given side because of the way the corner units are set up.

There are 9 units with lights on right now in the East side of the building including the penthouse. Using math, or at least a firm understanding of Excel I figure this represents about 9.18% occupancy or a total of 24 occupied units.

A totally useless figure at 4:30 on a tuesday. haha

[dapapabear2]

From my living room I can see quite a bit of the east side and at the moment there are 10 floors lit up, I don't know how that translates into units. The north side looks to be about the same, are they still working on some of the units?

[The Voice of Reason]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-retai...0,7194061.story

Over half the prospective retail tenants Gottesdiener has dealt with have said they don't want to stay open at least one day of the weekend. For him, that's a non-starter.

"Why are you wasting our time? Come back to us when you're willing to come back seven days a week," Gottesdiener said. "You have to stay open on the weekends. You can't have a 24/7 city when you're only open 5. ... That's just not the vision."

Spiritus opens this week.

Market still progressing.

[AmyBergquist]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-retai...0,7194061.story

Over half the prospective retail tenants Gottesdiener has dealt with have said they don't want to stay open at least one day of the weekend. For him, that's a non-starter.

"Why are you wasting our time? Come back to us when you're willing to come back seven days a week," Gottesdiener said. "You have to stay open on the weekends. You can't have a 24/7 city when you're only open 5. ... That's just not the vision."

Spiritus opens this week.

Market still progressing.

I posted this yesterday in response to the article... http://www.amybergquist.com/blog/2008/02/0...-the-groceries/

[The Voice of Reason]

I posted this yesterday in response to the article... http://www.amybergquist.com/blog/2008/02/0...-the-groceries/

Thanks Amy, Good stuff!

I would counter that the affluent sexy people never lived downtown, so by their addition, downtown is now becoming diverse. Ok so I wrote that in an inflamatory way, but my point is that your observation might be more of a misinterpetation of a poorly quoted statement by a guy that the courant loves to take sound bytes from.

and HOLY HELL was downtown packed tonight with the Obama rally

Cheers!

[mikel]

Some of the largest and most-vibrant cities in the world have stores that do not open on Sundays. This is especially beneficial for local businesses. I would have no problem avoiding buying groceries or socks or alcohol or whatever on a Sunday. I'm not sure if a city that wants to be 24/7 should be discouraging businesses from locating here because they have to stay open longer than they want.

[AmyBergquist]

Thanks Amy, Good stuff!

I would counter that the affluent sexy people never lived downtown, so by their addition, downtown is now becoming diverse. Ok so I wrote that in an inflamatory way, but my point is that your observation might be more of a misinterpetation of a poorly quoted statement by a guy that the courant loves to take sound bytes from.

and HOLY HELL was downtown packed tonight with the Obama rally

Cheers!

Yeah, in the comments I mentioned that I took the quote with a grain of salt. The Courant likes to get people all riled up.

[The Voice of Reason]

Some of the largest and most-vibrant cities in the world have stores that do not open on Sundays. This is especially beneficial for local businesses. I would have no problem avoiding buying groceries or socks or alcohol or whatever on a Sunday. I'm not sure if a city that wants to be 24/7 should be discouraging businesses from locating here because they have to stay open longer than they want.

Well, the city is not doing anything, the developer is creating the environment he wants. If the land lord wants it, eventually it will happen. this perticular land lord is willing to loose 2 million a year in rents as he says, and even spend 2 more mill on building out on a store so he can make living downtown more attractive and therefore make money on the residential projects he has built, and the ones he wants to build.

[Chessplayer]

Spiritus opened today.

http://www.northland.com/news/release_single.php?id=49