COMPLETED: Main and Temple Development (Sage-Allen Project)

[MadVlad]

For what it is worth, I had a conversation with the property manager yesterday and the Temple Street Loft Arartments are 86% occupied. There are some vacancies in the Student Townhouses but for some reason they continue to get students moving in at this late date. The garage seems pretty busy as well.

[T52]

I'm thinking you guys probably priced your units properly. I'm also thinking that different units around the city might not be priced so properly....

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

Remember, I am just a builder - we did what we could do to control costs based on the Developer's pro forma indication of marketable rents. I said in an earlier post that the competition to Hartford's residential lies in less costly suburban projects due to the relatively easy commute. In other words, there is a real premium for downtown contruction costs that must be made up in rent which must be weighed against the amount of extra rent that a tenant will pay to live downtown. At some point, the tenant decides that the extra rent to cover the increased cost of development outweighs the advantages of living downtown and rents a place in the burbs. Also keep in mind that after about a decade of very flat construction costs in the '90s and early '00s, in the past 4 years, there has been stiff construction inflation which again begs higher rents (urban and suburban). Downtown developers have to operate on lower margins to get units rented. The best thing we can do for Hartford is convince people of the advantages of living there.

[ctman]

Remember, I am just a builder - we did what we could do to control costs based on the Developer's pro forma indication of marketable rents. I said in an earlier post that the competition to Hartford's residential lies in less costly suburban projects due to the relatively easy commute. In other words, there is a real premium for downtown contruction costs that must be made up in rent which must be weighed against the amount of extra rent that a tenant will pay to live downtown. At some point, the tenant decides that the extra rent to cover the increased cost of development outweighs the advantages of living downtown and rents a place in the burbs. Also keep in mind that after about a decade of very flat construction costs in the '90s and early '00s, in the past 4 years, there has been stiff construction inflation which again begs higher rents (urban and suburban). Downtown developers have to operate on lower margins to get units rented. The best thing we can do for Hartford is convince people of the advantages of living there.

[T52]

FYI, The Sage Allen project received an award tonight from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation at their 2008 Connecticut Preservation Awards Ceremony held in Farmington at the Hillstead Museum

[T52]

Update - As of today, the Loft Aprtments are 100% occupied

[HartfordTycoon]

Update - As of today, the Loft Aprtments are 100% occupied

[The Voice of Reason]

Great news. If it can happen in this building it can be replicated in the others as well.

[drc72]

Update - As of today, the Loft Aprtments are 100% occupied

[Chessplayer]

Nice.... I guess the real estate market is not to bad here in CT.

[beerbeer]

Trumbull on the Park said they have a wait list ten deep for studios and one bedrooms. All the studios and one bedrooms at H21 are gone according to a recent article. Now the Sage Allen building shows the same trend. It will be interesting to see how fast the AA building moves it's studios and one bedrooms.

[T52]

Trumbull on the Park said they have a wait list ten deep for studios and one bedrooms. All the studios and one bedrooms at H21 are gone according to a recent article. Now the Sage Allen building shows the same trend. It will be interesting to see how fast the AA building moves it's studios and one bedrooms.

[The Voice of Reason]

T52,

do you know what the fate of the Citi Branch will be? I know it must have a long term lease that city is stuck with, but I was wondering if there was maybe a chance at sub letting ro something as to not create a dead spot on the street.

I like parking in that garage. Its pretty nice and even though management keeps it a little too dark (only 1/2 lit) the women I work with feel safer here than at Church Street.

I would hope that the success at Sage Allen would make developers interested in creating simular scaled infill projects. the space next to Agave on Allyn street comes to mind

[T52]

do you know what the fate of the Citi Branch will be?

[The Voice of Reason]

I am certain that there will be a replacement to Citi as there is a lease and nobody likes to pay rent for a vacant space. The timing was a little unfortunate as I am aware of a deal that could have been made a month prior with another bank that moved elsewhere.

As far as the lighting, that is done at the discretion of the manager but it is worth noting that as an underground facility, there is no natural light 24/7 and therefore the cost is driving the decision to lower light levels. The next round of technology in lighting (LEDs) offers advantages over HID/fluorescent systems such as the ability to dim reliably, instant start, cold weather reliability, etc. and will help with the operating cost side of things. By adding motion sensors, a low light level could be maintained with brightening when motion is sensed. Unfortunately, that technology has a little way to go but I am sure within a few years there will be a retrofit. In round dollars, the cost of lighting can run $2-3 per square foot per year plus replacement and in a 130,000 foot garage, turning off half of the lights looks pretty good on the bottom line.

[T52]

T52

thanks!

now id you will, can you maybe answer another of my musings about parking garages?

in terms of cost, or writing a proforma even for an underground garage maybe you can answer this.

is there an cost ration industry wide as far as building underground vs building above?

and when building underground, do the costs rise exponentallu as you dig deeper or is there a fairly porportional increase.

as an example

if you were to build an underground garage on that huge flat parking lot on Allyn street what would it cost?

how deep can you go?

is a -5 story garage reasonable?

do modular systems

I ask purely as a dreamer but this just seems to be an ideal space for a massive development that includes an equally massive underground parking structure.