Dozens of rental leases signed as CT hotel and apartments combine. ‘It doesn’t break the bank’
The numbers show the “velocity” of Connecticut interest.
A $29 million redevelopment of downtown Hartford’s Hilton that pushed into new territory by combining apartments with a smaller hotel is finding eye-catching acceptance: apartment leases are being signed at a dizzying pace, with dozens snapped up in just weeks.
The 147 rentals in The Revel apartments on the top 10 floors of the former Hilton debuted two months ago and already, 60 have been leased and about 15 are occupied. Their smaller size and lower rents than other new apartments in the city, are driving the leasing, the developer said Thursday.
“The velocity has been incredible,” Randy Salvatore, founder and chief executive of the Stamford-based developer RMS Cos., said. “The thing that is unique about this building is that the apartments are smaller” but the rental prices “are affordable to people so, therefore, it is hitting a different segment of people who really want to be in Hartford in a new building with all the modern amenities, but it doesn’t break the bank.”
Salvatore said a third of the leases have been signed by tenants who are moving into the state, boding well for efforts to build up Connecticut’s population. Another third are relocating from outside of Hartford but within Connecticut and the final third are from within the city, Salvatore said.
The rush of leasing by tenants relocating within Hartford does not appear to pulling down occupancies in other apartments new to the market in downtown Hartford, Salvatore said.
“The good thing is the other buildings are still leased,” Salvatore said. “It’s not like it’s musical chairs where the tenant moves out the building down the street and then they have high vacancies. When you look around everyone is still 95% rented right now and that points to the fact we just need more housing.”
Salvatore said he is looking for other options in the city for creating similar apartments that could offer comparable rents.
“If you’re renting at these price points, then you need to cost-effectively find situations, so we’re actively looking for that,” Salvatore said. “When you see demand like this, you see there is a need. This is a perfect example of taking a situation which was an obsolete building and repurposing it, and it becomes a big success, growing the population and that’s the key.”
“There are a lot of office buildings in downtown that are potential candidates,” Salvatore said.
The apartments at the Revel are above a 170-room Double Tree hotel, renovated by the Waterford Group, that downsized from the 390-room Hilton. The apartments are primarily be studios, one- and two-bedroom units, with 20% pegged as “affordable” carrying income restrictions.
The studios range in size from 294 to 329 square feet, with monthly market-rate rents between $1,250 and $1,340. This compares with the average studio size of 488 square feet in downtown Hartford and a monthly rent of $1,434, according to apartmentfinder.com.
Overall, the apartment sizes range from 294 to 1,269 square feet, the largest unit being the sole three-bedroom rental. Monthly market-rate rents are between $1,250 and $2,900. There is $20 monthly amenity fee and parking at a monthly cost of $119, plus tax will be in the nearby Church Street garage, operated by the Capital Region Development Authority.
The Hilton — already aging and obsolete — teetered on imminent closure in the pandemic, as plummeting travel and bookings slowed to nearly nothing. A closure threatened to leave a huge hole in downtown Hartford.
The conversion was possible because of an $11 million rescue plan of state-taxpayer backed, CRDA loans. The public funds were divided between the hotel downsizing and the new apartments.
As a developer, Salvatore has taken a major stake in Hartford, building North Crossing around Dunkin Park, Hartford’s minor league ballpark. Salvatore also is embarking on the redevelopment of the neighboring, former 13-acre campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Salvatore said RMS is seeing strong demand for apartment demand not only in Hartford — the first phase of North Crossing “The Pennant” is 95% leased —but in its projects in New Haven and Stamford.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.