Avner Krohn
Founder and CEO, Jasko Development
Age: 41
Industry experience: 24 years
Avner Krohn has a formula for developing multifamily housing in Connecticut, seeking financial incentives from public sources to bring long-neglected parcels back to life in some of the state’s struggling former manufacturing centers. His firm, Jasko Development, is developing the 114-unit Highrailer and 107-unit Brit apartment complexes in downtown New Britain, bringing an expected infusion of new residents to once-blighted sections of downtown. Officials recently approved the sale of a municipal parking lot at 157 Main St. that would bring at least 80 more apartments to Jasko’s New Britain development pipeline. In March, East Hartford officials agreed to sell the vacant Showcase Cinemas site on Silver Lane to Jasko Development for $1. The firm is in pre-development for a potential apartment complex in Colchester, where it recently made its first acquisition of a 16-acre site at 239 Norwich Ave.
Q: What about New Britain jumped out to you as a promising development area to focus on?
A: Our first building was purchased 17 years ago in New Britain. Prior to that I had a portfolio in New Jersey, and we had sold the portfolio and concentrated on Connecticut. Downtown New Britain has a lot of great bones, and there’s 2,000 structured parking spaces already built, a regional courthouse, hospital and other major institutions in and around the downtown. I looked at it as a very walkable downtown. The state has spent millions on the downtown streetscapes to make it walkable, adding street parking and the CTfastrak station. In New Britain, it’s really been a public-private partnership. We work with the city on taxes and parking, and because of that we are able to offer rent that is significantly reduced. And that’s building affordable housing. We’re building institutional-grade, amenitized apartments that you would see in downtown Boston. We’re our own construction manager.
Q: What effect has the CTfastrak station had on New Britain real estate since it opened in 2015?
A: I’m a straight shooter, so I’ll tell you. In New Britain, we haven’t seen the effects where we need to be yet. We’re building 321 apartments downtown, and others are building as well. Over the next 24 to 36 months, there will be 400 to 500 units. Once we have that, you’ll see a significant increase in ridership. The challenge right now is there aren’t a lot of people living downtown. Prior to our developments, you were walking past a block of blighted buildings. It didn’t feel safe. It’s going to be very different.
Q: What are your site evaluation criteria for a successful multifamily development?
A: First, in this day and age, it’s a public-private partnership. We really want to work with towns that embrace what we are doing. For the [former Strand theater] site in New Britain, we’re in preconstruction and waiting on potential state grants to offset some of the increased construction costs. We’re finishing 111 units in Bloomfield [at The Residences at Wash Brook]. It’s been really significant, the amount of activity on the preleasing side. That’s a market where it’s more suburban: it’s a 5-acre site cut out of 20 acres, on a main road but a bucolic setting.
Q: How much has the construction lending climate changed since last summer in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes?
A: Two years ago, you could build 100 units for $20 million. Today, it costs you $30 million. We haven’t seen rents double. That’s why we need public-private partnerships, so you can buy down your basis: whether it’s getting the land cheap, long-term grant money, tax incentives. Our East Hartford project has all three items. The town is contributing money, the land is $1 and we have a $20 million tax deal.
Q: Jasko recently acquired a 16-acre multifamily development parcel in Colchester. How much progress have you made on that project?
A: This is our first Colchester project, and it only pencils out with a tax abatement. It’s still an educational process and we’re working with the town before we go to full design for 168 apartments. Colchester desperately needs the product.
Q: Which other Connecticut communities are on Jasko’s list for potential future projects?
A: We are open to different opportunities. I love the Bloomfield market. If the right opportunity came along, Newtington is a potential market for us. We look at demand, but also the location and whether it’s going to be suburban or more of a walkable transit-oriented site or a town center.
Krohn’s Five Favorite Pastimes:
- Spending the early morning with his two children (2.5 years old and 9 months old)
- Nights out on the town with his wife, friends and family
- Hosting holiday dinners and entertaining for meaningful purposes
- Traveling to Israel often
- Tasting Kosher wine from regions around the world
