A $4 million Communities Challenge grant will subsidize development of a 100-unit apartment complex at the former Strand theater property in New Britain. Image courtesy of Jasko Development
A $23 million state investment in Connecticut’s downtowns includes projects that will increase foot traffic and population density with construction of new apartment buildings and renovations of upper floors for new rental housing.
Connecticut’s Communities Challenge program has awarded $95 million since 2021 for economic development projects, with an emphasis on housing creation and reuse of existing buildings.
“One of our top priorities is to bring more people downtown: feet on the street to support local businesses,” said Rista Malanca, economic development director for the city of Torrington, which received a $1.4 million grant in the latest round announced this month.
The Communities Challenge, a grant program run by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, offers funding for real estate developments and other programs such as streetscape improvements that revitalize downtowns.
More than half of the funds are reserved for Connecticut’s distressed municipalities, as defined by state law by such factors as per-capita income, tax base and employment rates. The program has awarded $95 million since its creation in 2021.
In New Britain, developer Avner Krohn is set to begin his latest project after the city received a $4-million grant toward a 100-unit apartment complex at 157 Main St., the former Strand theater property.
The state’s investment will enable Krohn’s Jasko Development to set aside 20 percent of units for households earning 80 percent of area median income. Krohn estimates the project cost at $24 million.
“[The grant] is absolutely necessary for this kind of downtown project, and this project would not have happened without it,” Krohn said.
Jasko was awarded the development rights after the city offered the vacant lot through a request for proposals.
Containing five stories of wood-framed apartment construction above a podium, the complex will feature a theater-style marquee and common area decor with a Jazz Age theme, reflecting the era in which the original Strand opened. The ground-floor section of the building will include a pair of retail spaces totaling 3,550 square feet.
Jasko Development has been a key player in downtown New Britain development. Its two other current projects, the Brit and the Highrailer complexes, are scheduled to open in late fall and early 2024. The two properties contain 224 apartments.
In Torrington, a local developer’s track record turning upper floors of downtown buildings into housing got a boost with a $1.4 million grant from this month’s Communities Challenge awards.
Developer Vinnie Cappelletti has begun site work and remediation at the Sophia building, a 3-story, 17,500-square-foot building at 104 Main St.
Torrington officials approved new regulations that are designed to encourage development of housing units on the upper floors of downtown buildings in recent years. The changes included elimination of minimum parking requirements and the approval of housing on the second and third floors or building as-of-right.
Originally completed in 1910, the building once housed a furniture store and later contained apartments, but the upper floors have remained vacant in recent years. Cappelletti is approved for 16 apartments, said Balanca, the economic development director.
The latest round of grants also includes $4.5 million to the town of Bethel for a 200-unit apartment complex at 9-11 Diamond Ave. and $1.2 million to the city of New London for redevelopment of The Day newspaper’s headquarters at 47 Eugene O’Neill Drive as 35 housing units and four commercial spaces.
