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Updated: July 14, 2020 The Real Deal

Bullish on CT, Georgia developer eyes vacant Berlin Turnpike site for $16M townhome complex

HBJ Photo | Joe Cooper An Atlanta developer is looking to build dozens of townhomes on vacant Berlin Turnpike land in Wethersfield.
By Joe Cooper

After building single-family homes for a decade in the south, Atlanta developer Harold Foley considered several major Northeast markets to accelerate his business.

He ended up choosing Connecticut.

“This goes back to 2012 when I also looked at New York City, Philadelphia, Boston,” Foley said. “I was attracted to the Northeast in general.”

In recent years, Foley has cut the ribbon on two, 40-unit multifamily housing developments in Waterbury with a combined $26.2 million price tag.

Foley, owner and president of HF3 Group LLC, is now looking to break into Greater Hartford with a $16-million mixed-use townhome development in Wethersfield that would add roughly 50 units and 5,000 square feet of commercial space to a Berlin Turnpike corridor he says is ripe for affordable and market-rate housing.

“The Berlin Turnpike is a major artery to Hartford, and there appeared to be a lack of housing on the thoroughfare,” Foley said. “We saw this as a good opportunity for building a development that would have high visibility, high traffic and easy access to and from the city of Hartford.”

Image | Contributed
Harold Foley, owner of HF3 Group LLC, is hoping to acquire the 11.4-acre parcel at 2180 Berlin Turnpike sometime in 2021.

Foley said his group is in the early innings of filing a proposal with the town to redevelop the vacant 11.4-acre property at 2180-2176 Berlin Turnpike.

He plans to begin the approval process sometime this summer, seeking backing from the planning and zoning and inland wetlands commissions. Peter Gillespie, Wethersfield’s director of planning and economic development, said the zoning commission recently reviewed Foley’s initial plans and is expecting an application to be submitted soon.

Town records show Foley has control of the site under a contract with the current owner, Turgeon Priscilla L/U, and plans to purchase the L-shaped property sometime in 2021. The site has an appraised value of $101,400, according to the town assessor’s office.

Foley is not the only developer to pursue redeveloping the mostly wooded Berlin Turnpike site, which sits behind a small retail building and mattress store Bedding Barn.

In 2013, a Cromwell developer was hoping to build a 60-unit apartment complex there across five buildings, but the project never materialized despite drawing support from nearby residents, meeting minutes say.

According to conceptual plans, Foley is eyeing a similarly sized development with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 900 square feet up to 1,300 square feet.

The townhomes would be nearly evenly spread between five separate, brick-exterior buildings accompanied by 5,000 square feet of commercial and 1,500 square feet of community space with fitness, office and computer areas. It’s not yet clear which type of retail or office tenants would be sought for the larger commercial space with visibility to the well-traveled Berlin Turnpike.

Preliminary blueprints could change depending on architecture and town input, said Foley, who is planning to invest approximately $16 million to acquire the land, prep the site and construct the living units. The COVID-19 pandemic could also impact plans and an undetermined construction timeline.

“A lot of this project will hinge on what impact the virus will have on the market moving forward,” said Foley, who said the health crisis has prevented him from traveling to Connecticut in recent months.

Billed as Wethersfield Villas, the townhome development would join another incoming $11-million multifamily residential project on the Berlin Turnpike.

Four miles south in Berlin, Executive Auto Group CEO John Orsini is building a 72-unit apartment community and adjoining 18,000-square-foot mixed-use building at 196 Berlin Turnpike.

The Wethersfield development will be similar to some of the other 25 or so properties Foley said he has rehabilitated or built in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Connecticut.

HF3 has informed town officials it has financial backers that will support the 50-unit development. It may also seek state historic tax credits to spur the project.

“We found Connecticut was a developer-friendly state to work in, and it’s been great,” Foley said. “I guess we found a home in Connecticut to construct these types of developments. There is an ease of doing business here.”

Joe Cooper is HBJ’s web editor and real estate writer. He pens “The Real Deal” column about commercial real estate.

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