Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

May 28, 2020

Hartford inks lease deal for $21.5M Albany Ave., Woodland St. development

Rendering | Contributed A rendering of a planned $21.5-million mixed-use development at the corner of Albany Avenue and Woodland Street that has been postponed after the city declined to sign a lease with the developer.
By Joe Cooper

Hartford's city council has agreed to lease city property to a local developer proposing to build a $21.5-million mixed-use development in a key corner of the Upper Albany neighborhood.

The city council on Tuesday approved a 50-year deal for 7 Summits Realty LLC to lease the vacant city-owned land at the corner of Albany Avenue and Woodland Street for the development of 50 apartment units and office and retail space.

7 Summits CEO Rohan Freeman in an interview said the deal gives his group control of the 2-acre property, and leverage to finalize more than $10 million worth of “soft commitments” from several potential public and private funders.

Freeman said potential funders include the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA); the city of Hartford; Trinity Health of New England; and the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), among others. 

HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever
7 Summits CEO Rohan Freeman.

7 Summits, the lone bidder to redevelop the property, formerly home to a gas station, still needs the planning and zoning commission to approve its site plan before it moves closer to breaking ground on the four-story, 80,000-square-foot development it hopes to complete in 2021. 

The timing of possible city approvals, Freeman said, will determine whether the eight-month construction project begins this fall or next spring.

According to plans, which Freeman presented to CRDA’s board earlier this year, the top two floors of the so-called Albany and Woodland Place would include a mix of 50 studio and one-bedroom apartments, and the second floor is likely to house one office tenant in about 20,000 square feet. 

The majority of the street-level space would be used for retail, office or restaurant space. Freeman said he is vetting a handful of potential banking, restaurant and healthcare tenants, but declined to disclose any suitors. Tenants would have access to 122 parking spaces behind the building and another 30 spaces across the street.

The Albany Avenue and Woodland Street area is currently home to performing arts institutions The Hartt School, The Artists Collective, and a branch of the public library.

Freeman, a Jamaica native who also owns a civil engineering firm in the city, began meeting with community members roughly three years ago on how to revitalize the unused property to meet the needs of the neighborhood. 

He said residents have expressed interest in bringing a much-needed financial institution or  small business restaurant to the property. 

“I think this is something that is long due to happen in this community,” he said. “We hope this project becomes a catalyst to spur other large-scale private development in the upper Albany and North End community as a whole.”

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF