Kyle Mayer’s dream of opening a restaurant and sports bar for motorsports enthusiasts like himself stretches back almost a decade to the time he was in a Chicago watering hole, watching the Motorcycle Grand Prix on a television.
But the volume wasn’t on, so Mayer asked the bartender to turn it up.
“I said, ‘Hey, can you put the commentary on?’ ” Mayer recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Oh, no. We only do that for Chicago sports.’ And so that’s kind of where this idea started to form.”
On Wednesday, Mayer will open the Petrolhead Café in Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood which, at its core, is intended to build a community around motorcycle and race car fans. But the café seeks to attract a wider audience with big-screen TVs also tuned to professional sports such as Premier League soccer, cricket and rugby that don’t get a lot of airplay in more mainstream sports bars.
Mayer’s entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take chance on a niche sports bar, coupled with the goal of building community fits snuggly with an unfolding revitalization in Parkville.
Once a hub of manufacturing, the long-impoverished neighborhood is styling itself as a center that combines a thriving arts community with innovation, all grounded with a denser, more stable population of residents, its epicenter where Park Street and Bartholomew Avenue converge.
Hundreds of apartments are planned, some in former, decaying factory space, and others that will replace surface parking. The success of the Parkville Market food hall, now set to expand, brought the neighborhood more attention from visitors from outside the city.
Real Art Ways, the independent film and performing arts organization, says it now expects to break ground in early summer on its most ambitious expansion since moving to Parkville three decades ago.
And, there are new plans by the city non-profit that owns one of the most recognizable structures in the area: an old boiler plant on Bartholomew that later was used as a billboard for the long-gone Spaghetti Warehouse.
Hands on Hartford, which provides food, housing and health services to those in need, now plans to combine two previous ideas for the plant. The nonprofit hopes to create 22 apartments that would be income restricted to respond to the dire need for affordable housing in the state. One floor would be dedicated to a collaborative workforce training center.
“I think it can be a real beautiful addition to the skyline,” Barbara A. Shaw, executive director of Hands on Hartford, said. “Right now, it is, in fact, I think, frankly, an eyesore. And when we think about the properties developing in this neighborhood, especially because you can see this coming east on Park and from either direction on I-84, it’s something we could all be proud of.”
Petrolhead’s Mayer, a West Hartford native, said he chose Parkville because he believes the neighborhood is on a comeback.
“It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood,” Mayer said. “It has the clientele that we are trying to draw, young adults who might be renting in the neighborhood. And having the Parkville Market is helpful because it already is drawing people here and already parking here.”
He imagines potential new patrons walking by his café: “People will go, ‘oh cool, what’s this?’ ”
‘Pain in growing’
But with the large-scale growth expected in Parkville in the next few years comes the growing pains.
Parking already has emerged as a critical one as the popularity of the Parkville Market draws not only from the city, but increasingly from the surrounding region.
Plans for as many as a 375-spot parking garage on a surface parking lot near the corner of Bartholomew Avenue and Park Street is seen as at least part of the solution. Construction on the garage, which is being paired with the construction of nearly 60 new apartments.
Hands on Hartford, whose boiler building, offices and “pay-what-you-can” Gather 55 restaurant is immediately to the south, already has its eye on some of the spaces in the garage.
Carlos A. Mouta, a major property owner and developer in Parkville, is heading the redevelopment of the parking lot. Mouta said the additional spaces are needed as the Parkville Market — which Mouta owns — expands, the apartments are leased and other businesses open.
The parking garage will ease the crunch, but the loss of 75 spaces in the lot will, in the short-term, further constrain parking options over a year of estimated construction time.
“There is pain in growing,” Mouta said. “That’s it. But it’s part of the course. We’ll figure it out.”
One effort turns a bit rocky
A push to form a business improvement district in Parkville, patterned after the one in downtown Hartford, has turned a bit rocky. Such a district would help oversee help oversee security, keep the area clean of litter, launch marketing campaigns and promote events in the neighborhood.
An improvement district can only be formed if more than 50% property owners within the district boundaries approve of the district in a referendum. Becoming part of the district means paying higher property taxes to fund the district, including the staff to run it. The city council also must pass a specific ordinance creating the district.
At a meeting of the Parkville Neighborhood Revitalization Zone last week, board members were divided on the issue, approving it in an 8-5 vote. The NRZ’s approval was required as a condition of $30,000 state grant to help form the district but is only an early step in the process. The district also must be approved in a referendum.
Jack Sullivan, the NRZ’s newly-installed vice-chairman, said he supports creating the district but acknowledges such concerns as higher property taxes and the district’s boundaries. There is so much potential for Parkville to be a more “walkable, liveable area,” Sullivan said.
“A BID is a really great step, like having boots on the street,” said Sullivan, who owns the BOP on New Park Avenue, a craft coffee roaster. “People who are walking around in uniform, picking up trash, alerting authorities when something’s not right.”
Students at the school across from his shop shouldn’t have to walk home “past people who are overdosing or selling drugs,” Sullivan said.
But Sullivan’s enthusiasm is not shared by everyone on the NRZ’s board.
Chairman David Morin said he is wary of the effort to form the district because it could wield too much influence on critical neighborhood issues, overshadowing the NRZ.
Morin said some board members are asking him to revisit last week’s decision.
“They don’t believe that the residents and homeowners knew enough about what the ramifications and implications are for the future of this and especially the newer board members who just got elected,” Morin said.
New mayor on board
Under the leadership of former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, the Parkville Arts & Innovation District was identified as one of 10 areas in Hartford that could transform the city by 2035, the 400th anniversary of its founding.
Bronin placed heavy emphasis on redevelopment in Parkville. The city purchased a key property at 81 Bartholomew Ave. — the former Champlin-Packrite Co. factory — to gain control of its future use.
So far, the administration of his successor, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, has signaled its support for redevelopment in Parkville.
“Parkville is probably one of the neighborhoods in the city that has the most room for opportunity for growth,” said Patrick Pentalow, the city’s economic development director, who was appointed Jan. 2. “Just in terms of location and some of the old architecture, especially in that district, makes for a unique opportunity where you can have that Brooklyn-ish vibe.”
Pentalow said he has fielded one inquiry about the former Champlin-Packrite property, with few details except that it was for a “commercial entertainment” use. The potential operator was not identified, Pentalow said.
‘Not too kitschy’
Petrolhead’s Mayer spent 10 years in Chicago, where he went to college and met his wife. It was there he learned to ride a motorcycle and got his license.
When Mayer returned to Connecticut, he taught middle school science in Hartford and later had stints in property management and insurance sales. He also now has 4-year-old twin sons.
But the thought of starting a motorsports-themed restaurant and bar — and his experience in the Chicago bar — never left him. He tested the waters with a food truck specializing in smoked brisket, setting up at events sponsored by the Connecticut Valley Car Club and at Lime Rock Park.
The reception to his food was good — brisket will be a menu staple at the new café — and it was starting to generate some buzz. When the pandemic hit, Mayer and a friend turned to starting a podcast focusing on motorsports and meanwhile, Mayer was looking for space for his restaurant and bar.
He decided on the former Caral Restaurant space at 1429 Park St. What really helped push him over the finish line was the city’s Hart Lift storefront revitalization program. Mayer was approved for a $150,000 grant.
The cafe will start with a soft opening with coffee and food, and eventually will serve alcoholic drinks.
And the name Petrolhead?
“So, petrolhead is most frequently used as a British term for someone who is into cars and motorcycles,” Mayer said. “The name started pretty soon after I had the initial idea because it just seemed like a natural name for it. It’s not too kitschy. It’s a little bit unusual. But it’s a very universal term.”
Here is a look at six development projects to watch this year in the Parkville neighborhood:
Real Art Ways
Address: 56 Arbor St.
Year built: 1917
Owner/developer: Real Art Ways
Original use: Underwood Typewriter Co. factory
The project: An expansion of the contemporary arts organization includes the addition of three movie screens, a dedicated area for the performing arts, a new café with a kitchen and more space for educational programs. The expansion included the 2021 purchase of the building where Real Art Ways has leased space for three decades.
Cost: $23 million
What’s next: Real Art Ways plans to launch the public portion of its project fundraising soon and expects to begin construction in early summer.
17-35 Bartholomew Ave.
Owner/Developer: Carlos A. Mouta
Current use: Surface parking lot
The project: Plans call for a 5-story building with 57 apartments — 30% of them affordable, or restricted to certain incomes — wrapped around a 350-space parking garage, at the high-profile corner of Park Street and Bartholomew Avenue. The city has approved a grant for the construction of the parking garage and will share in the revenues. The development, aimed at at easing the neighborhood parking crunch, would be constructed from modular components and could be connected to the neighboring CTfastrak station.
Cost: $29 million, including $17.6 million and $11.6 million for the garage.
What’s next: Construction could start by this summer and take about a year to complete.
Powerhouse Building
Address: 45 Bartholomew Ave.
Year built: 1912
Owner/developer: Hands On Hartford Inc.
Original use: Boiler house for Hartford Rubber Works Co. and later, a billboard for Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant.
The project: The social services non-profit plans 22 affordable apartments on upper floors of the structure and a collaborative workforce training center on the ground floor. Health and other services could be administered in a renovated basement.
Cost: $18 million
What’s next: Hands on Hartford is seeking to put together financing for the project.
Whitney Manufacturing Co.
Address: 237 Hamilton St.
Years built: 1906-1941
Owner/developer: Carlos A. Mouta
Original use: The factory made hand milling machines and other parts to supply Parkville’s manufacturers. Later, it was partly converted into offices.
The project: The 112,000-square-foot structure will be converted into 235 market-rate apartments on the upper floors of the factory, at the corner of Hamilton Street and Bartholomew Avenue, and almost exclusively studios and one-bedroom units. The plans include 45,000 square feet of business incubator space on the ground floor to foster new start-ups.
Cost: $92 million (estimate)
What’s next: Environmental clean-up is nearing completion and the conversion is expected to begin in the next few months. The redevelopment is expected to take two years to complete.
Parkville Market expansion
Address: 1390-1400 Park St. and 1420 Park St.
Year built: 1965
Owner/developer: Carlos A. Mouta
Original use: Lumber yard
The project: The successful Parkville Market food hall is expanding in a second phase in two neighboring buildings. The first, at 1390 Park St., will initially have event space and three bars and later, a catering kitchen. Plans for a brewery at 1420 Park St. have been shelved in favor of a coffee roaster, chocolatier and a restaurant.
Cost: $6 million
What’s next: The event space and bars are expected to open this spring.
Hanson-Whitney Co. factory
Address: 169 Bartholomew Ave.
Year built: 1919
Owner/developer: RGH Bartholomew LLC
Original use: Machinery manufacturing
The project: The Hussain family plans 100 apartments on the upper floors of the former, decayed factory and business incubator space on the ground floor.
Cost: $50 million
What’s next: Financing is being lined up for the redevelopment.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com
