An ambitious apartment conversion of the landmark convent on Park Road in West Hartford will get underway next week, months after the developers had originally intended to break ground on the $70 million project.
The developers, Marty Kenny, of Lexington Partners and Alan Lazowski, chief executive of the LAZ Parking empire, are now moving ahead with plans to create 292 apartments over the next two years. The plans include a major addition to the 111,000-square-foot convent of up to 230,000 square feet.
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed putting together the development’s financing and, at the same time, costs rose by $5 million because construction materials became more expensive, Kenny said Friday.
“It was challenging, no doubt about it,” Kenny said.
More than half of the units will be studios and one-bedrooms, with one- and two-bedroom units, some with lofts, and three-bedroom apartments making up the rest. They will range in size from 579 square feet for the studios to 1,356 square feet for the three-bedroom units. The designs call for stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, plank floors in the living rooms and walk-in closets.
Average monthly rents are now forecast to run from $1,600 for the studios to $3,500 for the three-bedrooms, plus parking and amenity fees. Young professionals and empty nesters looking to downsize are the target market, Kenny said.
A chapel will be converted to create a fitness center, community hall and yoga room.
Of the total apartments, 10% will be designated as “affordable” for tenants earning under 80% of the area median income.
Kenny said he is still confident that suburban rental demand will be strong when the project — now named “One Park” — is ready to sign tenant leases.
He points to a 5-1/2 month “lease-up” last year during the pandemic at another of his new apartment projects, The Borden with 111 units in Wethersfield. And at The Tannery, which Kenny developed in Glastonbury, all 250 units are leased.
“Even the city of Hartford which was struggling last fall, all of our properties they are at 95% or better,” Kenny said.
The conversion of the 22-acre campus also will give a boost to the Park Road neighborhood and business district, Lazowski said.
“The residents will provide important new customers for Park Road’s restaurants and the Playhouse and will add to the neighborhood’s vitality and vibrancy,” Lazowski said.
The project will end a nearly a decade of uncertainty for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry who have occupied the convent for nearly 140 years. In 2012, they made the difficult decision to sell.
Since then, there have been proposals from two different developers, failed attempts to win historic tax credits, a rare tax break from the town and a sharper focus on affordable housing. All this, as the dwindling numbers and precarious financial affairs of the convent kept the sisters praying daily for a resolution.
The sisters will keep a modest portion of the convent for their housing, offices and a worship space.
Kenny declined to say Friday how much was paid for the property.
Since last summer, Kenny and Lazowski brought in Corridor Ventures of Avon, investors in apartment and student housing developments. Corridor invested roughly half of the $10 million in equity that makes up the financing package.
The financing also includes $47 million in loans from Middletown-based Liberty Bank and People’s Bank of Holyoke, Mass. A $13.5 million, low-cost, C-PACE loan from the Connecticut Green Bank will be invested in energy conservation measures.
Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at kgosselin@courant.com.
