CT landlord under fire no longer sole developer of $30M project

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin has brokered a deal that will see a new development partnership for a $30 million apartment project.

A landlord who was under scrutiny for inconsistent maintenance in the city will no longer be the sole developer of a critical property on the neighborhood's most traveled thoroughfare. In a plan brokered by the administration of Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, the landlord, Andaleeb Enterprises of Bloomfield, will now be part of a team on a North End $30 million apartment project over storefront redevelopment of the former Hartford police substation at Albany Avenue and Main Street.

Andaleeb, selected as the preferred developer of the vacant, city-owned property at 614 Albany Ave. earlier this year, will be joined by Rohan A. Freeman, founder and president of the Hartford-based engineering firm, Freeman Cos., and a partner in the recently constructed apartments at Park and Main streets near downtown. Wonder Works Construction Co. of New York, which has an interest in 550 rentals downtown and is now converting two buildings, one of them a firehouse on Pearl Street, into apartments, will also be part of the team.

The new arrangement must be approved by the city council, which is expected to take up the issue Monday night. The redevelopment would include 78 apartments, the majority of them being targeted for "affordable" rents, and 12,000 square feet of commercial space. The plans also call for 59 parking spaces.

"I look forward to partnering with Rohan and helping continue the revitalization of the Albany Avenue neighborhood," Amber "Ace" Andaleeb, the real estate manager for the family-owned Andaleeb Enterprises, said, in a statement Monday. Freeman and Wonder Works could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Andaleeb Enterprises, which has been snapping up properties on and around Albany Avenue in the last three years with its investors, was the sole developer responding to the city's request for proposals to develop the city-owned 614 Albany. The designation does not guarantee the right to develop because final approvals must be obtained and financing needs to be secured.

In September, tenants in some of Andaleeb's apartments blasted what they said was the slow response to calls for repairs on social media and elsewhere, and criticized the selection of Andaleeb as preferred developer. In response, Ace Andaleeb said those complaints were not indicative of overall maintenance of the company's properties in the city.

"As you know, we slowed down the process and wanted to make sure the community had ample time to engage with potential developers so we could continue to move forward in collaboration with the community," Bronin said Monday. "And I think this resulting partnership is an opportunity to maintain momentum and move forward with development and ensure that the development team is the right one."

Bronin said the partnership now brings in the experience of Freeman and Wonder Works in construction and blends it with Andaleeb's investment in existing properties along Albany Avenue. Andaleeb would retain a minority interest in the project.

"We are very pleased that Rohan Freeman will be part of this partnership," Bronin said. "We had urged him to consider responding to the RFP initially, and I think he brings a lot to this development."

Bronin said it was notable that Wonder Works -- active for years in the downtown area -- is now moving out into a city neighborhood.

"Coming on the heels of the announcement about Fuller Brush, where Shelbourne is pursing a project in the North End, the fact that Wonder Works, which has done a number of projects in the downtown, is partnering on this project in the North End, is also significant," Bronin said. Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Shelbourne is downtown Hartford's largest commercial landlord.

"We've long said and long hoped that some of the private investment that we've been attracting to the downtown would recognize the potential throughout the city, including our neighborhoods," Bronin said.

Redevelopment along Albany Avenue -- and the easing of blight -- are seen as crucial to economic development. The thoroughfare is one of the busiest in the city but there has been little to attract visitors to stop and patronize businesses, fostering further growth.

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