They bought six West Hartford apartment buildings. They see less expensive leasing options as rents rise and ‘luxury rentals’ are built.

The partners redeveloping a former West Hartford convent into upscale rentals are betting their purchase of six apartment buildings elsewhere in town will give potential tenants another less expensive housing option.

Lexington Partners and LAZ Investments, both based in Hartford and partners in the One Park convent conversion, plan to spend $4 million on upgrades at 771, 773, 839 and 843 Farmington Ave. as well as 415 and 577 Prospect Ave.

The 121 apartments, which were purchased for $22.9 million and built between 1917 and 1954, will get new cabinetry, new appliances, tile backsplashes — and highlight existing wood floors. Landscaping will be crucial to improving “curb appeal.”

Martin J. Kenny, Lexington’s founder and chief executive, said there will be the feel of One Park inside the apartments but there won’t be the emphasis on amenities and all the “bells and whistles.”

So, a two-bedroom apartment at One Park, where the first units could begin leasing in the spring, could rent in the mid-$2,000s a month. The rents at the older but renovated apartments could come in between $400 and $600 less a month.

“We’ve got options now,” Kenny said. “We can attract someone who might not be able to afford One Park. We’ve got properties that we can show them that can fit.”

Those options may be limited, however, because occupancy across the six buildings now stands at 96%.

The rents at the six buildings would come closer in line with the town’s push for more rents accessible to a broader range of incomes. New, upscale apartment construction in West Hartford Center is expected to test the upper limits of asking rents. The Farmington Avenue properties in the six-building deal are within three blocks of the center.

At One Park on Park Road, the West Hartford town council approved a rare development tax break in exchange for “affordable units,” which account for 10% of the 292 apartments, being offered for 20 years, instead of 10.

According to Kenny, average rents in West Hartford have risen 17% in the last year. Existing tenants in the six buildings could face rent increases, if property values were to rise with the renovations but those decisions would be made on a “case-by-case” basis, Kenny said.

Renovations will be done unit-by-unit as tenants move out of their apartments, said Joe Beaudoin, Lexington’s senior vice president of acquisitions and asset management.

Economists worry that price inflation — the highest in 40 years — could push the country’s economy into recession. But Kenny said rental housing will become an even more popular option, if the country dips into recession.

“A lot more people are renters than renters by choice,” Kenny said.

Lexington, a decades-long developer in and around Hartford, and LAZ Investments, an arm of parking giant LAZ Parking and its founder Alan Lazowski, have been close collaborators in recent years.

In downtown Hartford, where Lexington now manages 600 rentals, the partners are part of team redeveloping upper-floor office space on the south side of Pratt Street into rentals.

In late 2020, Lexington and LAZ Investments purchased a 50% stake in four downtown apartment projects: Spectra on the Park on Trumbull Street opposite Bushnell Park; Spectra Pearl, which includes two buildings at 101 and 111 Pearl; and Spectra Plaza, the former Sonesta Hotel on Constitution Plaza.

Lexington has been expanding its rental management business, now owning and managing more than 3,650 apartments on the East Coast.

The greater Hartford market has added thousands of rental units in the last decade. In downtown Hartford alone, 2,900 new apartments have been added or are now in construction.

Kenny said he still remain bullish about the region’s apartment market. He does see the need for pacing of new apartments being added in downtown Hartford to ensure demand keeps up with rental supply.

For instance, he said he believes the city must see how leasing unfolds with the hundreds of units coming on the market before the Capital Region Development Authority moves ahead with Bushnell South on the parking lots east of the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. The first phase alone could add 250 to 350 housing units, though construction could be a year or more away.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.