‘The Brit’ in New Britain: Developer plans stylish apartment building and promises more on the way
As he unveiled plans Tuesday for a $14 million, 107-unit apartment building in the heart of New Britain’s downtown, developer Avner Krohn said he has plenty of more plans for the city.
“This is only the beginning — our goal in the next 36 to 48 months is to build 400 more apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail space,” Krohn announced at a groundbreaking ceremony.
Krohn’s plans show a stylish six-story building that will be marketed to mostly young tenants seeking amenities and flair. Krohn’s Jasko Development is dubbing it “The Brit,” and looking to make a splash at one of downtown’s busiest corners: Main and Bank streets.
“The lower façade is kind of a rustic brick — think of the Meatpacking District in the city,” Krohn told business leaders and city officials. “We’ve got grays and blacks and some contemporary materials. We want it be fun, so there are neons — ‘The Brit’ will be in neon.”
The building will stretch up Main and along Bank, and Krohn plans a high-profile look for the corner where they meet. The Brit’s front will curve at that point, with glazed wrap-around windows for a first-floor restaurant and four floors of apartments.
Architects skipped a corner apartment on the sixth floor — the premier location — in favor of a fifth-floor terrace for tenants. That will create a closer visual connection between pedestrians below and people on the terrace, he said.
“The idea is we have activity in the downtown. It’s an outside terrace where you can see people hanging out,” he said.
The building will have a 5,000-square-foot open-air courtyard with restaurant seating and space for tenants to grill and have picnics. There also will be outdoor dining along the edges of the building facing the Main and Bank sidewalks.
Krohn said the CTfastrak station nearby will help draw tenants; he envisions mostly people in their 20s and 30s seeking homes with a sense of community and energy. The units rent at market rates.
Krohn got applause when he said construction could be done as quickly as the fall of next year. He has built a reputation in the city after successfully redeveloping the Rao, Andrews and Raphael buildings, among others, and his Jasko Development LLC recently announced it is partnering with another developer to create 360 apartments at the former Showcase Cinemas property in East Hartford.
The Brit will be a powerful transformation for a street corner that was dominated for more than two decades by a vacant bank, Downtown District Executive Director Gerry Amodio said.
“This project will ultimately produce over $2 million in taxes and local spending per year because everybody who lives in this building will spend about 40 percent of their disposable income within a mile to two miles,” Amodio said.
Mayor Erin Stewart said Jasko is the kind of developer the city wants to work with. The company has been active in New Britain for 15 years, and has a track record of quality projects, she said.
“Developers come and go, they buy properties, they sell them five years later, they make their money and leave‚” Stewart said. “There’s something to be said for someone who genuinely cares about a community and chooses to stay there.”
After years of accepting too many marginal projects, New Britain is able to pick the best — making for a much better future for downtown, she said.
“We’re no longer settling for whatever we can grab. We’re going for the cream of the crop,” she said. “We’re going to renovate and transform this downtown corner into apartments no one ever deemed possible a few short years ago.”
