Conversion of century-old firehouse, office building in downtown Hartford blends historic with what’s new in apartments

HARTFORD — Two historic buildings in downtown Hartford now being converted to apartments won’t be among the largest residential projects the city has seen in the past decade’s development boom.

But the partnership converting both the firehouse on Pearl Street and the former municipal office building on Main Street across from City Hall see a niche for the new rentals combining the vintage with modern amenities, all within a short walk of Bushnell Park.

Partner Daniel Klaynberg said he is optimistic that rental demand in the city will remain strong, as the $17 million conversion of the two structures unfolds over the next year or so. The redevelopments will add 77 apartments: 35 in the firehouse, the former fire headquarters for the city, and 42 at the 525 Main Street office building.

“All of our existing properties are doing great in Hartford, all 97%-plus occupied,” Klaynberg said. “Our rents have gone up considerably over the past year, which is indicative of demand as well. Other developments going up around the area shows there is expected demand in the city.”

Klaynberg is so upbeat that he said he is already looking ahead to the next project. When the partners bought the two properties from the city, there was an option to purchase the lot behind the Main Street building for development. The terms call for redevelopment to start in 5 to 10 years, but Klaynberg said he expects construction on apartments to start in the next year or two.

“We don’t want to wait,” Klaynberg said. “There are beautiful views of the park. We want to put a restaurant down there. We’re not going to wait 10 years. We’re starting to make plans for it already.”

The conversion of the historic structures comes amid a wave of downtown apartment conversions in the last decade that has chipped away at older, often vacant buildings. The goal was to bring more residents into the center of the city to promote 24/7 vibrancy and help restaurants, shops and other businesses grow.

But the pandemic showed the city’s dependency on office workers is still heavy. A broad cross-section of downtown’s workforce was told to work from home as COVID-19 tightened its grip, and many workers have been slow to return to the office. And it is uncertain how many will ultimately return and on what work schedules. That has prompted some to call for the creation of more housing.

Since 2012, the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority has helped fund 2,228 housing units in and around downtown Hartford, with another 391 either in or near construction. Another 781 are in the “pipeline,” for a total of 3,400.

The city has longed targeted the redevelopment the firehouse — built in 1919 and expanded in 1927 — and the 1926 Main Street office building. The city approved selling the properties to Klaynberg and his partners for $785,000 in 2021, plus the option to purchase the lot behind the Main Street building for a future development. The public investments in the two projects are about $6 million in loans, the majority from the city funds set aside for redevelopment.

“These are two historic buildings, one of which had been vacant for many years across from City Hall and the other was increasingly dilapidated and ill-suited for the needs of the fire department,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said. “These projects together give us the opportunity to put two city-owned properties on the tax rolls, to continue our strategy of increasing residential density in the downtown and preserve and reimagine two historic properties.”

‘Restore some of the fire poles’

Construction is now well underway on Main Street, with most of the needed demolition and asbestos removal wrapped up. Work is now gearing up at the firehouse.

The plans for the 3-story firehouse, closed since 2020, call for 26 studios, with an average of 420 square feet, with rents starting at $1,000 a month. The remaining apartments will be one bedrooms averaging 690 square feet, with rents beginning at $1,375 a month.

At 525 Main St., which rises six stories, there will be 36 studios, measuring an average of 395 square feet, with rents starting at $1,000 a month. In addition, there will be 6 one-bedroom apartments, with an average of 690 square feet and monthly rents beginning at $1,375.

At both projects, 20% of the rentals will be set aside as affordable, workforce housing with tenants required to meet income guidelines.

In a recent tour of the buildings, Klaynberg and one of his partners, Matt Levy, say they have been working with state preservation officials to develop a plan for blending old with new.

At the firehouse, the partners point to the massive bay doors that will remain and be retrofitted to open for outdoor dining at a restaurant planned for the space once occupied by fire vehicles. Inside, staircases and bannisters will be refurbished; an elevator will get a new mechanical system but retain its vintage, divided pane glass door and original doors will open to some of the new apartments.

“Maybe we’ll restore some of the fire poles,” Levy said.

As the partners walk through the upper floors, detritus from decades of fire service are strewn around on the floor, left behind after the city cleaned out the building. There’s everything from a hand-sized work calendar for 1988-1989 and a stack of 2010 fire department annual reports to empty Rolodexes and fallen ceiling tiles.

Over on Main Street, the project will incorporate existing marble walls in corridors, a vintage mail chute and the distinctive iron canopy over the front entrance. Murals rendered in the 1930s funded by the federal government’s Works Progress Administration public art program have been removed from the lobby and are now in storage until the city determines a new location for them.

The vintage in both buildings, Klaynberg said, will be blended with modern, sought after amenities such as a fitness center and community lounges. The color scheme will be warmer tones with terrazzo countertops, porcelain travertine backsplashes, refrigerators and dishwashers paneled to mimic kitchen cabinetry. Bathrooms will be outfitted with column showers designed with rainfall heads and massage jets.

Mary A. Falvey, executive director of the Hartford Preservation Alliance, praised the plans for the conversion.

“This is exactly how we like things to happen, for the city is bring properties back on the market that they aren’t using and have them rehabilitated,” Falvey said. “And we especially applaud the developers for following preservation standards.”

More foot traffic

Klaynberg is now the face of New York-based Wonder Works Construction Corp in Hartford. For a decade, his father, Joseph Klaynberg honed a high profile in Hartford development circles, converting tough to redevelop properties into mixed-use rentals. He began with the abandoned hotel on Constitution Plaza in 2011 and working with a partner went on to convert two vacant, decaying buildings at the corner of Pearl and Trumbull into rentals and renovated the former Trumbull on the Park apartments around the corner.

Today, Wonder Works has a majority interest in more than 550 downtown apartments, all branded under the “Spectra” name.

But Joseph Klaynberg hit financial troubles in the pandemic. He had completed a condominium project in New York, but Wonder Works was unable to show units to prospective buyers because of COVID restrictions. The project was foreclosed on, and Joseph Klaynberg was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Daniel Klaynberg said the filing did not affect the Hartford properties or their current projects, and his father now serves as a consultant to the business.

In the aftermath, Klaynberg partnered with Levy and his two brothers, Dean and Evan, the sons of prominent Hartford lawyer Coleman Levy for the firehouse and Main Street projects.

The plans call for a pizzeria at the firehouse that will be called “Charred” and operated by Gina Luari, the founder of The Place 2 Be. On Main Street, the existing mainstay tenants Cornerstone Deli and Felix Shoe Repair, both in the building for more than 25 years, will remain in their storefronts.

“We hope that they will bring more customers and foot traffic to the area so we are looking forward to having tenants upstairs,” Sarah Brownell, the deli’s co-owner, said. “It’s been 10 years, maybe more.”

Both Brownell and Vladimir Rudyak, owner of the shoe repair shop, say customer traffic has not returned to nearly what it was before the pandemic.

Rudyak said he was relieved that his rent would not be going up with the new ownership.

“I would have had to close,” Rudyak said, “because shoe repair is a little slow right now.”

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