Hartford Pushes Forward With New Housing

by Jamil Ragland

HARTFORD, CT — As the state continues to struggle with an affordable housing crisis, a partnership between state and local government and private developers is providing new home ownership opportunities in the state’s capital city.

Representatives from the state Department of Housing, the City of Hartford, the Hartford Land Bank, and city developers celebrated the completion of a new, four bedroom home Thursday at 647 Broadview Terrace in Hartford’s south end.

“Today we gather to celebrate something that may seem ordinary at first glance, but is truly extraordinary,” said Marcus Ordoñez, executive director of the land bank. “A patch of empty ground transformed into a place where life, laughter, and memories will take root. We are standing in front of a completed four-bedroom, two and a half bath home that is ready to welcome a new family.”

The home includes granite countertops, central air, a full basement and an attached garage. It is the first of three new construction projects that paired a graduate of the land bank’s developer cohort with an experienced developer in the city. It is also the first “from-the-ground-up” construction project on a land bank parcel, officials said.

The developers are Al Gary, a member of Merestone, LLC, and Annette Gaynor, who was a member of the 2021 developer cohort. All construction was performed with minority contractors. The home is also a Homeownership Opportunity Property, meaning it will be sold to a buyer making less than 80% of the area median income.

Maribel La Luz, director of marketing & external affairs for the housing department was on hand to celebrate. She touted the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont for its commitment to housing, saying that the state has either built or is in the process of building more than 2,600 units in Hartford and has invested $165 million in housing construction, including $5 million that went to the Land Bank.

The lot at 647 Broadview Terrace lay vacant for 13 years. The original property was torn down after a large tree fell on it in 2012. The land bank, which received the parcel in 2022, worked with the neighborhood to determine the best kind of property to develop in the space. Former land bank executive director and current Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam recalls going door to door and having those conversations.

“What many of us have seen for so many years, were vacant lots that are a source of blight in so many neighborhoods — a source of crime,” he said. “That is the kind of thing we’ve seen in every neighborhood across the city and for so long. Often we have just thrown our hands up and said, ‘Well, that’s a vacant lot. What are we going to do about it?’”

He said the answer to that question comes from people like Gary and Gaynor, who have already partnered to rehabilitate other sites in the city, such as a property at 156 Mather Street. Gaynor thanked the city for its partnership in assuring that the construction work was up to code, saying the city values the quality of their work over sheer quantity of housing. 

“We could erect buildings all over, houses all over, but if you put quality and time into it, you’ll get families that want to stay,” she said. “You’ll build communities back and you’ll have neighbors that talk to each other. Look out for each other.”