But according to experts, those Airbnb properties are contributing to the declining supply of long-term rentals.

A consumer affairs study from last year marked Connecticut as the worst state for renters. The report said the median gross rental on a two-bedroom apartment is $1,441, and the vacancy rate is 3.5%. It appears many potential sellers and landlords are content with the short-term benefits of Airbnb, and that has put a further squeeze on any person or family seeking long-term rentals.

“If someone takes a piece of property and converts it into an Airbnb, there’s one less house for sale, it’s one less apartment to be rented, ” said David Sacco, a University of New Haven lecturer in the finance, economics, management and entrepreneurship program. “The demand for rentals and the demand for housing in this area hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s probably gone up in the last four years as people have pushed out of New York City to places like Connecticut to work at home. There’s probably more demand for housing (in Connecticut) than there was four years ago.”

Sacco said the increase in Airbnbs has not only decreased apartment and housing availability but are also competition for hotels. He said real estate is all about supply and demand, and Airbnb properties are taking away supply from the long-term rental markets.

“There is also less housing for sale because people are essentially converting their property to short-term rentals. I think that’s an area where you have a finite supply issue and that exasperates it a little bit because there is this new opportunity for people to monetize property they own that just didn’t exist five or 10 years ago,” Sacco said.

He said because of the demand, prices have gone up.

“The national real estate market is really scattered. There are a lot of different regions and different regions have different issues. In the Northeast, we have a dense pack of real estate and housing that you are going to have anywhere in the country. There are basically no places to build new housing except where housing already exists,” Sacco said. “In other parts of the country there is plenty of room to expand. Places like Connecticut and most of the Northeast don’t have the ability to sprawl out like other areas.

Sacha Armstrong-Crockett, luxury real estate advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International, said she is seeing a rise in small investors in Hartford County.

“There’s an increased demand for rentals as buying a home becomes more challenging. Some markets are highly competitive, where, unfortunately, many people are either being priced out or repeatedly overlooked. A reliable and stable rental market is essential to meet the needs of those unable to buy,” Armstrong-Crockett said.

Any quick search on the Airbnb platform turns up dozens of listings for Hartford sites, from one room to entire homes. The prices also vary widely, with some rooms list for less than $50 per night, while homes can be hundreds of dollars a night. Others are listed by the week at higher prices. There also are many listings in surrounding towns.

Armstrong-Crockett said the rise of Airbnb presents both benefits and challenges in Hartford County.

“When it’s a small business or a source of supplemental income for families, it can positively contribute to a community,” she said.

“However, if it reaches the point when it reduces long-term rental options, it could affect local housing availability. As someone who works with investors and offers fair housing and first-time buyer workshops to renters, I understand both perspectives,” Armstrong-Crockett said. “Real estate is a financial product for property owners, but housing is also fundamentally a human right. Property owners who provide long-term, healthy and stable housing are important to any community.”

She said she is monitoring the historic Linus B. Plimpton House located at 847 Asylum St. in Hartford, which is being handled by Armstrong-Crockett’s colleague Ellen Sebastian. The house dates back to 1862.

“It’s a NINA property, meaning it must be owner-occupied. The home also features two stunning apartments. It’ll be fascinating to see how things unfold. My hope is that it becomes a space for multigenerational living or that someone creates a truly unique, high-end rental opportunities for the Hartford community,” Armstrong-Crockett said.

NINA is Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, Inc. which is a Hartford non-profit that “rehabilitates blighted historic houses as owner-occupied opportunities for low-to-moderate-income households,” according to its website.

‘No place to build’

One solution is that the government gets involved, but Sacco said rent control may not be the answer and that there is “very little the government can do to alleviate the supply and demand issue.”

“They can do what the government in New York City has done for years and pose some form of rent price control,” Sacco said. “The problem with price control, which we see in New York City in spades, is that price control, all that they do is exacerbate the shortage because there is not going to be more supply that is created. In fact, there is going to be less supply as the prices are artificially held low and people have less incentive to rent their existing property and people have even less incentive to improve their existing properties to make them more attractive to people.

“Any time you put in price controls you end up with bigger shortages than you had before which doesn’t help the problem. It’s great for some and then everyone else gets priced out,” Sacco said. “You still have the same shortage, and it just gets exasperated, meaning ultimately the market has to come to an equilibrium which is tough in this area because there is no place to build. It’s hard to see where the growth is coming from. Unfortunately, more people, including young people, may consider moving away from this area.”

“I know we tend to think of it as bad with an exodus of people leaving the region that we are living in for real estate prices, but in reality, a lot economic value is being created as well for those people who can move and have more affordable housing and to those areas where real estate values start going up as well,” Sacco said.

Changing markets

David Haberfeld, a Bristol-based real estate investor and entrepreneur, runs Haberfeld Enterprises and said Airbnb is one of the contributing factors, but not a main reason, some buyers and renters are struggling to find housing or rent in the state.

“People think that there is this crazy housing shortage because there is no supply, but the supply is just not on the market,” Haberfeld said. “It’s not listed, so there is a shortage, but not a real shortage of units. People think that greedy landlords are the reason the prices are so high and think that Airbnb is taking away all of the apartments, but it’s just not true. They are contributing factors but not the main drivers.”

Other reasons Haberfeld mentioned sellers aren’t putting their houses on the market are higher interest rates and higher bank fees.

“Airbnbs are also necessary,” Haberfeld said. “I’m a fan and I’m an operator. People that have had a fire in their house and need a place to go and have a family that can’t fit into the hotel room, Airbnb is the right answer for them. Who wants to be the one to say you can’t have Airbnbs here so you have to leave our community, and you can’t stay here.

“Traveling nurses are another group,” he said. “Who wants to say traveling nurses cannot come to our area because we don’t allow Airbnb and hotels are too expensive for them. There is definitely a valid use for Airbnb in every community to have some.”

Haberfeld said tenant/landlord laws have pushed landlords toward renting Airbnbs. He switched to renting Airbnbs in Bristol during the eviction moratorium during the pandemic. He stopped renting his properties because he didn’t want to take the financial risk.

“The reason is you can’t make money in a long-term rental anymore and the tenant/landlord laws are so skewed and are so tenant friendly that landlords are shifting toward Airbnb because the government is abusing the landlords,” Haberfeld said. “Saying that you have to let them live here for free during the eviction moratorium. The Fair Rent Commissions are killing landlords.

“If the tide was to change and the government was to stop abusing landlords and if someone is not paying you can evict them in a timely manner,” he added. “The Fair Rent Commissions are almost unnecessary in my opinion. Some of these short-term rentals will come back to the market. Short-term rentals are about four times as much work as long-term rentals and not everyone wants to do it. But people are kind of forced to do it.”

Jacek Mikolajczyk, a realtor at Berkshire Hathaway, suggests that many potential sellers are also using Airbnb while waiting for a better environment to sell.

“We are seeing a little bit of a slowdown,” Mikolajczyk said. “Some of the homeowners are trying to survive and are trying to rent until the mortgage rates go back down and they can list their house again and get the most income they can for them.

“In this market, there are not too many homes listed,” he added. “People are thinking they are going to get the prices they were getting during COVID, but that’s not the case anymore and it’s hard to let them go for less, so they try an Airbnb. As soon as the mortgage rates go down and more buyers will come back and will start bidding again. … My team sells more than 100 homes per year. We see what is going on.”

Cinnabon, Zumiez, FYE and Torrid all have closed or are in the process of closing sometime this month.

Burlington Stores, formerly Burlington Coat Factory, will be leaving the mall and moving to the nearby Brass Mill Commons and will take the space that was previously occupied by TJ Maxx, which moved to Wolcott Street last fall.

Michaels craft store closed in the Brass Mill Commons this month and the area has a vacancy where TGI Friday’s was previously located.

“The Commons is pretty successful with some setbacks,” said Waterbury Economic Development Director Joe McGrath. “I think the mall is experiencing what most malls are experiencing; that is a future of uncertainty of what is going to happen.”

Despite the mall departures, Waterbury officials see growth in other areas and believe that people are looking at Waterbury as a great investment opportunity.

“The retail landscape has changed, and the mall is a little less than half full,” Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said. “I think eventually, you will see it repurposed into something else. The model of indoor stores doesn’t seem to be viable at this point.

“Having said that, the owners have kept the facility up and it doesn’t look like it’s falling into disrepair, and it doesn’t look abandoned like some other malls,” Pernerewski added.

McGrath pointed to the additions of Ashley Furniture and forthcoming Altitude Trampoline Park which will share the former Macy’s location in the Brass Mill Center as positives. The former Sears on the opposite side of the building has received some inquiries, but McGrath said nothing has been finalized at this time.

“I think the mall is such a valuable piece of property. It’s right off the highway with 140,000 cars going by every day,” McGrath said. “This area is visible to Interstate 84, and we just have to figure how to transform the property and redevelop it. How and who will do it I’m not 100 percent sure.

“I feel as though there is a lot of potential if you look at stores or businesses with separate entrances,” he said. “It could be used for medical or mixed use. It has to be redesigned. It’s probably going to take a lot of capital to change the brick and mortar.”

When it comes to Brass Mill Commons, McGrath said he believes the vacancies will be filled sooner than later.

“They probably have to be remodeled a little bit,” McGrath said. “There are always cars near Chili’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and the other businesses there, too.”

The Brass Mill Commons also has McDonald’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Five Below, Ulta Beauty, Save A Lot, Petco and Barnes & Noble.

“Plazas have made a comeback”

Meanwhile, two other plazas in the city are experiencing a resurgence. One of the success stories is Waterbury Plaza on Chase Avenue, which is anchored by Stop & Shop and Target, It is nearly at capacity with recent additions of Bath & Body Works, Five Below, Wingstop and Rooster’s Chicken & Waffles, all moving in 2024, and PhoneZone opened this month.

“Trends change in how people want to shop. People seemed committed to going in and out of single stores now. Plazas have made a comeback,” McGrath said.

Elsewhere in the city, the Naugatuck Valley Shopping Center at 950 Wolcott St. has dealt with multiple departures on one wing of the plaza including Stop & Shop, Staples and Bob’s Stores shuttered in 2024, and Party City is in its final days.

Two other wings of the property, one anchored by Walmart and the other by Panera Bread, are both at or near capacity.

“That area where the Stop & Shop was is going under a transformation now, but it’s going to rebound. It has to have a facelift and some changes,” McGrath said.

Across the street at 943 Wolcott St., another retail plaza that has felt a boost with the Stop & Shop moving in as well as the TJ Maxx from the Brass Mill Commons and Petsmart, which moved last fall from 475 Bank St.

Next door, the Price Rite grocery store is slated to move into the former Ollie’s Bargain Outlet at 881 Wolcott St. in May.

“There’s a lot of interest and If you go out to Wolcott Street, that whole area is coming back,” Pernerewski said. “If you have some success then you can build on it. I think a lot of people are looking at Waterbury as a great investment opportunity. We are seeing those plazas do well. The other place you are seeing it is downtown.”

Pernerewski said more than 400 apartments are currently being constructed downtown and many others are in various stages of planning for more in different parts of the immediate area.

“In the very near future, we are on track to have 416 brand new apartment units coming online downtown which is going to help drive that retail space as well. I think a lot of people are seeing Waterbury as a really good investment, and the city coming back. We are making a lot of progress. People are looking to get in now while it’s a good time to get in,” Pernerewski said.

Pernerewski said the construction of the 400-plus apartments are in progress and scheduled to be completed in the next year or so. He added that the city is also in the final stages for choosing a developer for 45-60 units at the site of the former Saint Mary’s Grammar School at 1389 West Main St., which closed in 2018. Those units will be geared toward affordable housing for medical workforce for Saint Mary’s Hospital across the street.

Pernerewski also said the city is also looking at the Republican-American building, the site of the city’s iconic Union Station clock tower, on Meadow Street.

“We are in discussions with a developer to put housing on the top floor there,” Pernerewski said. “We are talking about 40 units we can get in there. Also, in the end of 2023, the city purchased a property on the green called exchanged place which was a large six-story office building with an ancillary building that’s a part of it. There is a vacant retail space down there. At the next Board of Alderman meeting, we are going to be talking about potentially putting about 19 units up there and a restaurant and some retail on the first floor.”

Pernerewski said UConn is looking at the Brown Building downtown which has dorm rooms which are privately owned not associated with the university. He said UConn is looking into buying the property and turning it into their own model of dorms and increasing the number of students living in the building for the UConn-Waterbury campus, which is neighbors with the Palace Theater.

“I think in the next couple of years you are going to see a real resurgence in downtown with a lot more feet on the ground  and that is going to drive the retail and restaurants,” Pernerewski said.

McGrath said throughout the city workers have been replacing infrastructure and piping that is more than 100 years old downtown and in other parts of the city. He added that downtown will have all new infrastructure and sidewalks at the end of the project.

McGrath said work is being done at the at the intersection of Reidville Drive and Harpers Ferry Road for the opening of PAM Health and Catalyst, which is planned to be open by 2026.

McGrath said PAM is an acute care facility inpatient rehabilitation hospital is 55,000 square feet with 42 beds and will treat a variety of ailments and offers physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. He added that about 150 jobs will be coming to the city when it opens.

McGrath also said the Amazon warehouse project in the industrial park on the Naugatuck-Waterbury border is still in the works. The project first was discussed in 2022 and has experienced some delays.

“We are finalizing some details, and we are hoping for the final closure on everything by mid-summer,” McGrath said.

Pernerewski said all of the zoning approvals have been sent in from Naugatuck and Waterbury is in the final stages working with their planning departments for the approvals needed from Waterbury. He said they are in the final stages and said he expects a groundbreaking sometime this year.

Pernerewski said the warehouse would bring a minimum of 1,000 jobs, to Greater Waterbury.

McGrath also mentioned the city has been cleaning up the Brownfields, including a 22-acre property on Freight Street, the former site of the former American Brass Company site, that is being cleaned. In 2022, the city received a $10 million grant for the project.

The property is third of a mile from the city’s train station.

“It’s probably 12 to 18 months before we finish cleaning it and put it on the market,” McGrath said. “We envision a mixed-use development. A city within a city with storefronts, apartments, restaurants. A little of everything can go there.”

McGrath said despite the recent challenges at the Brass Mill Center, the economic development has been “very good” in recent years in Waterbury.

“We’ve been following a plan for the last eight to 10 years in terms of where we want to be,” McGrath said. “I think we are on track to what we want to accomplish over time.”

Well over a century later, the city now is aiming in a big way to build on recent efforts to again raise its profile as a center of innovation — this time in technology. Hartford — now among the poorest cities in the nation — is aspiring to become a center for what is expected to become the most consequential technology ever: artificial intelligence.

Hartford is among more than 30 applicants — municipalities, colleges and universities and economic development groups — vying for funding in a $100 million state program to promote the development of what are considered key innovative industries. Those include biotechnology, financial technology, insurance technology, and advanced manufacturing.

The state is expected to announce finalists this week in the “Innovation Clusters” program, which promises investments up to $50 million. The finalists will be asked to submit more detailed proposals, perhaps collaborating with other applicants with similar ideas. Multiple recipients are expected to be chosen by early fall, according to the state Department of Economic and Community Development, which is administering the program. The funding requires a match from other sources.

“We think that with the kind of corporate footprint we have, and the incredible higher-end institutions we have, here in this region, we can build something truly special, something unique, something that draws folks to this region and builds out a workforce that is unparalleled in this country when it comes to AI,” Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam told a recent gathering of business and community leaders.

Hartford’s AI aspirations could cost as much as $100 million over seven years, beginning first with temporary space and then a permanent location that might take two years to build.

City officials declined to name potential locations for the AI center, saying it’s too early in the planning.

But some say possible candidates could include the area around where the city wants to demolish a former data center, just east of Dunkin’ Park. City officials have said the razing of the data center could clear the way for advanced manufacturing and technology uses, as well as a hotel and apartments. An AI center with laboratory space would likely be combined with other uses, including housing, co-working space and a hotel, according to its application filed with DECD.

Other potential sites are Constitution Plaza and the former Stanley Black & Decker manufacturing accelerator space or even the transit-oriented development envisioned for the site of the decaying One Talcott Plaza. The city is seeking state funds to demolish both the data center on Windsor Street and the Talcott structure, but those requests are pending and are not necessarily assured.

An ‘AI sandbox’

The region’s major insurers — the majority of them with a significant presence in Hartford — have written letters of support for Hartford’s vision for AI. Those include Travelers, The Hartford, Cigna and CVS Health, the parent of Aetna. In addition, other major corporations such as Hartford Healthcare, the parent of Hartford Hospital and six others in Connecticut, and manufacturing giant Stanley Black & Decker have lined up behind Hartford.

Hartford also is drawing support from colleges and universities, which see the core of the city proposal in the Connecticut AI Alliance. The alliance, now being organized to strengthen the state’s approach to AI, sees Hartford’s plans in partnership with industry, academia, non-profits and government to use AI to solve real-world problems.

Jennifer Widness, president of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, said AI technology is evolving so rapidly that no one organization can keep up, and resources are limited so collaboration is necessary.

Hartford’s plan for an “AI sandbox” will help “ensure that our evolution is informed by industry needs so that we may train the workforce of the future and so that we may accelerate innovations in health care, insurance, manufacturing and municipal government,” Widness said, in an email.

Hartford leaders, including City Council President Shirley Surgeon, support the effort because it has the potential to bring AI skills and employment to Hartford residents.

Even with the support, Hartford still must raise the matching funds that are required under the clusters program.

Building on a foundation

An AI center in Hartford would build on a foundation of other software and digital service companies such as GalaxE.Solutions and HCL Technologies that have planted their flags in Hartford in recent years. The biggest boost, however, came in 2018 when India-based tech giant Infosys established a hub at downtown Hartford’s Goodwin Square tower.

Jeff Auker, the city’s director of development services and a former Infosys executive in Hartford, said the AI center would be separate from what the corporations are spending on AI — estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But collaborations with them are absolutely foreseen, Auker said.

The city also isn’t focusing on the incubator space for start-ups that could too easily relocate, Auker said.

Auker said Hartford’s sweet spot is the area between the large companies and the start-ups. This is where new ideas — some developed at colleges and universities — are tested and worked on in a lab using digital tools that are commercially available.

“There’s a big gap between what the universities do and where does the IP get created,” Auker said. “Where does it get applied to particular problems? So this is the space that we want to play in. We don’t want to take away from investments that Yale, UConn and other schools are putting into it. We don’t want to compete with OpenAI and Microsoft and Google for who can create the best model. That’s trillions of dollars of investments.”

The problems could range from finding ways for municipalities to become more efficient, say, in permit reviews or how police deal with routine reports. The center could help smaller companies who can’t afford to invest in AI to find better ways of doing business. Research could delve into “population health,” the study of the health of certain demographic groups and how to improve it.

‘Most consequential technology’

AI, at its most basic, is technology that allows computers to perform tasks that were previously thought to required human intelligence. AI systems can perceive learn, reason and solve problems, at a quicker pace than humans.

Modern AI has been developing since the 1950s with the advent of the computer. In recent years, new uses have accelerated rapidly: self-driving cars; voice assistants like Siri and Alexa; chatbots and virtual customer service; and “recommendation engines” that use machine learning to suggest products, services or content to user.

Worries over how AI will impact the existing workforce, especially in lower-paying jobs vulnerable to automation, have been highlighted in several high-profile studies. One, from consulting firm McKinsey & Co., pointed to a deepening of the racial economic divide because a disproportionate number of low-wage jobs are held by people of color.

But the 2023 study also noted that AI could “unlock” the path to more high-paying jobs based on experience rather than solely the college degree.

In his farewell speech as president last week, Joe Biden pointed to the double-edge sword of AI.

Biden called AI “the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time.”

“Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy, and our security, our society,” Biden said. “For humanity, artificial intelligence even has the potential to help us answer my call to end cancer as we know it. But unless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work, and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind.”

Biden called on America to lead the development of AI, not China.

The coming realization that AI is quickly permeating the workplace was on full display in Hartford last week. Google and Charter Oak State College announced a free online course for adults to learn about AI and how it is expected to dramatically reshape the workplace.

The regulation of AI is expected to be debated at the state Capitol this legislative session. Gov. Ned Lamont said last week he is concerned about regulating the industry because it could stifle innovation. There are already consumer protections in place, Lamont said.

The state Innovation Cluster initiative replaced the earlier “Innovation Corridor” program. Hartford also sought funding in the previous program, targeted to the city’s Parkville neighborhood. The corridor program proved difficult because state funds could only account for 20% of the project. Finding matching funding proved a difficult, if not insurmountable, obstacle. The Innovation Cluster program requires a direct match.

Daniel H. O’Keefe, DECD’s commissioner, said the cluster initiative has two goals: the development of next-generation technology, such as AI, to the benefit of the state’s mainstay industries; and how it can encourage startups to flourish. Both will help build the state’s workforce in the future, O’Keefe said.

“In my background as a technology investor, I’ve seen large waves of innovation,” said O’Keefe, who invested high growth, innovative companies in the software, consumer and fintech markets for 25 years prior to his appointment at DECD. “I lived through the Internet, the mobile Internet, and I think AI has implications that are larger than both of those.”

Reporting by Courant Staff Writer Christopher Keating is included.

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

Majestically sited on just over two carefully landscaped acres at at 41 Mountain Road in Farmington that border the Hill-Stead Museum, it is within walking distance to Miss Porter’s School and historic Farmington Village. Yet it is secluded and private, thanks to a generous setback from the road and a border of mature trees. The property also features direct access to the walking trails at the Hill-Stead Museum.

“This home is one-of-a-kind in the area,” said Caitlyn Cleary of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. She is handling the sale with Diane Barry. “It abuts the Hill-Stead Museum property, and was originally part of that estate.” However, “In the 1950s, they sold off two parcels,” one of which was used to build what Cleary described as this “…very stately Georgian Colonial home. Prepare to fall in love.”

Visitors will be impressed by the long private approach and graceful circular drive. A fieldstone walkway lined with boxwoods connects the driveway to the front door, which leads to a classic entry vestibule framed with sidelights. It features a open stairway to the upper level. The focal point, however, is the arched doorway to the formal living room, which spans the rear of the home. The foyer has French doors leading to the kitchen and, on the other side, the library and powder room.

“Gazing from the formal living room to the front door, the arched opening is complemented by a charming curved built-in on the side of the wood burning fireplace, which has a custom mantle. The architectural detail is phenomenal,” Cleary said. This built-in features enclosed storage and open shelves; ideal for displaying fine objects and books. Custom molding adds to the elegance of the living room, which has a large opening to the formal dining room.

Despite this wide passageway, Cleary noted that the home’s layout, “…feels more like a traditional floor plan, with designated rooms. However, the back of the home, which overlooks sprawling lawns, stone walls, and a perennial garden, flows beautifully to accommodate large gatherings.”

The dining room opens to the kitchen, which will undoubtedly serve as the “heart of the home” for daily living and entertaining. Cleary described the focal point as a grand center island, which is expansive, features a granite work surface, dual kitchen sinks, and room to seat four people comfortably. Additional kitchen highlights include a Lacanche Cluny stove. “It’s high end, imported from France, and has double ovens,” Cleary said. One oven features gas cooking, the other is electric. Five gas-fueled burners sit above the range.

“The epicurean’s kitchen has everything you desire,” Cleary added. “The range has a custom hood and a pot filler. There is a Sub-Zero refrigerator with a custom panel, a Wolf wine cooler and convection microwave, double Bosch dishwashers, and a wet bar. It is all very high end, including the Visual Comfort lighting fixtures. The Colby and Martin custom cabinetry was handsomely distressed by an artisan in Collinsville. So, while everything is updated, the design choices go very well with the aesthetics of a charming antique home.”

Adding to the kitchen’s appeal is the light filled sitting area. This occupies what was originally a breezeway connection to the attached garage. The current owners enclosed it, added a steel I-beam, French country style fireplace, and opened the space to the kitchen. “The attractive fireplace mantle is a custom antique piece, hand selected and refurbished by the owners,” Cleary said. “The result is fabulous space with many potential uses.”

The library is exceptional. “The custom mahogany paneling was hand picked by the owner from an antique shop in Woodbury. The floorboards are wide Kingswood, pre-1773, which speak to the classic charm of the home. It is fantastic,” Cleary said. In addition to the handsome paneling and crown molding, the library features custom built-ins and the home’s third fireplace.

The primary bedroom was remodeled within the last two years. “It is not only on the main level, but it is also tucked away in a private wing,” Cleary said. The space is accented with French doors leading to a private bluestone patio, which is also accessible using French doors in the living room.

“The primary bedroom has a vaulted ceiling and a classic Visual Comfort chandelier casting a warm glow in the center of the room. Faux grass cloth wallpaper and a feature wall of Thibaut ‘Asian Scenic’ in blue and cream lines the walls of the spa bath. Carrera marble trims the bath’s dual vanity, floor, and shower. Radiant heat in the floor warms the bath, and the lower walls have picture frame custom molding. It is very stylish and thoughtfully designed,” Cleary said.

The second floor is well appointed with four bedrooms. Two are ensuite and two share a bath. “The generous size rooms are well proportioned and offer hardwood floors, dual walk-in closets, and custom built-ins. All the baths were recently updated,” Cleary noted.

Only three families have lived in the home, with the first being the builder’s family. The current homeowner has lived in the home for 38 years and has been associated with the interior design business for 20 years. This has given them access to custom furniture, fabrics and materials that have enhanced the home, which “… offers exquisite custom millwork, antique finishes and the perfect blend of efficient, modern amenities. No detail was overlooked,” Cleary said.

Info:

Built: 1958

Price: 1,599,000

Style: Georgian Colonial

Rooms: 10

Bedrooms: 5

Baths: 4 full; 2 half

Square footage: 4,242

Acreage: 2.06

Mill rate: 25.45

Best Feature: This move-in ready home has the elegance, comfort and style to meet the needs of multi-generational living. Exceptional design choices eliminate the need to spend time and money on design updates.

Contact:  Diane Barry and Caitlyn Cleary

William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty

Diane Barry:  (860) 614-1569

Caitlyn Cleary: (860) 798-1589

dbarry@wpsir.com, ccleary@wpsir.com

The 6-bedroom, 5 bath home at 23 Pilgrim Road in West Hartford offers a chef’s kitchen with a large island and a “seamless flow” into the family and mud room. It is perfect for entertaining with a formal dining room, gas fireplace and French doors opening to a backyard patio. It stretches out around 4,200 square feet and nearly half an acre of land.

Upstairs is a beautiful master suite with a double vanity and steam shower, walk-in closet and a convenient second-story laundry area. There are two additional bedrooms on this level with an updated bath with a freestanding tub and shower. It also has another ensuite bath connected to a third bedroom.

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Up on the third floor there is an additional two bedrooms and another full bath, perfect for guests staying over, a home office or a private retreat. The basement also boasts plenty of space for entertaining with extra recreational or storage space. The house has an attached two-car garage.

The home is listed for $1.2 million, represented by Marla Byrnes of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties.

Even so, according to a new report this week from the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors, the home sale market in the 27-town area tracked by the association remained particularly tight in 2024. Pending sales and closed sales of single-family houses rose less than 1% compared with 2023, according to the association, a lobbying and professional group.

“Increased inventory is a welcome sign for our housing market,” Holly Callahan, the association’s chief executive, said, in a statement. “In order for prices to stabilize, we’ll need to see the inventory continue to rise.”

The shortage of homes for sale helped push the median sale price — where half the sales are above, half below — up by nearly 10%, to $395,000, compared with $360,000 in 2023. Average days on market fell almost 17%, to 20 days in 2024, down from 24 days the previous year.

In December, the inventory of houses for sale did show a modest 4% increase, to 541 properties, compared with 519 at the same time in 2023.

Based on the inventory in December and the closed sales that same month, the area had just a little over a month’s supply of houses on the market. A market is said to be in equilibrium with six months of supply. Below that, the market is said to favor sellers; above that, buyers.

“Increased inventory is a welcome sign for our housing market,” Holly Callahan, the association’s chief executive, said, in a release. “In order for prices to stabilize, we’ll need to see the inventory continue to rise.”

$21M CT city apartment project would boost housing options around historic park. Amenities planned.

Homebuyers are being squeezed – some of them sidelined all together – by soaring prices, fueled by strong demand and few properties available on the market. This has led to multiple offers on the few homes available, which pushes up the price as some buyers are willing to pay above the asking price to get the home they want.

In recent years, skyrocketing home sale prices, coupled with mortgage rates that have been double what they were several years ago, have been at the root of the squeeze. This has widened the gap between those who can purchase a home and those who cannot.

Luxury condos rising in West Hartford Center. Some priced in the millions

Last week, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.93% nationally, up from 6.91% the previous week, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. A year ago, the benchmark, 30-year rate averaged 6.66%.

“In the first full week of the new year, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained elevated at just under 7 percent,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

“The continued strength of the economy has put upward pressure on mortgage rates, and along with high home prices, continues to impact housing affordability,” Khater said. “The lack of entry-level supply also remains an issue, especially for those looking to become first-time homeowners.”

In West Hartford, for example, developers of the Center Park Place luxury condominiums plan to begin constructing the basement garage early this year and anticipate completing the six-story building by the end of 2026.

Real estate agents working with developer Arapahoe say prospective buyers have already reserved more than a quarter of the 58 condos, including 10 of the 13 premium sixth-floor units. In one case, a 2,700-square-foot penthouse unit with three bedrooms and four baths listed at over $2.8 million has been reserved.

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

The proposed buyers of the the 1.3 million-square-foot mall perched on a hillside above Interstate 84 are listed as Namco Realty LLC, CH Capital Group LLC and Elliott Nassim in federal court documents filed in the foreclosure case.

Namco Realty’s principal is Igal Namdar, who is chief executive of Namdar Realty Group, based in New York, state records show. In recent years, Namdar Realty has been a prolific acquirer of struggling malls in Connecticut, including the Meriden Mall, Enfield Square Mall, Crystal Mall and Trumbull Mall.

A purchase-and-sales agreement was filed in the U.S. District Court in Connecticut on Dec. 31. The sale still requires final court approval.

Since 2021, The Shoppes at Buckland Hills, which also includes a hotel and a handful of restaurants outside the enclosed space, has been in the hands mall turnaround expert Spinoso Real Estate Group.

In September, Buckland Hills went on the auction block, without a starting price.

The foreclosure came a year into the pandemic, following a mandatory, temporary closure of malls and other stores in Connecticut to stop the spread of COVID-19.

During that period, some stores at Buckland Hills closed permanently and others withheld rent payments, making it tougher for the mall’s owners to make payments on a $130 million mortgage held by Wells Fargo Bank, according to filings in the foreclosure case.

An offering circular for the auction placed the current overall occupancy at nearly 80%, with the occupancy of stores within the enclosed area at 86%, both decent numbers, Goman said.

Namdar did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Thursday. JLL, the commercial real estate firm handling the sale, declined to comment.

If the sale becomes final, it would come at time of dramatic changes for major enclosed malls, both in Connecticut and nationally. Shoppers are buying more online, a trend hastened by the pandemic; and the era of shopping as entertainment is rapidly receding into the past.

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

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. ticked up this week to slightly above 7%, the highest level in eight months.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also rose this week. The average rate increased to 6.27% from 6.14% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.76%, Freddie Mac said.

The uptick in the cost of home loans reflects a rise in the bond yields that lenders use as a guide to price mortgages, specifically the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury. The yield on the 10-year Treasury has climbed from 3.62% in mid-September to 4.61% as of midday Thursday.

The elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have discouraged home shoppers, prolonging a national home sales slump that began in 2022.

While sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November for the second straight month, the housing market was on track to end 2024 as its worst year for sales since 1995. Full-year home sales data are due out next week.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now the highest it’s been since May 9, when it was at 7.09%.

Interest rates have been climbing since the Federal Reserve signaled last month that it expects to raise its benchmark rate just twice this year, down from the four cuts it forecast in September.

The Fed is tapping the brakes on rate cuts because inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target, even though it’s fallen from its mid-2022 peak. Economists also worry that President-elect Donald Trump’s economic policies, notably his plan to vastly increase tariffs on imports, could fuel inflation.

The 38-story office skyscraper on Asylum Street was purchased in 2015 by Boston-based Paradigm Properties, for $113.3 million. The real estate investment firm borrowed $79.3 million to acquire the office tower, according to documents filed in Superior Court in Hartford on Dec. 30.

The loans that financed the purchase were subsequently sold to investors, which are represented by Wilmington Trust.

In its court filing, Wilmington alleges that “because of the financial performance of the property, borrower does not have adequate funds on hand to meet the property’s financial commitments or have sufficient capital on hand to fund prospective operational needs.”

In addition, “borrower has acknowledged in writing that it is unable to pay its debts as they come due, which is an event of default” in the loan agreement.

Paradigm could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

CityPlace I joins other major office properties in the city that are struggling financially.

Major office towers — 20 Church Street, the “Stilts Building,” Metro Center and a massive chunk of Constitution Plaza — are mired in foreclosure. That’s a concern for property tax revenue that funds city government because foreclosures — and even buildings that are partially empty — typically push down building values that form the basis of assessments. And office towers in Hartford have historically been a major contributor to tax revenue.

There’s also the vexing problem of what should be done with the towers when there is little to no post-pandemic demand for big office leases. Some may not lend themselves to apartment conversions.

One report earlier this year from commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield placed the overall office vacancy downtown at a troubling 35%, and some major office landlords say it is closer to 40% when leases that are soon expiring are taken into account.

The pandemic shifted large populations of office workers to their homes and many returned only part-time to the office. In response, major corporate tenants cut back on their leased spaces.

CityPlace was hit particularly hard when its major tenant, UnitedHealthcare dramatically downsized its space. According to sources familiar with the deal, the health insurance giant cut its 350,000- square-foot space to a little over a tenth of what it had previously leased

The next court date for the receivership request for CityPlace is Feb. 6.

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

The Elle at North Main, a $27 million project, will include 24 one-bedroom units, 23 two-bedroom units, and two three-bedroom units, according to a spokesperson.

The 28,000-square-foot building at 1244 North Main St. has been vacant for more than five years, and Trout Brook Realty Advisors has said it intended to turn it into apartments.

“The mix of units will be 6 units at 60% AMI (area median income), 20 units at 50% AMI, and 13 units at 30% AMI. The remaining 10 units will be market rate rentals,” according to a spokesperson.

The Elle at North Main is being developed by Trout Brook Realty Advisors and will be managed by the West Hartford Housing Authority, according to the spokesperson.

The project “is made possible with financing” from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, the Connecticut Department of Housing, the Town of West Hartford, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, M&T Bank and Eversource, according to the spokesperson.

A groundbreaking is scheduled to take place at 2:30 p.m. Thursday January 16, 2025 at 1244 North Main St., West Hartford. It is expected to include many state, local and housing authority officials.

This kind of project has become more popular in the past decade as communities are pressed increasingly for more housing, new housing and affordable housing. At the same time, builders in heavily developed towns and cities struggle to find affordable locations, while the supply of abandoned or under-used churches rises.

But the more broad-based trend has been to convert those buildings into either apartments or condos, and in very recent years the market has been filled with available former churches. Lifeway Research, an evangelical research firm, reported that about 4,500 Protestant churches in the United States shut down in 2019, while only 3,000 new ones opened.

The building has been out of service for years after a merger with United Synagogues. Agudas Achim began in the 1880s in Hartford, and for several decades operated out of a synagogue on Greenfield Street there. It left that building in 1969 after constructing the West Hartford synagogue.

The West Hartford property has more than 1.8 acres, and Trout Brook plans parking spaces there. But town officials also have noted that it is also along two bus lines, giving tenants an opportunity to use transit rather than own a car.

Reporting by Don Stacom is included in this post.