HARTFORD — A Bloomfield real estate company selected for two housing developments on high-profile, city-owned land in Hartford’s North End does not appear to have housing code violations at apartments in the neighborhood beyond one residential property on Edgewood Street, the mayor said Wednesday.
Andaleeb Enterprises LLC, which has stepped up its purchases of mixed-use properties on Albany Avenue since 2020, also has been chosen as preferred developer by the city for new, apartment over storefront projects on the well-traveled thoroughfare. The projects include a $30 million redevelopment of the former police substation site at 614 Albany Ave.
The preferred developer designation means family-owned Andaleeb and its head of real estate investments, Amber “Ace” Andaleeb, still have to line up financing, secure necessary approvals and pass a review of its stewardship of other properties that it owns in the city.
“We have not entered into any contracts with Ace, but we will certainly take a close look at the portfolio before we finalize those deals,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said. “Thus far what we have seen in the dilapidated properties that he has rehabilitated and the other buildings that he owns is that they appear, in general, to be well maintained.”
Bronin said the city would continue to monitor repairs at the Edgewood Street property that were cited for the violations.
Fox61 reported Tuesday that tenants of the three-family house at 143 Edgewood St. allegedly struggled with mold, sewage back-ups and rats. They also told the television station that Andaleeb should not be getting grants from the city to fix up its buildings or be chosen for development projects while their homes go unrepaired.
Amber Andaleeb said late Wednesday one major problem stemmed from a leaking pipe in a second-floor bathroom that damaged the ceiling in the bathroom below. The problems weren’t being ignored, Amber Andaleeb said, “we just found out about them.” The repairs, Amber Andaleeb said, would be completed by the end of the week.
“We have a lot more units that we manage, and our tenants don’t have issues with us,” Amber Andaleeb said. “We don’t have the city constantly being called on us. But stuff like this does happen. But the best we can do when something like this happens is mitigate the problem and take care of the issues.”
In the last three years, Andaleeb Enterprises has gone on a buying spree of blighted properties along Hartford’s Albany Avenue thoroughfare the stated intention of renovating street-level storefronts and the apartments above them.
In addition to the redevelopment of the former police substation, Andaleeb also has been chosen to lead the $10.8 million redevelopment of 270 Albany Ave. into apartments and storefronts. The project includes the renovation and rental conversion of a historic, 1870s structure on the site, plus a new building.
Redevelopment along Albany Avenue — and the easing of blight — are seen as crucial to economic development. The thoroughfare is one of the busiest in the city but there has been little to attract visitors to stop and patronize businesses, fostering further growth.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
