With more than 436 upscale apartments planned nearby, East Hartford plans to use part of a $10 million state grant to buy and demolish a decaying, long-blighted shopping plaza on Silver Lane.
Contractors and developers across Connecticut agree their industry is going through a time like none other in memory: Demand for new housing is intense at all ends of the market, while labor costs are soaring and construction materials are often scarce and sometimes staggeringly expensive.
When Sami Abunasra acquired the former Puritan Furniture Store on New Britain Avenue in the Elmwood section of West Hartford in 2020, he originally planned to use the site only for furniture retail, as an addition to the Ashley HomeStore locations he owns and operates in Manchester and Newington.
But the longer he looked at plans for the address, and the more he spoke with town officials about how they would like to see the area develop, Abunasra came around to the idea of building a mixed-use residential and commercial project, in which his store would serve as a tenant.
Amit Lakhotia jokes he doesn’t know how to drive a nail into a wall, but during the past year the former dentist from India has become one of the most active landlords and housing developers in New Britain.
At the helm of a string of project-based limited liability companies, Lakhotia has bought nine New Britain properties – a mix of lots, apartments and office buildings for market-rate apartment developments.
From its creaking, circa-1925 hardwood floors to its shelves of 1940s to 1990s board games, Amato’s Toy and Hobby in New Britain could never have been confused with any big-box chain outlet - but the era ended Monday when the downtown New Britain retailed closed for good.