Brittany and Justin Bedard sipped drinks at the bar inside the Parkville Market shortly after 2 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, killing time before heading to an appointment at nearby Witchhouse Tattoo for romantic body art.
The Bedards, both 30, live in Manchester and run small businesses. Together and separately they’ve repeatedly visited Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood to stop at the market, an alternative arts center, a brewery or to enjoy recreational ax throwing.
The quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in recent years has converted run-down Hartford office buildings into about 2,500 new apartment units. Michael Freimuth and Suzanne Hopgood have led those efforts.
Both Freimuth, executive director of CRDA, and Hopgood, chair of its board of directors, stepped into leadership roles at the economic development agency with backing from former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The state legislature created the agency in 2010.