By Lauren SchreiberThe Capital City of Hartford, Connecticut, is the hub of the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Also known by the nickname, the Insurance Capital of the World, Thomas Hooker first settled Hartford in 1635. Making it one of the oldest towns in the state (Connecticut History). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city population is over 123,000 people, making the Hartford Real Estate Market an interesting investing opportunity.
Top 3 Reasons to Invest in the Hartford Real Estate Market:
The city of Hartford has many benefits for real estate investors. In addition to its diverse culture, the city provides an abundance of jobs and development/investment opportunities. Let’s take a deeper dive into this.
The Hartford Job Market:
Job growth in cities attracts tenants looking for housing resulting in strong demand for rentals. Heading into the pandemic, According to Real Estate US News, the average annual salary was $62,900 compared to the national average of $53,490.
Additionally, the unemployment rate in Hartford was 7.7% compared to the national average of 8.1%. The city of Hartford is a center for research, education, and medical care. These companies provide endless job opportunities making the Hartford real estate market a place to watch.
Hospitals:
Hospitals often provide many good-paying jobs for residents. Hospital employees, in many cases, need to be close by or within a short distance to the medical center. Quality medical centers ultimately boost the Hartford real estate market and the surrounding suburbs as people with medical and technical degrees seek stable employment.
The following hospitals are in Hartford and support the Hartford real estate market through their continued support of the local community:
- The Hartford Hospital
- The Institute of Living
- Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
- Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center
Historical International Center of Insurance Industry:
Like hospitals, insurance companies provide stable employment. At the start of the pandemic, most on-site employees worked from home. We are now seeing some employees report back to offices.
Despite this new working arrangement, insurance companies thrive due to local talent. For investors, that means employers with stable employment, higher salaries, and a need for proximity to the office. This combination makes value-add opportunities positioned to support Hartford real estate market.
Here are some of the insurance companies creating an optimal environment for real estate investors:
- Aetna
- Conning & Company
- The Hartford
- Travelers
- United Healthcare
- Prudential Financial
- Hartford Steam Boiler
Insurance is a field of business that is in demand. As employees return to offices around the country, Hartford will also see increased employment stability.
Other Companies Providing Job Opportunities and Bolstering the Hartford Real Estate Market:
While hospitals and insurance provide the base for employed market-rent tenants in the Hartford real estate market, Hartford’s unique combination of industries includes many job opportunities for Hartford residents.
Property owners can expect employment from other large and small companies throughout the city. Some of these include:
- Choice Merchant Solutions
- Global Atlantic Financial Group
- Harford Healthcare
- ProPark Mobility
- Virtus Investment Partners
Technology:
The city is also a burgeoning technology hub. In the Spring of 2018, Infosys Limited, an Indian multinational information technology company, announced that they would be opening a new technology innovation hub, creating up to 1,000 jobs by 2022. The technology innovation hub will have three key sectors, insurance, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Hartford’s Diverse Culture Supports Hartford Real Estate Market
In the past, Hartford, a second-tier city, has struggled to find its place between the much larger metropolitans of Boston and New York City. The city’s renewed understanding that Hartford has more to offer than its proximity to larger cities, the city has leaned into its new tagline line “Hartford Has it”.
Determined to draw attention to the diverse culture Hartford offers, neighborhoods, arts, education, and theaters, are being celebrated like never before.
For investors looking to add value to properties, this new thinking may create an opportunity that the Hartford real estate market has not in quite a while.
Art and History in the City of Hartford
Hartford is home to some of the best arts and cultural institutions in the country among them are:
- The Mark Twain House: The Mark Twain House & Museum has restored the author’s Hartford, Connecticut, home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891.
- The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts: A center for arts, education, and community activities.
- Theatreworks: A high-quality contemporary theater that produces content relevant to the audience and human experience.
- The Hartford Stage: This organization is known for its revival of classics and new plays and musicals.
- Real Art Ways: This is an alternative multidisciplinary arts organization.
- Wadsworth Museum: This is the oldest continuously operating public art museum in the United States.
- Old State House: This building served as Connecticut’s original seat of government from 1796-1878. It now serves as a physical and virtual classroom to teach lessons of citizenship and to help enrich the communities.
- The Artists Collective: This is the only multi-arts and cultural organization of its kind in Connecticut, focusing on the artistic and cultural contributions of the African Diaspora.
- Coltsville National Historical Park: this is a National Historic Landmark District in Hartford, Connecticut. In December of 2014, legislation passed authorizing the creation of the Coltsville National Historic Park incorporating much of the landmarked area. This historic district encompasses the factory, worker housing, owner residences associated with Samuel Colt, and even a brewery (Coltgateway).
- The Artists Collective: This is the only multi-arts and cultural organization of its kind in Connecticut, focusing on the artistic and cultural contributions of the African Diaspora.
Education in Hartford, Connecticut
Is Hartford becoming a college town?
Many times cities thrive when accompanied by higher education institutions. Despite the relatively compact size of Hartford, the downtown is home to two educational institutes. In addition, other colleges and schools are located in other areas of the city, and there are a few bordering Hartford neighborhoods.
There are a wide variety of educational institutions in the city:
- University of Hartford – Located on the Hartford/West Hartford line University of Hartford borders the West End and North End of Hartford.
- UCONN Hartford Campus – Several years ago, UCONN moved its Hartford campus from West Hartford to downtown Hartford, which created a thriving environment for student housing and entertainment.
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Higher Education for working professionals is located near Dunkin Donuts Stadium and the downtown North section of the city.
- Capital Community College – You’ll find Capital Community College, the 2nd of the two higher education institutes in downtown Hartford on Main St.
- Trinity – A highly selective liberal arts college can be found adjacent to the Parkville, Frog Hollow, Barry Square, and Behind the Rock neighborhoods of Hartford.
UCONN the Heart of Hartford
In the Fall of 2017, the University of Connecticut opened a Hartford campus. The university’s former West Hartford branch now occupies a section of Prospect Street, parallel to Main Street, stretching from the Hartford Public Library north to Constitution Plaza and the UConn School of Business.
This move put more than 3,400 students, faculty, and staff in the heart of Downtown Hartford.
The new campus is within Hartford’s Front Street neighborhood, a portion of the Adriaen’s Landing Project. The centerpiece of the new Hartford campus is the historic Beaux-Arts former headquarters of the Hartford Times. Due to the Hartford’s campus being near the State Capitol and legislative offices, the university’s Department of Public Policy is based at the Hartford campus.
Hartford400
“Hartford400 is a coalition of the region’s major organizations, working together to forge a comprehensive, river-centered vision and action plan for the valley and its capital city, one that integrates our environmental, economic, social, transportation, and cultural aspirations.”
The Hartford 400 has five different projects it plans to work on:
- Environment more sustainable
- Economy more prosperous
- Community more equitable
- Transport more mobile
- Culture more vibrant
iQuilt
The iQuilt Plan is an urban design strategy for walkability and creative placemaking that contributes to the downtown’s overall pattern or quilt. The “i” in iQuilt stands for innovation. The end goal is for “Downtown Hartford to become the central gathering place for the neighborhoods of the city and the towns of the region: a place of streets and sidewalks alive with people; a magnet for residents, visitors, creative workers, and cultural innovators; a driver of economic activity and growth; and a model of livable, sustainable urban design” (iQuilt).
Neighborhoods in Hartford, Connecticut
The neighborhoods that make up the city are rich in culture. They have a wide variety of cuisine, art, history, and more. These neighborhoods make the Hartford real estate market a solid investment opportunity. Some neighborhoods are:
- Downtown
- Parkville
- Frog Hollow
- Asylum Hill
- West End
- Sheldon/Charter Oak
- Upper Albany
- Clay-Arsenal
- South End & Little Italy
- South Green
- Barry Square
- South Meadows
- Behind the Rocks
- North Meadows
- Blue Hills
Hartford, Connecticut, is rich in culture and has many great selling points for the Hartford real estate market.
The city is full of history and draws people in with its changing and evolving culture.
If you’re interested in a specific neighborhood and are wondering which one is the best investment for you, our associates would be happy to discuss your needs.
Hartford Real Estate Market Investment Opportunities
There are many reasons investors should consider the Hartford real estate market including, its proximity to mass transit, the continuation of development projects, and many rental programs are in place.
Proximity to Transportation Remains Important
The CTfastrak bus line has brought a new means of transportation to Greater Hartford. Following the creation of the bus line, developers are now seizing opportunities to establish multifamily housing near CTfastrak stations.
The latest illustration of this trend is the recent groundbreaking of Columbus Commons in New Britain which is slated to house 160 apartment units with ground-floor retail or office space. Similarly, developers recently broke ground at Willow Creek, a mixed-income rental community in Hartford’s Blue Hills neighborhood, which offers easy access to mass transit.
The Hartford Line, a commuter rail service between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, was created in June 2018. This Amtrak-owned rail service is a joint venture between Connecticut and Massachusetts, with support from the federal government.
Highway Changes Coming Soon
The Connecticut interstate highways created six decades ago increased mobility for the state’s residents, but at a cost to some major cities. A new plan, mixed with previous efforts and new ideas, has been developed to remedy the concerns about the flow of traffic. The new plan costs $17 billion and will be executed over 15 years.
Once completed, the changes will free more than 150 acres of land for development, create new bridges to help manage traffic, and realign the highways; to better serve the community. With these new development opportunities, these changes make the Hartford real estate market more desirable.
Development Projects in the Hartford Real Estate Market
Developers who have entered the Hartford real estate market are already seeing a positive response to their investment.
“Wonder Works Construction Corp of New York, a partner in the development of 560 rentals in the city beginning with the old Sonesta Hotel on Constitution Plaza in 2011, is close to purchasing the two city-owned buildings”, Wonder Works founder and chairman Joseph Klaynberg said.
“We have a lot of confidence in Hartford,” Klaynberg said. “So far, in all the projects that we’ve built, people are occupying the buildings. The more that we build, the more people that are going to be on street, the more successful the city is going to be. We believe if we continue what we’re doing, it’s a safe investment for our investors, and it’s a pleasure to develop in Hartford.
Rental Programs in the Hartford Real Estate Market
- Elderly Rental Assistance Program: The Elderly Rental Assistance Program provides rental assistance to low-income elderly persons residing in state-assisted rental housing for the elderly.
- Rental Assistance Program (RAP): The Rental Assistance Program (RAP) is the major state-supported program for assisting very-low-income families who need to secure decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market.
As you can see, Hartford has exciting things happening, making it a city to concern having in your real estate portfolio.
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