In applying to the University of Connecticut, Amy Casazola was pleased being selected for the downtown regional campus — her first choice — but she couldn’t say the same about not getting into housing on the main campus in Storrs.
“I was a little upset that I didn’t get to do housing in Storrs, but then they offered me housing (in Hartford), and I took it,” Casazola said. “I was, like, afraid of missing out, but there’s nothing to miss out on. There are so many things to do here.”
Casazola, a first-year student from Newington, is among the first 38 students — three of them residence hall assistants — to live in student housing near the Hartford campus on Front Street. Her comments came after ceremonies Tuesday marking the opening of a newly-converted apartment building on Main Street opposite city hall that is providing temporary student housing.
A permanent residence hall for up to 200 students is being constructed four blocks to the north on Pratt Street and is expected to open in the fall of 2026.
City and UConn officials said UConn students living in downtown Hartford marked a step forward in the city’s aspirations to become more of a college town and residential neighborhood, striking a better balance with a traditional heavy dependence on corporate employers.
UConn freshman Aleysha Ortiz, 20, of Hartford, shows the kitchen in her room at The Donaghue, 525 Main St., Hartford Tuesday. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
“As a campus, this is a whole new stage for us on a small scale for us this year.” Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, dean of the Hartford regional campus, said. “We are looking forward to Pratt Street and even more students being able to do this and then everything that comes from that — 24/7 opportunities — so we’re real excited about this.”
UConn decided to offer student housing in downtown Hartford a year earlier than expected, given a major housing crunch on the Storrs campus.
Once the Pratt Street residence hall in completed, Overmyer-Velázquez said UConn would evaluate whether two locations for housing would be needed, based on student demand.
Since the regional campus opened in 2017, UConn has expanded to space above the PeoplesBank Arena and embarked on the $28 million residence hall project.
Casazola said she is taking a second look at living in Hartford, and it might figure more prominently in her future housing plans at UConn. Casazola said she can already feel a community coming together, after just a few weeks.
“Right now, I might want to stay in Hartford,” Casazola said. “I was thinking about being an RA here.”
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam and UConn Hall Director Taj Julien tour a room at The Donaghue, 525 Main St., Hartford, on Tuesday. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Taj Julien, UConn’s residence hall director, said interest in the student housing in downtown Hartford took a bit of time to build momentum.
“It was a trickling kind of interest,” Julien said. “At first, I think people were not quite clear on the fact that we have housing here. At first it was a little bit difficult to get the word out there, but once we did, people were interested in coming, and we still have people trickling in. They are getting housed right now.”
UConn’s lease at 525 Main St., christened “The Donaghue” after the famous Hartford family that once owned the building — runs for the current academic year and could be extended. UConn has leased three floors — at $172,800 a floor — that can accommodate up to 19 students on each floor, for a total of up to 57 students.
The student housing rates are $11,734 for a standard double, or 1 bedroom, 2 students; and for a standard single, or 1 bedroom, 1 person, $13,888.
Students who live in the apartments can choose the UConn meal plan that includes either five or 10 meals a week, at $1,660 or $2,940, respectively. The housing also is a short walk from the hub of the campus at the refurbished Hartford Times building where the opening of a new café will soon open, an option on the UConn meal plan.
The apartments, which UConn outfitted for the student housing, include quartz countertops and a bathroom with waterfall shower and massage jets.
A view of Hartford’s City Hall from UConn freshman Aleysha Ortiz’s room at The Donaghue, 525 Main St., Hartford Tuesday. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
“What dorm room has a dishwasher?” Aleysha Ortiz, a student resident, said, showing visitors Tuesday around her apartment.
Ortiz, who filed a lawsuit against the city arguing she graduated from high school in Hartford, without being able to read or write, said she welcomes the opportunity to show other students that the city where she grew up has potential.
“When it comes to Hartford, there’s a lot of mixed reviews,” Ortiz said. “I’m very happy to see that other students will get to experience the city and see we are just them. And if you come into the city and talk to neighbors, you’ll see how amazing and strong the community is.”
The four-story structure at 525 Main, a former municipal building, was converted in a nearly $8 million project by a partnership that includes Daniel Klaynberg, president of Spectra Construction and Development, a major downtown developer and landlord. Financing included a $2.1 million, low-cost loan of city funds managed by the Capital Region Development Authority.
UConn students moving into temporary housing comes a year ahead of the expected completion of the conversion of former office space in downtown Hartford into a residence hall for up to 200 students.
The $28 million project is converting office space at 64 Pratt St. in the student housing partly funded by $5 million in grants — including $2 million from the city of Hartford and $3 million from state funds designed to improve Connecticut’s urban centers. The state approved funding for a $10 million in state-taxpayer backed, low-interest loan from CRDA.
The Donaghue, at 525 Main St. in Hartford, was redeveloped into apartments in an $8 million project. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
The project involves the conversion of an annex in the office building at 242 Trumbull St., a 4-story structure, which has its entrance off Pratt Street. A spacious atrium that allows space for amenities and student gathering was a key selling point for UConn.
“When students step out of these residence halls, they are going to step into a campus that is part of UConn,” Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said during Tuesday’s ceremonies. “The city is going to be a part of UConn — much like New York is for NYU students, like Boston is for BU students.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
