The high-rise that opened as an hotel 39 years ago amid expectations of reviving a downtown is being transformed to affordable apartments in an effort to ease Connecticut’s housing shortage.
It is an effort in Bridgeport that housing advocates will be watching closely since it’s still unclear how successfully former hotels can operate when they’re turned into affordable apartments.
Connecticut housing advocates are eager to see the new project flourish, since it will provide a total of 97 modern, clean apartments to individuals and families making lower-than-average wages.
The state put up $22 million to help the nonprofit Connecticut Housing Partners buy the building, and officials contend it was a bargain.
“In today’s market, construction of a new 97-unit building would have cost double or perhaps more. We’re excited about this project and look forward to seeing its progress,” state Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said when the plan was announced.
The nine-story Holiday Inn at 1070 Main St. had long been envisioned as a centerpiece for building Bridgeport tourism; it’s virtually across the street from the Amtrak and Metro-North station and just blocks from the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, the Total Mortgage Arena, the Barnum Museum and the Long Island ferry dock.
The former Holiday Inn in downtown Bridgeport. (Don Stacom/The Hartford Courant)
But The Main Street building struggled in its last years as a Holiday Inn before failing completely during the pandemic, and a developer bought it in 2022 to renovate as market-rate housing. Even though more than 90% of the newly renovated units were leased, the owner agreed to sell to Connecticut Housing Partners this summer.
“This is is another example of leveraging whatever tools we have available to make fast and creative decisions in order to help our Connecticut residents get access to the housing they need,” Seila Mosquera-Bruno said. “These units were recently rehabbed for market rate rents, and by providing DOH resources, Connecticut Housing Partners was able to acquire the entire building and essentially save significant money in construction costs.”
The entrance to the former Holiday Inn in downtown Bridgeport. (Don Stacom/The Hartford Courant)
Nationwide, the pandemic did severe damage to the hospitality industry. Especially hard-hit were hotels that had already been struggling, and scores have been bought or leased by city governments or nonprofits for temporary or long-term use as homeless shelters.
Connecticut has lost numerous hotels in the past five years to conversions, but generally to market-rate housing rather than shelters or affordable-rate apartments.
The once-thriving Hartford Marriott in Farmington was turned into apartments a few years ago; rents currently range from $1,650 to $2,400. In Danbury, the former Crowne Plaza is being turned into 200 apartments, and in Cromwell the heavily vandalized former Red Lion — once a highly popular Crowne Plaza — has been boarded up for years awaiting demolition to make way for apartments.
The Bridgeport property, now called Park City Place, will be leasing apartments to people who make no more than 80% of the area’s median income. There is a mix of 51 one-bedroom units and 46 two-bedroom apartments; as the market-rate leases expire, Community Housing Partners will convert them to affordable status.
“By converting the former Holiday Inn, we are creating nearly 100 affordable homes for members of the workforce in the heart of Bridgeport,” said Renée Dobos, chief executive officer of the organization, said in a statement. “We’re also moving our own headquarters downtown. It’s a step that reflects our growth as an organization while expanding and maintaining affordable housing across the region.”
