"I always say there's no bad seat in the Yard Goats' park," says Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. "We just added a few more and they're pretty good, too."
He was speaking from the rooftop sky deck at The Pennant, a new mixed-use apartment building overlooking the city's popular Dunkin' Donuts Park.
The deck, complete with stadium seating and barbeque grills, is just one attraction at the amenity-rich complex. Other features include a two-lane bowling alley, a multi-sport/golf simulator and a pool with cabanas.
"We're selling a lifestyle," says Stamford-based developer Randy Salvatore.
That lifestyle is selling fast, according to Salvatore and Bronin. They say 150 of 270 units are already leased. Many units are complete and occupied, although the building isn't scheduled to be finished until December.
It's part of the North Crossing development, which will feature about 750 additional apartments, a supermarket and more retail space. Set just north of I-84, which famously splits the city, the project will help advance the capital's economic and social goals, according to Bronin:
"Before I became mayor, when the city first made the decision to locate the baseball park, it also came with the promise of developing this area around the ballpark. From my perspective, that was one of the most important promises we had to fulfill: to take this sea of surface parking lots, and turn it into a new neighborhood."
Apartments at The Pennant start at $1,600 per month for a studio, $1,800 for one-bedroom, $2,400 for two-bedrooms. 10% of the units are reserved for lower-income tenants.
