Lewis Brown, principal of affordable housing developer Honeycomb Real Estate Partners, expects to launch a $26 million transformation of the run-down West Hartford Inn into 44 affordable apartments this fall. Soaring interest rates and construction costs, along with historic levels of state funding, have some of the biggest names in Connecticut’s multifamily development sector moving to add affordable housing to their portfolios. Brown, for example, is in talks with Zelman, Krohn and well-known Hartford developer Martin Kenny, of Lexington Partners, about potential projects. Krohn isn’t exiting the market-rate space. He said he’s advancing a pipeline of about 500 market-rate units. But adding affordable projects to the mix will help him keep busy, and allow his company, Jasko Development, to retain its roughly 20-person construction team.
https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/facing-higher-construction-costs-and-interest-rates-some-developers-turn-to-affordable