Real Estate Market Analysis for Hartford Line Station Areas

Prime Contractor: WSP
Client: Capital Region Council of Governments (CR-COG)
Completion Date: Fall 2022
Location: Hartford, CT Capital Region

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Situation

The Hartford Capital Region is implementing TOD (transit-oriented development) and TOD-advancing policies around stations on the Amtrak Hartford Line and CTfastrak Busway.

Goals

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• Create plans for Each of the eight Cities and Towns in the Capital Region to incentivize and approve new housing, employment, and retail amenities. 

• Move each area from the concept stage into construction.

 

Services

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• Heybrook West was task lead for the market analysis. The team conducted a Real Estate Market Study, including forecasting future supply and demand in each of five uses (Office, Industrial, Retail, Multi-Family Residential, and Hotel). This report provided a reasonable range of expectations for what is most likely to be built in each local station area, helping each Town adjust their planning and zoning to advance the maximum amount of desired development forms.

• Heybrook West was also task lead for the financial feasibility study. The team compared local land and construction costs to local rent and sale values to identify and understand financial impediments to development. These may have included market economics (such as construction costs higher than rent revenues), or regulatory hurdles (requiring parking garages renders new housing development unprofitable).

Results

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• TBD; in service to the overall project goal of moving TOD development from concept to construction, Heybrook West delivered quantitative analysis that concretely demonstrated where market-rate development can be directed toward TOD goals, where (and how large) subsidies will be required, and where envisioned redevelopment may not be realistic. 

• Results of the financial feasibility study will inform municipal planning and elected officials about where changes to regulation and/or financial subsidy may be required to move new housing and commercial development forward.