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May 8, 2024

Downtown Hartford's Cast Iron Building slated for full apartment conversion 

Mike Puffer photo Keith Werner, owner of the Cast Iron Building at 235-241 Asylum St. in Hartford.
By Greg Bordonaro

The owner of downtown Hartford’s mixed-use Cast Iron Building on Asylum Street plans to convert the property’s remaining office space to apartments.

Keith Werner, of Werner and Co., is seeking a loan of up to $425,000 from the Capital Region Development Authority to convert office space on the second and third floors of the building, at 241 Asylum St., into three apartments, he said. 

That space has been used by Werner as a coworking site, operating under the name ThinkSynergy. 

Werner last fall put the 25,000-square-foot building up for sale, after he raised concerns about Hartford’s office market. Werner said Wednesday the building has been taken off the market and work on the conversion is already underway.  

Werner has slowly converted the building to apartments since 2000, when he added two residential units on the fourth floor. In 2018, CRDA provided a $200,000 loan for the construction of four additional units on floors six and seven. When the full conversion is complete, the building will feature 11 apartments, Werner said.

As of May 1, Werner had a CRDA loan balance of $168,000, the agency said. 

The new units on the second and third floors are currently under construction and are expected to debut later this year, Werner said. 

The loan request includes $257,000 for the conversion of the remaining two floors of office space to apartments; the rest of the loan would pay off Werner’s existing CRDA debt on the building. 

CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth is scheduled to discuss the project Thursday during a meeting with the agency’s housing and neighborhood committee.
 

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