Hartford 21: Population, 1

September 2, 2006
By JEFFREY B. COHEN, Courant Staff Writer

Hartford 21, the city's tallest residential tower with 36 stories and 262 units, opened for business Friday.

Workers outside the tower were still busy power-washing the valet entryway and hand-cleaning the stainless steel facade of the Civic Center next door. Inside, contractors and electricians dealt with final details.

Only one tenant actually moved in - the others are expected to trickle in over the next couple of weeks. But Michael Grunberg didn't waste any time. Grunberg, the owner of two prominent downtown high-rises, unpacked his antiques and his flat-screen televisions into his 22nd floor apartment.

The building isn't totally finished yet; residents moving into floors above the 22nd will have to wait one more month to move in. A grand opening for the building is planned for Sept. 7.

"The quality of this project is like nothing that's been built in Hartford in 20 years," said Lawrence R. Gottesdiener, the building's developer, taking a walk outside the tower Friday. "The materials, the granite, this curtain wall, the stone ... the wood inside, the units themselves, the granite countertops. It's like nothing Hartford has seen in a generation."

The tower at the corner of Asylum and Trumbull streets advertises rents on its website from $1,400 for a one-bedroom apartment to $6,000 for a penthouse.Gottesdiener wouldn't say how many units are rented. But the building's core constituencies, the empty nesters and the young urban professionals, are taking an interest.

He said he's moving into a penthouse himself, just as soon as it's ready.

"People that are seeing it, love it," Gottesdiener said of the building. "The only question is, `Can I afford it?'"