Four months ago, the end credits rolled for the last movie shown at the Apple Xtreme Cinema, the lights were turned off and the cineplex boarded up.
But now, there are once again scenes of coming attractions.
A massive redevelopment planned for the 13-acre multiplex on New Park Avenue in Hartford — a project that could reach an estimated price tag of $150 million — could include more than 300 mixed-income apartments, with rents ranging from affordable — targeted at low-to-moderate income households — to market-rate, officials familiar with the plans said.
The apartments would be built on what are now parking lots to the north and south of the theater, bookending a renovated cineplex that could retain a couple of movie screens alongside a new restaurant and bar — perhaps offering wood-fired pizza — and a game arcade. In the rear of the cineplex structure— opened in 2000 and also operated under such brands as Crown and Bow Tie — space would be converted to self-storage.
The project also would put to a new use a cineplex built for another era when multiple screens responded to the demand by the movie-going public. The movie industry was battered by the pandemic and increasing competition from the small screen.
Construction on “Edge 400” — its name drawn from the cineplex’s location near the town line with West Hartford in the city’s Parkville neighborhood — could begin by early 2027, bringing new attention to a less considered gateway to the city.
A parking lot at the former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue would become the site of new apartments. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Construction would be divided into three parts, and it is likely to start on the southern parking lot where the focus is affordable and workforce housing — a slice of housing that the state has sought to encourage as Connecticut grapples with a housing affordability crisis.
“The intent here is to serve the workforce who can’t afford the high rents that exist in the city and the surrounding area,” said Marc Daigle, a principal in Massachusetts-based Emerald Development Group, a partner in the planned residential rentals both to the north and south of the cineplex. “We envision these for folks who work in the city, folks who work in some of the small businesses or hospitals where people just can’t find housing.”
A barrier stands in the empty parking lot at the former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
The former, now boarded-up entrance to Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford. Boards are splashed with tagging and graffitti. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
The former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
A map shows the planned redevelopment of the former Apple Cinema property on New Park Avenue in Hartford. The vision calls for affordable and workforce apartments, a reshaping of the old movie theater for entertainment and self-storage; and market-rate apartments. (City of Hartford/Benesch)
A barrier stands in the empty parking lot at the former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
The empty parking lot at the former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
A view of I-84 from the empty parking lot at the former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Barriers stand in the empty parking lot at the former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
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A barrier stands in the empty parking lot at the former Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Daigle said he has had discussions with local hospitals, and they have been supportive of efforts to develop housing with rents that are more within reach of their employees.
Eventually, there would be a mix of about 180 one- and two-bedroom units in three, four-story, structures on the southern parking lot, but initially building would focus on two.
If financing were to fall into place, the redevelopment at the 330 New Park Ave. property would move past previous failed efforts — dating back to 2020 — that also included housing and, at one point, a further downsizing of the theater in favor of a venue with arcade games, ax throwing, entertainment and a bar.
On the opposite side of the cineplex, two, similarly-styled buildings would encompass about 120 market-rate apartments on what is now the northern parking lot. It is possible that development on the three parts could overlap, each taking 18-24 months to complete.
‘Concrete jungle’
The cineplex redevelopment also could boost efforts to further encourage transit-oriented development along CTfastrak, the rapid bus service running between New Britain and downtown Hartford. The bus line runs behind the cineplex property.
A map shows the planned redevelopment of the former Apple Cinema property on New Park Avenue in Hartford. The vision calls for affordable and workforce apartments, a reshaping of the old movie theater for entertainment and self-storage; and market-rate apartments. (City of Hartford/Benesch)
According to Google maps, the distance from the planned apartments at the cineplex to the nearest busway station at Flatbush Avenue is an 11-minute walk or four minutes on a bicycle.
Jeffrey P. Cohen, a professor of finance and Kinnard Real Estate Scholar at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, said development now planned for the movie theater property fits squarely with the goals of transit-oriented development.
“Ideally, you want to have residential development so people can walk to transit services, rather than owning cars and use transit to commute,” said Cohen, who has led studies at UConn on transit-oriented development for the state transportation department. “Also having places to shop, eat and have entertainment within walking distance is another part of transit-oriented development, creating a walkable community.”
The plans call for the apartment buildings to be constructed much closer to New Park Avenue, in contrast to the cineplex, which is set back from the street.
“So, New Park does not appear as a TOD-type corridor, right now,” Jack Benjamin, Hartford’s director of economic development, said. “This is a concrete jungle, and it’s a sea of pavement. There’s an interest by the developers to bring a bit more greenery and make the actual sidewalk walking experience a little more attractive.”
Vanessa de la Torre / Hartford Courant
The entrance to the then-Bow Tie Cinemas on New Park Avenue in Hartford in 2020 (Courant File Photo)
Westchester County, N.Y.-based Diamond Properties has owned the entire cineplex property since a couple of years before the pandemic hit in 2020.
““Diamond Properties is excited to be continuing work to advance plans for a mixed-use redevelopment that prioritizes affordable workforce housing, alongside market-rate apartments and a community entertainment destination,” Diamond said, in a statement. “This is one of Hartford’s most visible gateway sites and it creates a historic opportunity for an exciting new ‘live, work, play’ community that will provide new housing opportunities for residents of Hartford and the region into the future.”
New development catalyst?
Emerald Development, a development consultant, is partnering with Tampa, FL-based Southport Financial Services, which would develop the affordable housing. Southport, according to its web site, has developed more than 100 affordable and workforce properties nationally since its founding in 1995.
Crucial to the financing of the affordable rentals would be low-income housing tax credits that the developers are seeking through the state. A decision on their application could come as early as this week.
Emerald also is in the midst of lining up financing for the market-rate units and another development partner. Daigle said there have been discussions with another group, but he declined to identify them.
The former, now boarded-up entrance to Apple Cinema on New Park Avenue in Hartford. Boards are splashed with tagging and graffitti. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Daigle knows the property well having been a partner in Waltham, Mass-based Dakota Partners. Dakota tried unsuccessfully to pursue both market-rate and affordable housing, with a coalition of investors never coming together. Two years ago, Dakota, which completed two office to apartment conversions a decade ago, walked away from the cineplex project.
Daigle said he kept in touch with the family-owned Diamond Properties and, now, under Emerald, a development company he founded, he is moving forward with the housing portions of the redevelopment.
If successful, the redeveloped movie theater could provide a further catalyst to more closely integrating Hartford’s Parkville with the adjoining West Hartford neighborhood. Just behind the cineplex and beyond the route of the busway, are 34 acres once occupied by a scrap metal yard acquired by the city in a foreclosure in 2021.
The former junkyard is seen as ripe for future redevelopment, but an environmental clean-up is clearly a costly hurdle to be cleared.
Even so, the 34 acres could form a connection back to the heart of Parkville and Bartholomew Street. Bartholomew Street — in recent years considered the spine of an arts and innovation district — leads to the successful Parkville Market and Real Art Ways, the contemporary arts center now in the midst of a $24 million expansion.
Benjamin, Hartford’s economic development director, said the busway does present a barrier between the cineplex property and the heart of Parkville. But the challenge isn’t insurmountable, Benjamin said.
“I don’t think that’s out of the question,” Benjamin said. “You just have to find a way to get across the fastrak busway. There’s conversation you’d have to have with the state.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.