Commercial General Contractor in Hartford, CT

Axela Construction is a Waterbury-based commercial general contractor with completed downtown Hartford work, including the conversion of The Millennium at 50 Morgan Street, the historic conversion of the former Fuller Brush campus at Bristle & Main on Main Street, and the renovation of historic storefronts on Pratt Street. Axela provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build for multifamily, commercial, and adaptive reuse projects, and works with owners who need a contractor comfortable with occupied buildings and historic fabric.

Yes, if the work is phased so construction moves through the building in sections while the rest stays in use. At 50 Morgan Street, Axela converted 9 floors of the 17-story Millennium building from a run-down hotel into 238 upscale apartments while tenants lived inside, upgrading units and floors as they became available so the owners kept cash flow. It takes early planning, multiple crews working at once, and a contractor who treats income as part of the job. A walkthrough of your building is the only way to know whether it can follow the same path.

Most Hartford commercial projects move through up to four reviews. If the property is in a local, state, or national historic district, or contains a historic landmark, historic review comes first, and the city will not issue a building or demolition permit without it. Planning and Zoning approval comes next, through a zoning permit, site plan review, or a special permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the city requires it before a building permit. The Licenses and Inspections Division then reviews plans for building code compliance and issues building and trade permits, and the Fire Marshal's Office handles fire code plan review and inspections. Confirm current steps with the City of Hartford's Department of Development Services.

Plan the work around the businesses that need to stay open, coordinate directly with the owners and tenants who need to stay open, and involve preservation officials early. On Pratt Street, Axela worked with preservation officials, property owners, and tenants to modernize three specialty storefronts, restored and reinstalled the original plaster moldings, and completed the work in one phase, with after-hours work as needed, so the surrounding businesses stayed open and the pedestrian street stayed active. At Bristle & Main, the team built a phased plan so rentable units come first, and aligned early with city offices on historic approvals.