Developer with hundreds of apartments in CT proposes 100 more for 4-acre field

The Pennsylvania-based developer that has built or proposed hundreds of apartments in New London, Windsor, Groton, Newington, Brookfield and Meriden is looking to put up a pair of four-story buildings with 100 units along Lawton Road just off busy Route 44 in Canton.

A. R. Building Co. Inc. is looking to build on a 4.3-acre field just to the north of UConn Health’s urgent care center at Route 44 and Lawton Road.

If the town’s planning and zoning commission gives its approval, the Lawton Road apartments would be A.R.’s first project in Canton.

The company is deeply entrenched in Connecticut: It has apartment complexes in New London , and is working to build an extensive network across the state.

Based in suburban Pittsburgh, A.R. Building currently leases out more than 9,000 apartments and townhouses in a total of 10 states. Rhode Island and Connecticut so far host its only operations in New England, while most of its properties are in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Last June, A.R. gave informal presentations on two concepts in the Farmington Valley: A 102-unit complex in Canton and a 151-unit version on Darling Drive in Avon. The company later applied for a wetlands application in Avon, but withdrew in the winter and no longer appears to be pursuing that project.

This month, however, it applied for a zoning permit in Canton to allow a 100-unit version of its original plan. The project would still be built in two buildings with a total of about 97,000 square feet, with a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments. The complex would have an inground pool and clubhouse, and each building would have a fitness center according to the application.

The proposal is to construct one building with 57 apartments and the other with 43. Documents filed with the application do not indicate the sizes of those units or the potential rent ranges, and do not address whether A.R. intends to set aside some as affordable.

Last fall, Canton adopted a zoning regulation that mandates at least 15 percent of units in new multifamily housing projects be designated as affordable, with rents regulated for 40 years. At least half of the affordable apartments must be priced at a level that could be paid by an individual or family making just 60 percent of the area’s median income, and the other half must be affordable to people making 80 percent of it.

A.R. advertises that it retains and manages the apartment it builds. It opened the 137-unit The Docks in 2021 in New London, where it had built the 60 Berkshire complex four years before that. A.R. is currently listing its studio to two-bedroom units at The Docks at anywhere from $1,680 to $2,745 a month. They range in size from 443 to 1,103 square feet, and some have two bathrooms.

The Docks lists amenities including a clubhouse, fitness center, recreation room with a billiards table, a rooftop deck with views of the Thames River, in-unit washers and dryers, private balconies or patios and stainless steel appliances.

A.R. previously constructed apartments in Groton, and currently is building complexes in Meriden and Brookfield. It is clearing land in Newington for a roughly 220-unit project planned there. In Windsor it is seeking zoning approval for a 201-unit project.