The Texas developer constructing a 232-unit apartment complex in Newington is proposing to put up the identical number of units on the site of the former Parkade retail complex in Manchester.
Anthony Properties, which also holds approvals to build 255 apartments in Southington, wants to expand its New England portfolio by adding a third major Connecticut project. Its plan in Manchester would be a dramatic redevelopment of a long-vacant eyesore that was once home to a busy shopping center.
Eight four-story apartments buildings would rise on the Parkade land where failed businesses like Sears, Bradlees, Blockbuster, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Tom McAn and Jo-Ann Fabrics once thrived. The town has been working for more than a decade to revitalize the site.
Parkade Cinemas is visible across an empty lot at the Manchester Parkade in Manchester on Monday, Oct. 31, 2025. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Anthony Properties also proposes a clubhouse along with an outdoor pool and deck, and twin 4,000-square-foot retail buildings that would face Broad Street.
The company has not yet submitted a zoning site plan, but the initial maps in its application for wetlands approval indicate it would build on a little under 20 acres on Broad Street. It wants to put up four 48-unit apartment buildings and four 10-unit buildings.
Details about apartment sizes and layouts, rents, amenities and more will emerge when the company presents a full-scale zoning plan.
A map showing the Manchester Parkade site. (Courtesy of Town of Manchester)
Headquartered in Dallas, Anthony Properties is a privately owned real estate investment and development business that has been building apartment complexes for decades. It has numerous large-scale complexes in Iowa and Colorado, and is currently trying to develop its first projects in the Minnesota and Massachusetts markets.
This spring, Anthony Properties broke ground on The Spark on Cedar, a four-story apartment building with a four-story attached concrete garage. Callahan Construction Managers, which is overseeing construction, describes it as a 362,684-square-foot building with studio and one-and-two bedroom units. There will be about 300 parking spaces, EV charging stations, an outdoor pool, a dog park and a pet spa among other amenities, according to Callahan.
The new complex is going up on the site of the National Welding plant, a former heavy industrial business that was long closed when the New Britain to Hartford busway was built more than a decade ago. Then-Gov. Dannel Malloy’s administration cited the property as one of the key targets for transit-oriented development, and The Spark will be a short walk from the busway’s platforms.
A diagram showing the layout of Anthony Properties’ proposed Manchester apartment complex. (Courtesy of Town of Manchester)
Anthony won approval in 2023 to put up 255 apartments in Southington, and estimated at the time that the project would run $55 million. The site is long Route 229 just a few blocks north of the I-84 ramps.
The company’s first venture into the New England residential market began a few years ago with its proposal for more than 300 apartments on 39 acres in South Attleboro, Mass. It purchased the property last year, but local business leaders there said the plan is still going through municipal reviews.
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