HARTFORD — More than a century ago, Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood buzzed with manufacturing turning out bicycles, typewriters and even automobiles, a Silicon Valley of its day.

The spirit of innovation is again taking wing in Parkville, with a new push by city leaders and the private sector to foster a 21st-century hotbed of startups, particularly in advance manufacturing and cost-saving technology for the insurance industry. This, they say, is a good fit with arts and culture that have thrived in Parkville for years.

The plans envision a neighborhood of not only early-stage companies but new apartments, more restaurants, a parking garage and entertainment venues — all existing together in a campus-like atmosphere a short walk from Pope Park and West Hartford’s Park Road.

“We could be a Brooklyn, a small Brooklyn,” said Carlos Mouta, a longtime developer in the neighborhood and the force behind the thriving Parkville Market. “So when I tell people I want to Brooklyn-ize Parkville, I’m not ashamed. I don’t mind copying what other successful people have done.”

Mouta’s $70 million conversion of the sprawling, former Whitney Manufacturing Co. on the corner of Bartholomew Avenue and Hamilton Street could be one of the first projects in the new innovation district, perhaps early next year.

The 290,000-square-foot, 3-story factory — about as much space as a Walmart Supercenter — would include 80,000 square feet for startups; short-term, co-living space for start-up visitors; 189 mixed-income apartments; restaurants and a beer garden.

A significant boost could come to the district if the city is successful in vying for up to $50 million in grants over five years from the state’s “Innovation Corridor” program, launched in October. The program is part of Gov. Ned Lamont’s broader, “economic action” program to spur the state’s economy, add jobs and revitalize cities.

The Innovation Corridor program stipulates that its funding contribute no more than 20% to a project, ensuring that there is strong financial commitment from other sources. The requirement seeks to make sure projects are economically viable.

Martin Guay, vice president of development at New Britain-based Stanley Black & Decker, said it is logical for Hartford to focus on manufacturing because of its roots in the industry.

But it also makes sense, Guay said, because New Haven has carved out life sciences and Stamford is focusing on digital.

Stanley Black & Decker, the tool and equipment storage giant, has partnered with the city of Hartford on the creation of the Parkville innovation district and is also a prominent corporate leader statewide in encouraging the growth of businesses that could result in more jobs.

“What the city gets — and the neighborhood — are projects that are invested in the city,” Guay said. “Because ultimately, the people of the city need to win for the strategy to be viable. And the way they win are permanent, good-paying jobs and benefits that are created over time.”

Stanley would likely benefit from working with the start-ups in the new district. The company has shown a willingness to collaborate with other companies. Its decision to hire HCL Technologies to handle its IT led to HCL establishing a presence in downtown Hartford with the promise of 200 jobs for the city.

Stanley Black & Decker had already taken a strong interest in Hartford. The manufacturer has established an advance manufacturing accelerator downtown and recently took the first steps in helping finance downtown apartment development.

Parkville is especially suited to an innovation district, proponents say, because it has the buildings, though some are vacant, others blighted. It also is close to amenities such as the Parkville Market, which is expanding, and a CTfastrak bus station. The area also is located in an Opportunity Zone.

Obtaining financing through tax credits, the Capital Region Development Authority, private lenders and other sources still will certainly present a hefty hurdle to clear. CRDA funding, for instance, through the State Bond Commission has slowed as Lamont has pulled back on borrowing through the sale of bonds.

The effort also will require more developers getting involved to diversify the sources of investment.

But Guay said he is optimistic that the first signs of redevelopment could come next year, with the district unfolding over the next five to seven years.

While an overall strategy for redevelopment is crucial, it will be equally important to just get a few projects off the ground to create a buzz.

“We need to hit singles and doubles before we hit the grand slam,” said Peter Denious, chief executive of AdvanceCT, a private, nonprofit that seeks to foster business development in the state. “Let’s agree on step one, use that as the ‘Hey, look, this is happening. This is real’ and build that and get it done. Then this begins to take on a life of its own.”

For years, Parkville has been a rising star for arts and culture in Hartford.

Real Art Ways, the contemporary arts center on Arbor Street, has been in the neighborhood since 1989 and two weeks ago announced a $15 million expansion.

While the Parkville Market has grabbed a lot of attention in the past year and is now planning an expansion, the Hog River Brewery and the Know Good Market, a monthly food festival, have been staples.

The neighborhood certainly has been on the radar. Last year, the “Parkville Arts and Innovation District” was listed as one of 10 projects that could transform the city by the time Hartford reaches its 400th anniversary in 2035.

The start of a new wave of innovation gained early momentum as reSET, a business incubator and accelerator, took space in 2015 in the redeveloped Hartford Rubber Works building at the corner of Bartholomew Avenue and Park Street.

Sarah Bodley, reSET’s executive director, said she expects the concentration of innovation and start-ups broadly in Parkville will accelerate the momentum.

“One thing that is really unique about co-working and the accelerator model, you get to build that energy when you are in a group of entrepreneurs who are all tackling big, hairy problems together,” Bodley said.

Parkville Market offers a model for start-ups experimenting with new ideas or expansion to a second location, said Michael W. Freimuth, CRDA’s executive director.

There isn’t the barrier of a big investment up front or signing of a long-term lease, Freimuth said.

“If someone fails, it’s part of the system,” Freimuth said. “So, you want to nurture that concept for the neighborhood. So that’s what’s going on here. Stanley may be doing it in manufacturing, and the Parkville Market in the food industry.”

“Others will try in other technologies. Maybe some service businesses will come out of it. That’s what rebuilds the economy. That’s getting back down to the nuts and bolts of it, and that’s what exciting about Parkville.”

On a recent morning, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin walked along Bartholomew Avenue, talking about how the street could form the “spine” of the innovation initiative.

Parkville Market sits at one end of Bartholomew and, at the other end, the 34-acre, former scrap metal junkyard just taken over by the city. On the quarter-mile in between are buildings — including Mouta’s factory building — that could be part of the new district.

As he walks, Bronin points to a parking lot just past the corner of Bartholomew and Park, with an old factory boiler building to the rear bearing the name of the long-gone Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant.

The parking lot, also owned by Mouta, would be ideal for a 350-space parking garage “wrapped” with apartments and storefront space, Bronin said. The boiler building could become part of the project with more residential rentals, he said.

“There is a need for parking in this neighborhood,” Bronin said. “You know that if you come to Parkville Market at lunch or dinner time. But like we’re trying to elsewhere in the city, we’re hopeful that structured parking could open up other development opportunities.”

All together, the three components could cost more than $50 million, according to preliminary estimates.

Bronin said the area also offers the rare opportunity for start-up space to be next to the 34-acre tract that would be appropriate for larger scale development, while, at the same time, creating places for people to live.

“There is the space to do those side-by-side here in a way there isn’t anywhere else in the city,” Bronin said.

Bronin said he doesn’t see gentrification as an overriding concern in Parkville because so many buildings are vacant, so residents won’t be displaced.

“It helps lift up the neighborhood, and if we are successful, it creates not just a vibrant neighborhood where people can live and play but also a neighborhood where they can work,” Bronin said.

Other opportunities also exist: a closer integration with the adjoining West Hartford neighborhood, little more than a block away; and an extension of Bartholomew all the way to Flatbush Avenue and a quick entrance to I-91, long sought by the neighborhood.

Buildings now occupied by other companies also could well figure into the district in the future.

For example, Champlin Packrite, a packaging company at 81 Bartholomew, had discussed a sale of its 80,000-square-foot building to Real Art Ways several years ago. But RAW decided to buy the building it had leased on Arbor Street as part of its recently-announced expansion.

But Rory Poole, Champlin’s chief executive, said the company still is looking to consolidate and expand its plant in Manchester. The building, which once housed steel-tube manufacturing for Columbia bicycles, has been occupied by Champlin since 1931.

Of a potential sale, Poole said, “I think it will be coming somewhat soon.”

At the former Whitney factory, Mouta hopes to lease start-ups with space between 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, with his thought being that as companies grow they will stay in the city, perhaps moving to new, larger space on the nearby 34 acres.

Mouta said he expects to start conversion of the factory building early next year, with redevelopment spread out over two or three years. The creation of the startup space is the first priority, Mouta said.

He is still lining up financing but Mouta said he believes he is close to winning up to $30 million in tax credits. Mouta expects bank financing will be $28 million to $30 million.

Along with startups and new neighborhood residents, he sees cultural diversity among shop owners and restaurateurs as key to revitalization.

Mouta immigrated with his family to Hartford from Mozambique in 1975 and grew up in Parkville. Mouta says he’s come up against plenty of naysayers on his projects in Parkville, where he has concentrated building efforts since the late 1980s. But he said he’s proven them wrong and the push for the innovation district is the latest evidence.

“I’m happy that Parkville finally — finally — is getting what it deserves,” Mouta said, “meaning that I’ve only been doing this in this neighborhood since 1989.”

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.