HFD/Conn Economic development

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

Eesh, I didn't realize it was effectively vacant. Maybe Travelers will buy it if they need more space.

Hartford's Connecticut River Plaza Complex On The Auction Block

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-propertyline0302.artmar02,0,7770308.story

[The Voice of Reason]

Eesh, I didn't realize it was effectively vacant. Maybe Travelers will buy it if they need more space.

Hartford's Connecticut River Plaza Complex On The Auction Block

http://www.courant.c...ne0302.artmar02,0,7770308.story

your link is broken, but that sure is interesting news.

I knew it was empty and I knew it was being marketed nationally as a rental. I am supprised it is up for sale though.

I tell ya what, if I were Jim Barnes I would make an offer on this one.

He needs the space.

but I suspect he is allready making plands to lease some more space.

I wonder if the sale will attract any new companies to the region. unlikely, but possible.

[jcrc]

The last major office building to sell in the city's central business district was another two-towered office building at 100 Pearl St. in 2008. New Boston Fund sold that building for $18 million, or $64 a square foot, about half of the $32.7 million New Boston paid in 1999. The building had a 35 percent occupancy at the time.

Financing commercial real estate purchases remains difficult, though some investors are beginning to get back into the market.

Still, if someone can pay cash, there potentially could be "a big upside" in the purchase, if the right tenant or tenants can be found, said Dale Reese, a senior Connecticut executive at New Boston.

But a strong stomach will be required, given that available office space in Greater Hartford increased to 21.2 percent as of Dec. 31, up from 18.2 percent a year ago, according to CB Richard Ellis.

A recent CB Richard Ellis forecast calls for another increase this year, to 23 percent.

I am thinking only bottom fishers will be at the auction, I just hope the new owner will not be someone like the so called developer who owned the butt ugly and the Capitol West building or that new age guru dude who runs a nice hotel in Constitution Plaza.

[The Voice of Reason]

this will be nothing like those.

steep discount in this case is sill going to be a lot of money.

this is a 800,000 SF class A building on the river. it will be bought up mush like Metro Center was bought by Northland back in the 90s.

it will be looked at as a steal some day, but still likely 20 million+ so it wont attract real true bottom feeders like you mentioned. those guys don't have the scratch to pull this off.

it is very big news, and could be very influential on Hartfords short and mid term future if the right owner steps forward.

These buildings are LARGE and it is one part of downtown with surplus parking, it it is a very desirable property in theory.

you never know though.

[Hiramicus]

I am thinking only bottom fishers will be at the auction, I just hope the new owner will not be someone like the so called developer who owned the butt ugly and the Capitol West building or that new age guru dude who runs a nice hotel in Constitution Plaza.

who's this 'guru'? And who has a hotel in Constitution plaza?

your link is broken, but that sure is interesting news.

I knew it was empty and I knew it was being marketed nationally as a rental. I am supprised it is up for sale though.

I tell ya what, if I were Jim Barnes I would make an offer on this one.

He needs the space.

but I suspect he is allready making plands to lease some more space.

I wonder if the sale will attract any new companies to the region. unlikely, but possible.

I hope too that this attracts more companies to the region. The plus was that there is no mortgage on this property anymore, so I would think that is attractive. Further, the building has underground parking, which is also good. I think it makes a good case for another company to swoop in and buy the building and establish a Hartford presence (fingers crossed).

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

who's this 'guru'? And who has a hotel in Constitution plaza?

I hope too that this attracts more companies to the region. The plus was that there is no mortgage on this property anymore, so I would think that is attractive. Further, the building has underground parking, which is also good. I think it makes a good case for another company to swoop in and buy the building and establish a Hartford presence (fingers crossed).

Re: the 'guru', read this

http://www.rickross.com/reference/tm/tm70.html

[jcrc]

this will be nothing like those.

steep discount in this case is sill going to be a lot of money.

this is a 800,000 SF class A building on the river. it will be bought up mush like Metro Center was bought by Northland back in the 90s.

it will be looked at as a steal some day, but still likely 20 million+ so it wont attract real true bottom feeders like you mentioned. those guys don't have the scratch to pull this off.

it is very big news, and could be very influential on Hartfords short and mid term future if the right owner steps forward.

These buildings are LARGE and it is one part of downtown with surplus parking, it it is a very desirable property in theory.

you never know though.

The Stilts Building was a class A building until you know who bought it and ran it to the ground. Mercifully, someone bought it and turned it around. With Hartford anything is possible. I have been unfortunately conditioned to expected the worst.

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

Cool yet depressing photo - it really shows how 84 f'ed up the fabric of downtown.

www.courant.com/business/hc-business-hartford-economy.artmar17,0,6940397.story

[Woonsocketier]

Cool yet depressing photo - it really shows how 84 f'ed up the fabric of downtown.

www.courant.com/business/hc-business-hartford-economy.artmar17,0,6940397.story

Isn't it amazing how you can see the "natural" border of downtown Hartford (in the left of the shot by the Rensselaer building) and how 84 completely cut off development? And isn't it a shame that Ford St. between High and Pearl has a parking lot on it instead of some kind of building(s)? What a waste of park frontage.

[GregV]

It is simply unbelieveable. Imagine Central Park surrounded by surfact parking lots...

As I understand it, the tax code in Hartford favors unimproved sites over sites with buildings, encouraging tear-downs in an economic downturn.

What is truly amazing is that there was a national housing bubble that completely passed Hartford by, and people are actually proud of that. I'd rather have a dozen new developments filling these parking lots and a few bankrupt developers than the alternative, which is so strikingly captured by that picture.

[The Voice of Reason]

OUCH!

Bank of America is moving to City Place 1 and 2.

they are also cutting space in half from 200k sf to 100k

however Merril Lynch also has space in city place, so maybe they will use some of that space for banking ops.

this is ultimately the result of that merger in my opinion, and we have likely allready seen out local job cuts because of it.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news12721.html

[The Voice of Reason]

so the courant had an article about people bank buying someone

vague and hopefull as it was.

so I checked the FDIC web site, and well I guess I am scouping them here

Press Releases

People's United Bank, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Assumes All of the Deposits of Butler Bank, Lowell, Massachusetts

The four branches of Butler Bank will reopen during normal business hours beginning Saturday as branches of People's United Bank.

As of December 31, 2009, Butler Bank had approximately $268.0 million in total assets and $233.2 million in total deposits. People's United Bank did not pay the FDIC a premium to assume all of the deposits of Butler Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, People's United Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.

The FDIC and People's United Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $206.1 million of Butler Bank's assets.

so its not really at all even a slightly big deal, but there ya have it hartford courant.... Scouped! or is it scooped! yeah, the 2nd one.

cheers

[MichaelQReilly]

Anthem is looking for a new home for its 1,500 employees and is considering downtown.

HBJ Article

The AI building guys need to get on the phone to them ASAP. It could be the perfect opportunity because, according to the article, Anthem has flexibility as to when they have to leave their North Haven site so they can afford to wait for the AI building to be built.

[MichaelQReilly]

Aetna May Demolish Middletown Office Building

And frankly, I say good riddance. The horrendous sprawl that has blighted what was once picturesque agrarian area is revolting. Suburban developments like this are everything that is wrong with the way we build in this country. Even if it is wrecked, I'm sure the land will be subdivided. However, this whole affair is a rare example of a big corporation getting things right and foregoing the burbs for the central business district and the symbolism of wrecking the building really appeals to me.

[HartfordTycoon]

Anthem is looking for a new home for its 1,500 employees and is considering downtown.

HBJ Article

The AI building guys need to get on the phone to them ASAP. It could be the perfect opportunity because, according to the article, Anthem has flexibility as to when they have to leave their North Haven site so they can afford to wait for the AI building to be built.

I have a feeling they are going to end up in what was supposed to be the MLN Building in Wallingford but I hope that Hartford officials do get aggressive and try to lure them. I don't see the state helping much since it looks like this is a competition between a few different municipalities.

[The Voice of Reason]

the MLN building was never occupied. the owner must be extremely accomadating at this point, some 3.5 years after mln fell apart.

I would hope for Hartford, but it would be a huge shift for all the workers if the company were to move from New Haven to Hartford. doable, but on the outside edge of realistic expectations of employees.

I am hoping the employee demographic center is a bit up 91, that way they could look at hartford.

the state will stay out of the steering. they may offer some renovation package no matter where they end up. but its city vs city for sure.

lets hope pandagore gets the job done for Hartford

[MadVlad]

I sent links to the email on AI's website, hopefully they can aggressively go after this tenant. DanielW, hope you see this.

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

One rare instance where Hartford won out over the 'burbs.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news12906.html

Aetna: Middletown campus may be demolished

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

CNBC - Hartford is the #7 Top City to Find a Job - http://www.cnbc.com/id/36871546?slide=5

[The Voice of Reason]

This one falls more on the CT side rather than hartford.

UIL is buying 3 gas utilities!

this is a $1.3 billion purchase that will make UIL a much larger player in the regions energy markets, and expand their market quite a bit.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news13334.html

UIL Holdings Corp., which owns The United Illuminating Company, will acquire The Southern Connecticut Gas Company (SCG), Connecticut Natural Gas Corp. (CNG) and The Berkshire Gas Company for $1.296 billion in cash.

I always thought they owned CNG, but now they really do!

and also Id much rather have my gas bills support a local utility rather than a spanish company. New haven should benefit from this as ultimately the company is more than doubling in size.

their stock value was near 900 million last I checked, so buying a 1.3 million company is pretty damn huge.

UIL is well know as paying one of the best dividends in the country in any industry.

[The Voice of Reason]

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news13792.html

Oakleaf moving to Day Hill Rd.

while this is in a way a loss to downtown i doubt it will have any actual affect on downtown in any way.

it is good to keep the company in greater hartford however, and here is to hoping that in several years they build a HQ in Hartford.

it should be noted that they did lose their biggest client several months back. they no longer contract for Home Depot.

[The Voice of Reason]

SOOOOOOoo

There have been all kinds of things that fall into this category.

One, Peoples bank bought a bank from Long Island, and one from Boston area. Also they are converting all subsidearies into People united branches and casting other brands.

the purchases add 30 banks on long island and a first manhattan Branch, and a handfull in mass. also this brings peoples assets up to 25 billion, so its like a 3-4 billion increase. they barely paid a thing for these banks, and still have gobs and gobs of cash. one analyst thinks they need to buy another 25 billion in assets to be concidered properly leveraged, so expect more mergers in the near and distant future.

also in banking, Liberty bank bought connecticut river community bank, so they now have branches in West Hartford, Glastonbury, and an additional Wethersfield branch. Clearly they are moving North into hartford County.

another banking related article in the boston business journal was about 3 nutmeg banks circling for acquisitions in the boston area.

they were refering to Peoples, Webster, and New Alliance, all apparently looking to grow into the main New England Bank.

Boston has just one sizable bank (Eastern Bank) and its mutual, so it wont sell, but it will also surely grow and buy others not wanting to give up its place as Bostons biggest bank.

it will be interesting to see who wins the battle of Boston. its like Fleet, Shawmut, CBT all over again, but you know on a smaller scale since Bank of America allready dominated new England and will continue to no matter what these 3 banks do.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news14147.html

this little article is about ct river plaza finally being sold..................... for a SONG 6.7 million in cash ofr 800k of class waterfront office with freeway access and plenty of parking!!!! dayum. lets hope the buy has a tenant ready to go, and brings more jobs into downtown.

still very interesting stuff.

[The Voice of Reason]

Stanley is buying another company.

This is the real interesting part now. t appears they plan to continue to diversify as a company. It would be just damn amazing of we could end up with yet another home grown industrial conglomerate.

I am hoping they continue to grow their security division

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news14233.html

[The Voice of Reason]

a blow to the CT banking industry.

FNFG a buffalo based bank I have mentioned here before just bought New Alliance Bank.

FNFG covers all of upstate NY and PA, and were often mentioned as a perfect fit for Peoples bank to buy.

now with New Alliance, it is unlikely that PBCT could buy FNFG with all that coverage overlap. Kind of a brialliant defensive move by FNFG, and really, these guys are impressive bankers. they have bought so many good banking assets, and have remained well capitalized. if their leaders ran PBCT for the last 3 years, Peoples would likely cover 1/2 of the north east.

extremely impressive stuff.

shareholders have also not suffered by this growth.

regional ops will be run out of New haven, but surely this will cost the state jobs, mainly in New haven, but also surely in manchester as there is a major New Alliance office there

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

UGH! This is not good press, or good company to be in. This is a very widely-read website.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/25/americas-ten-dead-cities_n_692305.html#s130894

The city was once the “insurance capital of the world.” In 1950, the city’s population peaked at more than 177,000 and has dropped to 124,000 recently. Hartford was, beyond being an insurance center, also home to a number of manufacturing and publishing businesses. Hartford lost some of its insurance firms as they moved to new locations, primarily because of consolidation in this sector. Five large financial firms have downsized their workforces. These include Met Life, Cigna, Lincoln Financial, Mass Mutual, and, perhaps most depressing of all, The Hartford.