Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • February 18, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Week in Review Briefs Southwest ends direct flight to Las Vegas Southwest Airlines has discontinued direct, nonstop service from Bradley International Airport to Las Vegas, according to airport and airline officials. In separate statements, Kevin A. Dillon, head of the Connecticut Airport Authority that oversees Bradley, and Dan Landson, a spokesman for Southwest, said the seasonal route, which typically runs from March to November, is no longer available. Landson said the airline didn't see enough demand from customers to sustain the service and made the decision to drop the route in November. He also noted that while Southwest customers can no longer fly directly from Bradley to Las Vegas, passengers traveling to or from either city can reach the other with as few as one stop in between. While the nonstop flights have been dropped for now, state airport officials expect the decision to be reviewed next year, Dillon said. The discontinued service marks a setback for Bradley, which is looking to expand its list of destinations in 2019. Last month, the airport announced plans to add flights to Orlando, Florida and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina on Frontier Airlines and Pittsburgh through Via Airlines. Zachary F. Vasile | Journal Inquirer LimeBike riding out of Hartford Hartford's first bike-share program is nearing an end. LimeBike, a Silicon Valley-based bikeshare vendor, confirmed it's leaving the Capital City after launching a two- year pilot program here in June 2018. A timeline for its exodus has not yet been set, a LimeBike spokesman said. LimeBike had placed 300 of its green bicycles across the city in early June before adding another 100 bikes to city street corners weeks later to meet local demand. Hartford, at the time, was only one of two New England city's housing the bike-sharing program. LimeBike officials didn't explain reasons for the departure. In October, the company's Hartford operations manager told Hartford Business Journal that bikes in the area had been vandalized and stolen, but the damage was not a major problem. The bikes came at no cost to the city of Hartford. Riders with the Lime app are charged $1 for every 30 minutes. All bikes have GPS and 3G installed for riders to find bikes using the app. TOP STORY Shelbourne's growing Hartford realty investments total at least $137M N ew York landlord Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC has added to its Hartford commercial realty empire by spending $4.8 million on a trio of buildings fronting downtown's underutilized Pratt Street corridor. But that investment is just a drop in the bucket compared to what Shelbourne has invested in Hartford since 2014. Over the last five or so years, Shelbourne has spent at least $137 million buying up some of downtown Hartford's most prized office towers, city records show, cementing the realty investor as one of the center-city's most prominent landlords. Its total downtown footprint includes at least eight buildings that encompass 1.2 million square feet of commercial real estate. Shelbourne's buying spree, in many ways, mirrors the aggressive investments made by Massachusetts-based Northland Investment Corp. decades ago. In fact, Shelbourne has even purchased former Northland assets, including the Metro Center at 350 Church St. Shelbourne bought that multi-story office tower, which Northland previously lost to foreclosure, in 2017 for $49 million, city records show. Shelbourne officials have said they've been attracted to the city because of Hartford's efforts at downtown redevelopment. And the spending spree isn't likely over. In addition to plans to potentially redevelop Pratt Street, Shelbourne also recently announced it was co-partnering with Hartford parking magnate Alan Lazowski on a bid to buy the 26-story Gold Building, one of the city's most iconic skyscrapers currently valued at $64.1 million. Shelbourne also owns 100 Pearl St. (281,000 sq. ft.); 20 Church St. (420,734 sq. ft.); 57, 65, 75, 93-99 Pratt St.; and a Trumbull Street building. BY THE NUMBERS $7.7M The estimated economic impact that several "March Madness" college basketball games at the XL Center will have on Hartford. 39% The percentage reduction Gov. Ned Lamont said he wants to make in the state's annual borrowing. 2,000 megawatts The amount of offshore wind energy some lawmakers want the state to ac- quire to add to its overall energy mix, according to The Day. 21% The estimated potential increase in municipal pension costs over the next one to five years, according to the Connecticut Conference of Munici- palities, which blames the expected hikes on changes in state rules. TOP 5 MOST READ On HartfordBusiness.com • 1. Southwest ends direct flight to Las Vegas • 2. NY's Shelbourne buys more Pratt St. downtown Hartford office space • 3. Hartford Courant journalists are attempting to unionize • 4. Lamont tells CT to expect lean spending, sales tax expansion • 5. Lamont promises to cut borrowing by 39% STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/ subscribe A view of Pratt Street in downtown Hartford. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Darrin Rees has been Lime's Hartford operations manager. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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