Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • October 28, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 19 Ex-New Britain Mayor Stewart's newest gig: commercial realty agent By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com F ormer New Britain Mayor Timo- thy Stewart has found a new job in familiar territory. The 58-year-old this summer earned his real estate and sales license and was recently hired as a commer- cial real estate agent by New- ington-based Reno Properties Group, which manages more than 1.5 mil- lion square feet of commercial properties in cen- tral Connecticut. Stewart said his previous ex- perience spearheading large develop- ments — during two terms as mayor and another five-plus years leading the city's chamber of commerce — has made the transition to his new career easier. He had to enter the job market in February after suddenly resigning as chamber president, following backlash from a Facebook post he made that was widely denounced as misogynistic. Reno surfaced as a potential landing spot for Stewart, the father of current Mayor Erin Stewart, after he recon- nected with a few longtime friends affiliated with the firm, according to managing broker Michael Gallon. "I've been involved with the real estate world for a while, and I've been friendly with the folks at Reno for a long time, so I gladly accepted," Stew- art said. "I have a significant contact portfolio of folks in the central Con- necticut region, and I've done various deals through the city and chamber." Gallon said Stewart's initial task is soliciting retail tenants for a new $80-million mixed-use develop- ment — known as Columbus Com- mons — located near a downtown New Britain CTfastrak bus station. Stewart, a former New Britain engineer and fire marshall in his formative years, said he is familiar with the project because plans for it actually surfaced while he was still mayor. Columbus Commons broke ground in 2017 on the first of two retail/apartment buildings on Columbus Boulevard, site of the former New Britain police station. Columbus Commons' first building will include 80 one- and two-bedroom apartment units and more than 11,332 square feet of ground-level commercial/retail space when completed in January. The second building will comprise another 80 apartment units. Xenolith Partners and Dakota Partners, which has been active building apartment units in down- town Hartford, are the developers. "There will be mixed income levels for renters," Stewart said. "We see in the marketplace that renting units to people of varying incomes creates a nice dynamic of properties." Deal Roundup Swiss industrial-power/tech- nology conglomerate ABB Inc. has completed its purchase of an 85,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Bloomfield where it plans to establish a North American product-development center. AAB acquired the facility at 45 Griffin Road South from La- nakam LLC for just over $3.1 million. Built in 1986, the building, sitting on 9.2 acres, was expanded in 2000 from 60,000 square feet to its cur- rent 85,390 square feet. • • • Twenty Seven Whitney Associates has sold a 1,928-square-foot office building in Hamden for $350,000. The building at 1227 Whitney Ave., was purchased by the Play More Chess Academy, which plans to move its classes and monthly tourna- ments to the space by November. O,R&L Commercial LLC represent- ed both the buyer and seller. Joe Cooper is HBJ's web editor and real estate writer. He pens "The Real Deal" column about Greater Hartford's commercial real estate industry. Send him real estate tips and deals at jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com. THE REAL DEAL Timothy Stewart, Commercial Real Estate Agent, Reno Properties Group petitive market, some tort reforms, heightened efforts by doctors and nurses to avoid medical errors, and a variety of other factors. Experts say being in a buyer's market has been good for medical providers, which in turn has been good for patients and taxpayers, since it means a lower cost of health care to some extent. The relative stability Emmel has enjoyed changed this year, when he was hit with a 10-percent increase in malpractice-insurance premiums, even though he's never been sued, he said. He suspects he's simply hav- ing to pay his share for rising malpractice payouts overall. "We are be- ginning to see a trend upward," Emmel said. Emmel is active in the legislative committees of the state medical so- ciety and the Hartford County Medical As- sociation, where he's advocated for changes to Connecticut's tort laws regarding malpractice. The medical society and its allies secured a tort-reform vic- tory in 2005, when lawmakers stipulated that plaintiffs suing a medical provider for malpractice would need a supporting opinion from a third-party doctor. That law, credited for reduc- ing the number of lawsuits in the years that followed, has also been criticized for discouraging some patients from pursuing their right- ful claims. Providers continue to push lawmakers for more changes. For example, Emmel and Fer- rucci both back the creation of specialized courts for malpractice lawsuits, akin to a housing or di- vorce court. Ferrucci said the state should split malpractice proceed- ings, similar to criminal trials, into two parts — dividing up the decision of whether a defendant is guilty or not, and the decision of what the penalty will be. With large jury verdicts becom- ing more common, Emmel said doctors worry about who might be seated on a jury. What if a few anti-vaxxers — who insist, despite scien- tific consensus, that vaccines are dangerous — are seated on a medical-malpractice jury? "They can react emotionally," Em- mel said. "One of the things we're seeing that is worrisome to me is the loss of respect for science and scientific knowledge and experts." It's all the more reason that doc- tors and their insurers often choose to settle lawsuits rather than fight them in years-long litigation. Even the self-insured face pressures Hartford HealthCare (HHC), which has seven hospitals and a vast footprint of outpatient facili- ties, has self-insured its medical- malpractice risks for about 25 years. Though he wouldn't detail specific annual costs, Dr. Rocco Orlando, HHC's senior vice presi- dent and chief medical officer, said claims severity has been on the rise, mirroring the national trend. Despite that, HHC has managed to keep its premiums level for the past three or four years, thanks to its efforts to reduce adverse events and the overall number of medical- malpractice payouts, he said. A strong stock market has also helped ease premium pressures, as HHC's captive insurance com- pany has bolstered its reserves through investment income. While it insures its own risks, HHC isn't immune from trends in the broader market. "When the trend spikes, our rein- surers will pressure us … for more money or changes to the policy that are unfavorable," Orlando said. Costs remain level for HHC, but Orlando said he's watching the trend. In the meantime, he said the health system has shifted its ap- proach to malpractice claims by apologizing to aggrieved patients up front and keeping communica- tion open, including a discussion about how similar mistakes can be avoided in the future. Some research has found that such communication-resolution efforts can reduce lawsuits. "When we make an error, and there is a poor outcome, we are fully prepared to recognize that," Orlando said. "We're prepared to have an ear- ly conversation about how we keep this from happening again." Dr. Rocco Orlando, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Hartford HealthCare

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