2 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 6, 2021
Biz Briefs
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HBJ Ad 211.indd 1 HBJ Ad 211.indd 1 7/6/21 11:54 AM 7/6/21 11:54 AM
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owntown Hartford, which has
been negatively impacted
by the pandemic as many
companies continue to operate with
a remote workforce, will soon add a
major new employer.
Global financial services firm Sun
Life Financial, which has $1.36
trillion in assets under management,
will relocate its Connecticut office in
Windsor to downtown Hartford, the
company said.
It will occupy 47,000 square feet
in the iconic Gold Building, moving
300 of its Connecticut employees to
the new office, including a mixture of
underwriting, actuarial, technology,
operations, clinical, sales and
product professionals in its stop-
loss and health and group benefits
businesses, as well as legal, HR and
finance team members.
Dan Fishbein, president of Sun
Life U.S., said his company's office-
work dynamic has shifted to a more
flexible model and that employees
will not be required to come into
the Hartford office each day – it's
meant to serve as "a magnet, not a
mandate."
The company said it will begin
office design work in early 2022 and
take occupancy in Sept. 2022.
Sun Life Financial moving CT office, 300 employees
to downtown Hartford
Alan Lazowski and Shelbourne Global Solutions bought the Gold Building in 2019 for $70.5 million.
PHOTO | COSTAR
PHOTO | COSTAR
Hoffman Auto Group files second
lawsuit to block Tesla's planned
E. Hartford service center
The feud between electric car
manufacturer Tesla and Hoffman
Auto Group over the electric car
maker's planned East Hartford
service station has escalated further,
as Hoffman again sued Tesla, East
Hartford and the town's planning and
zoning commission.
The lawsuit, filed in late August
in Hartford Superior Court, accuses
Tesla of camouflaging what Hoffman
says is the company's true intent
— to sell cars directly to consumers
in violation of state law — by filing
vague applications with the town and
misleadingly stating that it only wants
to operate an automotive service
center.
In Connecticut, car manufacturers
cannot sell their products directly
to customers without a dealer as
an intermediary. This ordinance
— known as the dealer franchise
law — essentially bars Tesla, which
only uses a direct-to-consumer
sales approach, from establishing
a presence in Connecticut beyond
opening galleries and service
centers, which it has done in
Greenwich and Milford.
The Avon Mill Apartments in Avon.
Avon apartments sell for $29M;
new Class A construction planned
A 189-unit apartment complex in
Avon has sold for $29 million.
According to town property
records, the Avon Mill Apartments,
located on Avonwood Road, changed
hands on July 26. The buyer was
BFS Property Group LLC, which is
controlled by Yitzchok Rabinowitz of
Waterbury, state records show.
The seller was Avon Mill LLC,
which acquired the property
from Sixty-Four Avonwood Road
Associates in 2014 for $27.3 million.
Hartford-based Chozick Realty
represented both parties.
The complex consists of three
buildings, situated on a 46.6-acre
parcel. The property has been
approved for an additional 250 Class
A apartment units, which the new
owner plans to construct, according
to Chozick Realty.
The existing apartments are
expected to undergo full interior and
exterior upgrades, Chozick said.
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