Hartford Business Journal

3 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 18, 2021 BIZ BRIEFS Hartford Business Journal 09/29/2021 Bi-weekly 24 $110.00 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 Valerie Clark 508-755-8004 Thomas Curtin Greg Bordonaro Greg Bordonaro New England Business Media, LLC Peter Stanton Thomas Curtin 1 0 8 3 5 2 4 5 Hartford Business Journal 09/20/2021 8161 9348 1464 1865 2697 3150 0 0 60 55 4221 5070 1100 1198 2677 2955 0 0 0 0 3777 4153 7998 9223 163 125 8161 9348 52.78% 54.97% 10/18/2021 Thomas Curtin, Publisher 9/29/2021 Wonder Works Construction is moving forward with plans to redevelop the former fire station on Pearl Street in downtown Hartford into apartments. HBJ FILE PHOTO Horst Engineering opens new facility in East Hartford Horst Engineering, an East Hartford company that makes parts for aerospace and high-tech industries, has opened a new manufacturing center. The company acquired the seven- acre property at 141 Prestige Park Road for $1.5 million in 2019, Horst said. Since then it's renovated the more than 100,000-square-foot building, which previously served as a warehouse. Horst, which employs about 90 people in East Hartford, recently closed operations in other states to double down on its East Hartford operation, the company said. The remodeled building now houses updated computer-assisted manufacturing equipment, and consolidates the work previously done in multiple locations. Downtown Hartford properties, including vacant fire house, move closer to redevelopment The Capital Regional Development Authority helped the city of Hartford move one step closer to selling two downtown properties to a developer with plans to convert them into apartments. The CRDA's Housing and Neighborhood Committee earlier this month approved two loans that will enable New York-based Wonder Works Construction to purchase and renovate city-owned properties at 525 Main St. and 275 Pearl St. Each building is about 32,000 square feet. The loans are funded by a municipal revolving fund but the CRDA will administer them. It's part of an agreement by the CRDA and Hartford to partner on economic development in the city. The Hartford City Council must approve selling the buildings to Wonder Works. The city wants $425,000 for 525 Main St., across from City Hall. A $7.8 million redevelopment would convert it to 42 residential units, including nine affordable apartments, and maintain 2,750 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Funding for the $7.8 million project would include a $3.2 million bank loan and $2.1 million municipal loan that CRDA would administer. The city also wants to sell Wonder Works a vacant firehouse at 275 Pearl St. The $9.4 million project would create 39 market rate apartments and 4,000 square feet of retail space. Wonder Works has already signed a restaurant letter of intent. Survey shows COVID still hurting CT restaurants Three-quarters of eateries surveyed by the Connecticut Restaurant Association said sales remain weaker than pre-pandemic, with 88% reporting the delta variant hurt indoor dining. Numbers come from a National Restaurant Association survey of 4,000 restaurants across the country conducted between Sept. 7 and Sept. 15. Of the Connecticut restaurants that responded to the survey, 78% said they were understaffed and 90% reported paying higher prices for food. The survey suggests a large number of restaurateurs in Connecticut aren't optimistic about recovering business. Forty-eight percent of Connecticut restaurant owners surveyed said they think it could be more than a year before business normalizes and 23% think it never will. Cigna selling part of its international business to Chubb Cigna has reached an agreement to divest its life, accident and supplemental benefits businesses in seven Asia-Pacific countries. The Bloomfield-based insurer and health conglomerate said Chubb Ltd. will pay $5.75 billion in cash to acquire Cigna's life, accident and supplemental benefits operations in Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand, as well as Cigna's interest in a joint venture in Turkey. Those businesses generated approximately $3 billion in net premiums written in 2020, according to Chubb. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2022, subject to applicable regulatory approvals. Cigna said it will continue to operate its international health businesses and local market services in the Middle East, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore, in addition to its joint ventures in Australia, China and India. Cigna expects to use most of the proceeds from the Chubb deal to repurchase shares.

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