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2 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 17, 2022 Biz Briefs Spinnaker outlines plans to add three buildings, 166 additional apartments to downtown Hartford development S pinnaker Real Estate Partners' plans for a dense redevelopment of a former state office property at 55 Elm Street in Hartford is advancing with praise from city staff. A newly-released master plan details the size of residential buildings Spinnaker plans to add to the 3.2-acre property. The Norwalk-based developer bought the 200,000-square-foot office complex in Jan. 2020 for $6.8 million. It also purchased a trio of nearby parking lots at 71 Elm St., 94 Hudson St. and 108-110 Capitol Ave. Spinnaker previously announced plans for 160 apartments at the historic office building and its annex. This first phase is estimated at about $63 million and, according to Spinnaker co-partner Matthew Edvardsen, is anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2022. Spinnaker's plans for additional buildings on parking areas of 55 Elm St. is fleshed out in its master plan request. A second phase of construction would add a new five-story, 81-unit apartment building facing West Street, with 2,410-square feet of ground floor retail space and 22 basement parking spaces. The plans include outdoor space marked as a "beer garden." Next, phase three would see the addition of a five-story, 85-unit apartment building facing Capitol Avenue, with two retail spaces with a combined total of 1,930 square feet. A fourth phase would see a new 1.5-story building with retail and amenity space between the two new buildings, connected to each via breezeways. A rendering of Spinnaker's planned development centered on converting the Hartford office building at 55 Elm St. into apartments. This New Britain Avenue property in West Hartford's Elmwood section, which is being eyed for a $34 million apartment redevelopment, was formerly home to Puritan Furniture. A rendering of the planned XL Center sports betting facility. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED St. Francis sues Hartford HealthCare, claims anti- competitive practices St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center has sued Hartford HealthCare and its subsidiaries, including Hartford Hospital, claiming that it is trying to create a monopoly on hospital services by acquiring physician networks, particularly cardiologists, and demanding that they refer their patients only to Hartford HealthCare. The 75-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven alleges "a campaign of exclusion, acquisition and intimidation" and claims that Hartford HealthCare executives have stated in meetings that their plan was to "crush" or "bury" St. Francis. The lawsuit claims that Hartford HealthCare, as it has acquired physician practices over the last four years, has threatened and intimidated physicians who don't comply with its "dictates." Hartford HealthCare officials issued a statement about the lawsuit, saying it's without merit. "Hartford HealthCare denies these allegations and we will vigorously defend against them," the statementment said. — Dave Altimari | CT Mirror $34M mixed-use apartment project eyed for former Puritan Furniture property in West Hartford A developer has plans to build a $34 million mixed-use apartment project in West Hartford's Elmwood section, in the property formerly home to Puritan Furniture Store. The transit-oriented development, which needs town approval and will be dependent on a zoning change, would represent the third major apartment project to be located in West Hartford's New Park Avenue corridor near the Elmwood and Flatbush CTfastrak bus stations. It would include 131 mixed- income apartments and ground-floor commercial space at 1051 and 1061 New Britain Ave., according to Kristen Gorski, West Hartford's economic development coordinator. The developer is Sami Abunasra who bought the property in 2020 for $1.1 million, after Puritan Furniture announced it was closing following more than 70 years in business. Abunasra also owns and operates the Ashley HomeStore Outlet that currently occupies some of the more than 100,000-square-foot property. The outlet store would remain a tenant once the project is completed. There would also be space for a restaurant or another retailer, Gorski said. Abunasra said the project, which will include a remediation and tear- down of the existing building, is in the advanced design stage; he's already hired an engineering and architectural firm. As long as the town approves a zoning change that would accommodate transit- oriented development on the site, construction, which would take about 18 months, could begin as early as this summer. "It's a great area and we want to be the catalyst for the development of this area, " Abunasra said, noting that he's targeting as apartment tenants young professionals who crave an urban environment located near public transportation and nearby amenities. PHOTO | COSTAR RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED Plans to open XL Center sportsbook move forward; could debut in Sept. Plans are moving forward to open a new sports betting facility in downtown Hartford's XL Center, with hopes it could debut by the start of next football season. The Capital Region Development Authority's venue committee met Jan. 7, and said it's negotiating an Editorial Greg Bordonaro | Editor, ext. 139 gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com Zachary Vasile | Web Editor, ext. 128 zvasile@hartfordbusiness.com Beat: Energy Michael Puffer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Real Estate, Economic Development, Banking & Finance Robert Storace | Staff Writer, ext. 127 rstorace@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Health Care, Higher Education, Arts & Culture Skyler Frazer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Manufacturing, Cannabis, Technology, Transportation Tim Doyle | Lead Researcher Heide Martin | Research Assistant Steve Laschever | Photographer Business Tom Curtin | Publisher, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com David Hartley | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 130, dhartley@HartfordBusiness.com Daniel Schilke | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 135, dschilke@HartfordBusiness.com Emily Paskind | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 133, epaskind@hartfordbusiness.com Valerie Clark | Director of Audience Development, ext. 332 vclark@nebusinessmedia.com Jill Coran | Human Resources Manager jcoran@nebusinessmedia.com Megan Mason | Operations Assistant, mmason@hartfordbusiness.com Production Christie Novotny | Production Director, ext. 147 cnovotny@hartfordbusiness.com Peter Stanton | CEO, pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Tom Curtin | President, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com Mary Rogers | COO/CFO, mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Subscriptions Annual subscriptions are $110.00. 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