Hartford Business Journal

2 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | August 29, 2022 Biz Briefs Integrity. Experience. Results. P r o u d t o b e C T ' s L e a d i n g G o v e r n m e n t R e l a t i o n s F i r m f o r O v e r T h r e e D e c a d e s O n e L i b e rt y S q u a re , S e c o n d F l o o r | N e w B r i t a i n , CT 0 6 0 5 1 • C A L L U S T O DAY ! 8 6 0 - 2 2 9 - 0 3 0 1 gbact.com Government Relations Public Affairs Administrative Lobbying Economic Development Municipal Advocacy Crisis Management In a sign of more troubles for downtown Hartford's office market, two major center-city employers are planning to shed hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space in the year ahead as they embrace remote work coming out of the pandemic. Insurers UnitedHealthcare and Prudential Financial recently finalized deals to significantly scale back their office footprints in Hartford. UnitedHealthcare is downsizing from its current approximately 350,000-square-foot office foot- print in CityPlace I to around 57,000 square feet on two floors, according to sources familiar with the deal. That new five-year lease agree- ment goes into effect in September 2023, sources said. A little over a decade ago, UnitedHealthcare occupied 450,000 square feet in the building spread over 18 floors. The company's signage adorns the top of the 38-story property, which is also known as the UnitedHealthcare Center. Prudential Financial currently occupies 250,000 square feet at the 280 Trumbull St. office tower, but is reducing its footprint to around 25,000 square feet on one floor, the company confirmed to HBJ. That move is being driven by the company's adoption of a hybrid work environment and also a major business deal it completed earlier this year. In April, Pruden- tial sold its retirement business, which had a major Hartford presence, to Colorado-based Empower Retirement. As a result of shedding that business, Prudential needs much less space downtown, a company spokesman said. Empower is taking one of the floors Prudential is vacating, a source told HBJ. 172-unit luxury apartment building planned for Children's Museum site in West Hartford The New York developer picked to buy and redevelop the Children's Museum site in West Hartford has submitted plans for a 172-unit, s-shaped luxury apartment building packed with amenities. The neighboring Kingsford Oxford School decided in 2020 to sell the property underlying the museum at 950 Trout Brook Drive and athletic fields to the south – a total of 3.3 acres — to Wisconsin-based Continental Properties. The Children's Museum has received town permission for a temporary move to unused space at West Hartford's Emanuel Synagogue. The planned development, which still needs town approval, would include 69 one-bedroom, 94 two-bedroom and nine three-bed- room apartments, served by 323 parking spaces. A south-facing courtyard will feature a "resort-quality" pool, along with a fire pit, lounge area and barbeque area. There will be a small roof deck, clubroom, fitness center, catering kitchen, games room, coworking space and pet-washing station. Plans include indoor and outdoor bicycle racks, as well as electric vehicle charging stations. Monthly rents will range from $3,100 for a three-bed- room apartment to $2,350 for a one-bedroom unit. Athletic Brewing among 40 CT companies on Inc. magazine's top 5,000 list Forty Connecticut companies made Inc. magazine's list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing companies in the United States for 2022. That includes dozens in the Greater Hartford and New Haven regions. Stratford-based Athletic Brewing Co., which produces alcohol-free craft beer, ranked 26th in the nation through its 13,071% growth. It was the only Nutmeg State company to rank in the top 100. Three Hartford businesses made the list, with IT company Hybrid Pathways coming in 917th with 695% growth. In addition, CompassMSP ranked 1,095th and Choice Merchant Solutions ranked 1,876th. Fast-growing Farmington medtech acquired by national firm A national real-time health informa- tion network, Availity, has announced it will acquire Farmington-based Diameter Health, one of Greater Hart- ford's most successful tech startups. Availity, which facilitates clinical, administrative and financial transactions, said the acqui- sition will help it achieve healthcare data interoperability. Diameter Health provides data analytics services that help health- care customers consolidate and better assess clinical data. Its customers include national and regional health plans, healthcare technology developers, government entities, insurtech providers and health information exchanges. Place 2 Be's downtown Hartford location reopens after fire The Place 2 Be reopened its downtown Hartford restaurant Aug. 19, following a fire five months ago that caused significant smoke and water damage. The Place 2 Be is a hip string of "brunch-all-day" restaurants anchored Major downtown Hartford employers shedding hundreds of thousands of sq. ft. of office space CityPlace I will see its largest tenant, UnitedHealthcare, shed a significant portion of its space. PHOTO | COSTAR A rendering of the proposed apartment building. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED

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