Hartford Business Journal

2 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 22, 2024 Biz Briefs Tel: (860) 236-9998 | Fax: (860) 570-2493 Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Hartford Business Journal P.O Box 330 Congers, NY 10920-9894 Subscriptions Annual subscriptions are $132.00. To subscribe, visit HartfordBusiness.com, email circulation@ hartfordbusiness.com, or call (845) 267-3008. Advertising For advertising information, please call (860) 236-9998. Please address all correspondence to: Hartford Business Journal, 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 Stay Connected For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to: www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln:www.linkedin.com/company/the-Hart- ford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend: www.hartfordbusiness.com/enewsletters Hartford Business Journal (ISSN 1083-5245) is published bi-weekly, 27x per year — including two special issues in November and December — by New England Business Media, LLC, 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103. Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT and at additional entry points. Editorial Greg Bordonaro | Editor, ext. 139 gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com Drew Larson | Web Editor, ext. 121 alarson@hartfordbusiness.com Beat: Energy Michael Puffer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Real Estate, Economic Development, Banking & Finance Hanna Snyder Gambini | Staff Writer hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Economic Development, Arts, Culture & Tourism Skyler Frazer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Government, Manufacturing, Cannabis David Krechevsky | Staff Writer, ext. 702 davidk@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Health Care, Bioscience Stephanie R. Meagher | Research Director Heide Martin | Research Assistant Steve Laschever | Photographer Business Tom Curtin | Publisher, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com Jessica M. Quinn | General Manager, ext. 137 jquinn@hartfordbusiness.com Emily Paskind | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 133, epaskind@hartfordbusiness.com Donna Hogan | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 101, dhogan@hartfordbusiness.com Tracy Rodwill | Human Resources Manager trodwill@nebusinessmedia.com Staff Bartosz Zinowko | Production Director, ext. 147 bzinowko@hartfordbusiness.com Lindsay Langenauer | Digital Marketing Manager, ext. 134 llangenauer@hartfordbusiness.com Trinity Sunderlin | Graphic Designer tsunderlin@hartfordbusiness.com Peter Stanton | CEO, pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Tom Curtin | President, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com John Walker (left) and Bill Shufelt are the co-founders of Athletic Brewing Co. quarter of 2024, before formally moving to Darien's Corbin District. The Corbin District is a new mixed-use development on 7 acres in downtown Darien, which will feature an array of stores, restaurants, offices and resi- dences. It is being developed by Baywater Properties. According to Bloomberg news, the wealthy town of Darien is quickly "becoming a miniature version of nearby Greenwich," and is seeking to attract bankers who want to stop commuting to New York City. Other financial companies that have recently taken space in Darien's growing downtown include Crestwood Advisors and Janney Montgomery Scott, according to Bloomberg. Former First Republic Bank exec chosen to succeed Webster's retiring CFO The former chief financial officer of a San Francisco bank that failed last year has been hired by Stam- ford-based Webster Financial Corp. to succeed its retiring CFO. William "Neal" Holland — who served as CFO for First Republic Bank until May 1, 2023, when it became the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history — has been appointed as executive vice president, finance, for both Webster Financial and Webster Bank. In addition, Holland has been appointed the CFO for both organi- zations. He will succeed Glenn MacInnes, who previously announced plans to retire and is expected to step down in August. When he does retire, MacInnes will assume an advisory role, Webster said. Stop & Shop to close these five CT stores Grocery store chain Stop & Shop announced that it will close 32 locations by the end of the year as part of an effort to cull "underperforming" stores. There are five Connecticut stores slated for closure on or before Nov. 2: HBJ FILE PHOTO The Abner hotel in Litchfield is set to debut later this summer. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED Litchfield courthouse transformed into hotel by Hartford developer eyes debut A 135-year-old courthouse in the center of Litchfield, shuttered in 2017, will reopen at the end of August as a boutique hotel with an upscale restaurant following a roughly $14.5 million renovation led by Hartford-based developer Lexington Partners. Rooms at The Abner are booking between $375 and $525 nightly, depending on the day of the week. The restaurant in the former court- room and a rooftop dining area/ lounge overlooking the town green and Litchfield hills will open to the public as the hotel launches. Lexington Partners began the renovation of the granite-sided, Romanesque Revival building in spring 2023. The majority owners include Lexington and prominent Hartford businessman Alan Lazowski. Massachusetts-based hotel operator SALT Hotels has been enlisted to run operations as a junior partner. Holyoke-based PeoplesBank is the senior lender for the project. McKinsey & Co. to relocate Stamford office, 270 employees to Darien Business consulting giant McKinsey & Co. will relocate its Stamford office, which has 270 employees and is growing, to the small Fairfield County town of Darien. McKinsey's existing Connecticut office is at Two Harbor Point Square, a waterfront Class A commercial space located at 100 Washington Blvd. A spokesperson for the company said the Stamford office will temporarily relocate in the fourth McKinsey & Co.'s current office in Connecticut is located at Two Harbor Point Square in Stamford. PHOTO | COSTAR Athletic Brewing secures $50M in recent funding round O ne of Connecticut's fastest-growing companies, non-alco- holic beer maker Athletic Brewing, has secured $50 million through a recent funding round. Private equity firm General Atlantic, which has a Stamford office, led the most recent equity financing round for Milford-based Athletic Brewing, which also operates a West Coast headquarters in San Diego. The latest funding round values the company at roughly $800 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. Athletic Brewing plans to use the money to pursue long-term growth, which will be aided by the company's recent purchase of a second San Diego brewing facility formerly owned by Ballast Point brewery. That gives Athletic Brewing three brewing sites across the country. The company said it expects to double its brewing capacity over the next 18 months. Athletic Brewing received a separate $50 million investment in 2022 from the publicly traded Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., which purchased a minority stake in the brewery.

• Cover