Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 2, 2025 11 Developer Bruce Becker used a $1 million C-PACE loan to help finance the installation of a fuel cell and rooftop solar canopy on top of a 285-unit apartment tower at 777 Main St., in downtown Hartford. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Bruce Becker Mackey Dykes Serving and protecting physicians & facilities since 1984 Integris Group provides the healthcare community with the highest quality insurance products, services, and business solutions. Coverages include: Our policyholders have access to: Medical Professional Liability Insurance Medical Facility Liability Insurance Dedicated to our local community. Learn more about us. Contact Elise Moncada at (860) 781-8454 or emoncada@integrisgrp.com • Comprehensive coverage • Exceptional customer service • Cyber liability portal • Dividends and retirement savings program • Risk management assessments • Continuing Medical Education, including live events, webinars, and self-study courses • Relevant risk management newsletters, resources, and personalized guidance 80 Glastonbury Blvd, Glastonbury, CT 06033 | (800)-228-0287 | Integrisgrp.com lien on the commercial property getting the energy-efficiency upgrades. The property owner repays the debt in installments as a line item on their property tax bill. Alternatively, many states allow the capital provider to directly bill and collect from the prop- erty owner, according to the C-PACE Alliance. A C-PACE loan is attractive to institutional investors, Cooley said, because the interest rate is based on a property's assessment, allowing for long-term loans at low, fixed interest rates. The term of the loan, which can be secured with no money down, typically matches the useful life of improvements and/or new construc tion infrastructure (about 20 to 30 years). "Institutional investors, like insurance compa- nies and pension funds, really find the highly secure, long-dated nature of the loans to be really attractive," Cooley said. So far, Nuveen Green Capital — whose inves- tors include Nuveen, TIAA and insurance compa- nies — has issued 700 C-PACE loans to about 600 developers, Cooley said. Projects that it has backed have generated a lifetime total carbon reduction of 2.19 million tons, and saved about 623 million total gallons of water, the company said. 'Leading roles' Nuveen must execute its loans for Connecticut borrowers through the Connecticut Green Bank because the agency is the state's C-PACE admin- istrator. The Green Bank ensures that C-PACE loans adhere to state statutes. While the Green Bank approves the loans, the majority of C-PACE funding in the state — $250 million — has been privately funded, with no funding from the bank required, said Mackey Dykes, the agency's executive vice president of financing programs. There has been $150 million worth of C-PACE deals done in Connecticut since 2024, and $380 million worth since 2009, he said. "The largest projects are for green new construction, and the majority of projects financed are solar installations," he said. Prominent Westport-based developer Bruce Becker has used the financing tool. He took out a $7.1 million C-PACE loan to put toward a $54 million adap- tive reuse project that included installing a large-scale solar array for his 165-room Hotel Marcel, at 500 Sargent Drive, in New Haven. "What I like most about C-PACE is that you can add it to an existing capital stack to pay for the cost of on-site renewable energy systems and a wide variety of energy savings and decarbonization measures," said Becker. "For example, you can finance solar canopies on parking lots, and typically the savings in one's electric bill is much greater than the debt service of the C-PACE loan." Becker also used a $1 million C-PACE loan to help finance the installation of a fuel cell and rooftop solar canopy on top of a 285-unit apartment tower at 777 Main St., in downtown Hartford, opposite the Old State House. "We are planning to use an additional C-PACE loan at 777 Main for an upgrade and replace- ment of the fuel cell," he said. Becker, who gets his funding through Nuveen Green Capital and other lenders, said C-PACE is a fast-growing financing tool that makes reducing a building's utility bill and carbon footprint manageable. Bailey and Cooley have been instrumental in fueling this growth, said Dykes. "They have played leading roles in transforming it from a niche financing mechanism into a main- stream solution for sustainable commercial real estate projects across the country," Dykes said. REGISTER TODAY! SUPPORTING SPONSOR PRESENTING SPONSOR SCAN BELOW TO SEE FULL LIST OF HONOREES & TO REGISTER JUNE 12 | 5 PM - 8 PM FARMINGTON GARDENS TIME TO CELEBRATE THE HONOREES!!

• Cover