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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 5, 2026 21 made it happen," Svendblad recalls. "And we landed in Los Angeles in 2009. Kind of the rest is history." Passing the torch The succession marks a signif- icant shift for a company closely identified with Lazowski and his fellow co-founders. LAZ Parking traces its roots to three childhood friends — Lazowski, Karp and Michael Harth — who entered the parking business while in college. In 1981, Harth started a valet operation serving three beachside restaurants in San Diego, Lazowski launched one at a downtown Hartford restaurant, and Karp began serving a Boston nightclub and surface parking lot. Michael Kuziak joined the fledgling operation in 1982 as a college student working as a valet. One year later, Lazowski and Karp combined their Hartford and Boston operations to form LAZ Parking with Kuziak, who eventually became a principal shareholder and chief operating officer. Harth continued operating inde- pendently under the Sunset Parking name on the West Coast, while the child- hood friends stayed close and shared ideas. The businesses merged in 2008. Lazowski, 66, said LAZ's founders have spent years preparing the next generation to lead the company. DiPaolo and Svendblad stood out for their ability to build businesses and develop employees, he said. When DiPaolo arrived in Chicago, LAZ had a single underground garage system there. DiPaolo subsequently helped build a Midwest operation spanning 10 states. Svendblad took over a Los Angeles operation that had five locations and helped build LAZ into a major West Coast operator, Lazowski said. "These guys are builders of business and really great mentors to people, great leaders, and they both will continue to do that," Lazowski said. While their roles are geographically based now, DiPaolo and Svendblad will jointly oversee the entire LAZ operation. DiPaolo will lead operations across North America, including growth, acquisitions, national accounts, airport services and the company's impact initiatives. Svendblad will oversee finance, human resources and tech- nology, along with LAZ's hospitality business and charitable foundation. Lazowski said the co-CEO model will rely on close coordination between the two executives and a weekly execu- tive committee meeting that will seek consensus on major company decisions. DiPaolo and Svendblad will spend significant time in Hartford and have apartments in the city, Lazowski said. Meantime, Lazowski will continue providing mentorship and broad stra- tegic leadership as executive chairman. He and the company's other co-founders have signed a five-year agreement to serve on an executive council. The incoming leaders, who are already equity holders, said they envi- sion serving in the top roles for poten- tially another 12 to 15 years before making room for another generation. Svendblad said he sees potential successors following paths similar to his and DiPaolo's. He pointed to one Southern California employee who started as a valet and rose to regional vice president. "If we can replicate that and grow that … and make their lives better, I mean, that's really the gift," Svendblad said. "And that's what gets us excited." Michael Kuziak Michael Harth Despite office-market risks, Lazowski remains bullish on Hartford real estate A partnership led by Alan Lazowski's LAZ Investments bought Hartford's Stilts Building for $8.25 million in August. Photo | CoStar By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A lan Lazowski said his decision to step down as CEO of Hart- ford-based LAZ Parking won't slow his real estate investing, even as he acknowledges the risks of buying into the city's struggling office market. "We have a real active pipeline of deals right here in Hartford and other places," said Lazowski, who will become LAZ Parking's executive chairman on Jan. 1. "I'm bullish on Hartford making the comeback." In August, a partnership led by Lazowski's real estate investment firm, LAZ Investments, paid $8.25 million for downtown Hartford's Stilts Building, a 23-story, 420,000-square-foot office tower whose previous owner, Shel- bourne Global Solutions, had been facing a foreclosure lawsuit. The purchase illustrates both the opportunities and risks in Hartford's distressed office market. The building was 55% vacant at the end of June and reported a net loss through the first six months of 2026, according to a court-appointed receiver's report. LAZ Investments and its partners picked up the Stilts Building at an 81% discount from the $44.4 million it fetched at its last sale, in 2014. But Lazowski said bargain prices don't necessarily translate into sure bets. Hartford office rents have remained largely stagnant for years even as building operating expenses have climbed, he said. Filling vacant space can also require significant upfront investment, with office buildouts costing $150 or more per square foot. "Unless you can get the occupancy up and the rates, it's still a lot of risk, even at these low prices," Lazowski said. "What we're betting on is that people will relocate to the city." He said he is particularly focused on attracting companies from outside Connecticut and overseas. He is talking with an Israeli cybersecurity company interested in establishing a Hartford presence because of the city's concen- tration of insurance companies. "People don't realize this is still the insurance capital of the world, and they want to be here," Lazowski said. Lazowski said he remains open to additional investments in Hartford office buildings, several of which are in foreclosure. "We're going to be opportunistic and look at them," he said. Broader portfolio The Stilts purchase adds to LAZ Investments' portfolio, which includes office buildings, housing conversions and mixed-use developments across Greater Hartford. Lazowski has partnered on several investments with Brooklyn, New York-based Shelbourne, which remains one of downtown Hartford's largest property owners. A LAZ-Shelbourne partnership paid $70.5 million in 2019 for the Gold Building, a 26-story, 621,000-square-foot office tower that houses LAZ Parking's headquarters. Lazowski, Shelbourne and Hart- ford-based developer Lexington Partners are also collaborating on the mixed-use redevelopment of a 324,000-square- foot office-and-retail complex at 242 Trumbull St. in downtown Hartford. This summer, the partners cut the ribbon on a 202-bed dormitory for UConn students created from a portion of the complex. Storefronts along Pratt and Trumbull streets make up about 30,000 square feet of the complex. The partners are pursuing plans to convert the remaining vacant office space into about 145 apartments. Lazowski is also a partner in the Port Eastside redevelopment of the Founders Plaza office park in East Hartford. Plans envision roughly 1,000 apartments along the Connecticut River, along with retail, recreational and other commercial uses. He also invested in the conversion of the former Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry campus in West Hartford into the 292-unit One Park apartment development and holds a stake in the Spectra multifamily portfolio, which comprises four downtown Hartford office buildings that were converted into 554 apartments.