Hartford Business Journal Special Editions

6 Hartford Business Journal • August 31, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com TOP STORY Premium Outlet mall set for Windsor Locks The Midwest operator of the Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets says it plans a similar shopping venue in Windsor Locks. Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group said last week it has applied for a zoning change to allow for development of Hartford Premium Outlets on Old Country Road, near the intersection of Route 20 and I-91. No development pricetag was listed. If approved, construction would be- gin next fall, with an opening slated for the fourth quarter of 2017. The first phase will consist of 350,000 square feet of retail space, a food court and a pair of restaurants on the property's perimeter, Simon officials said. It also will feature pedestrian promenades, with fountains, art, a chil- dren's play area, and an outdoor fireplace. "We are tremendously excited to bring the world's most recognized and popular brand of upscale outlet shopping to the Hartford area," said Mark Silvestri, chief operating officer for Simon Premium Outlets division. The architectural style of the center will be inspired by Classic Colonial and Connecticut rural architecture, so that the village-like setting will be reminiscent of a Windsor Locks community. Among Simon's 85 Premium Outlets nationwide, its other shopping centers nearest Connecticut include Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Wrentham, Mass., and Lee Premium Outlets in Lee, Mass. Simon also owns Waterford's Crystal Mall. BANKING & FINANCE SBT's $16M+ stock, debt offering Simsbury Bank & Trust says it will raise more than $16 million in fresh capital through the issuance of debt and stock. The Farmington Valley lender said last week it will employ two tracks to raise $16 million, some proceeds of which will redeem preferred stock issued some time back to the U.S. Treasury. Treasury staked at least $9 million to enable Simsbury Bank to participate in the Small Business Lending Fund program, and to support its recent West Hartford expansion. In exchange, the bank handed Treasury about $9 million of Series C preferred that it now is ready to redeem. About $7.5 million of funds to be raised will come through issuing subordinated debt with an institutional investor, President and CEO Martin J. Geitz said. In addition, the bank said it filed a registration statement with federal securi- ties regulators covering a planned sale of up to $8.625 million in a secondary offering of common stock. ENERGY & UTILITIES UIL offers $20M to customers if merger approved To convince Connecticut regulators to sign off on its proposed $3 billion merger with Spanish energy giant Iberdrola sometime this year, New Haven utility parent UIL Holdings offered $68 million in benefits to Connecticut, as well as a promise to increase local hiring. The highlight of the benefits package is a proposed $20 million rate credit to UIL's electric and natural gas customers in Connecticut, which could be paid all at once or over several years. The company also proposed implementing a rate freeze until 2018 for its Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas customers. The American division Iberdrola and UIL proposed the merger back in February, but the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in June said it planned on denying the application because regulators did not see what the direct benefit to consumers would be. Iberdrola and UIL withdrew that application and started the process over from scratch to include specific consumer benefits. In addition to the $20 million rate credit, UIL plans to clean up the English Sta- tion power plant in New Haven. UIL also is offering $6 million to the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, which provides subsidies for energy efficiency projects, and $1 million for a disaster relief fund. REAL ESTATE Meriden's Townline Sq. sold for $44.5M Meriden's Townline Square Shopping Center has been sold for $44.5 million cash by a Greenwich realty investment trust (REIT) that is actively rebalancing its property portfolio. Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. said last week it closed its sale of the 315,000-square-foot plaza at 533 S. Broad St./Route 5 that it had owned since 1996. Officials declined to name the buyer, described as "a private real estate investment group.'' HFF brokered the sale, for which the REIT said it will book an approximately $21 million gain in the first quarter ending Oct. 31. Townline's major tenants include Burlington Coat Factory, Big Y Supermar- kets, Sleepy's and Michael's. Townline's disposal, the REIT said, is the latest in a string of commercial property sales, proceeds of which are being used to retire revolving debt and acquire more supermarket-anchored retail properties within its core Connecti- cut and suburban New York and New Jersey markets. Last September, Urstadt sold Springfield's Five Town Plaza, finance chief John T. Hayes said. Recently, it bought Cos Cob Commons and King's Shopping Center, both in Greenwich, Hayes said. The publicly traded REIT says it owns or has equity interests in 74 properties containing approximately 4.9 million square feet. N.Y. landlord expands retail incubator offering to CT A national open-air shopping center landlord with ownership interests in eight Connecticut retail centers said it's offering a year of free rent and other services to qualified entrepreneurs. Kimco Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust, said last week that it would expand its Kimco Entrepreneurs Year Start (KEYS) program to Connecticut and seven other states. Kimco is offering KEYS at Elm Plaza Shopping Center in Enfield, Home Depot Plaza in North Haven and Wilton River Park in Wilton, according to its website. Founded in 2012 in California and now available in 19 states, KEYS offers a year of free rent in an established retail center and access to retail business coun- selors. At the end of the year, lessees can exercise a four-year extension option. Applicants to the program must provide a written business plan and show that they have adequate funding. Relevant business training from a college, a U.S. Small Business Administra- tion Small Business Development Center or NxLevel course is preferred. HEALTH CARE Lembo: CT saving $2M a month on compounded meds Comptroller Kevin Lembo said he has put restrictions in place on the state's employee and retiree health plan that will save nearly $2 million a month on compounded drugs. The new rules, enacted in May, require a doctor to certify that compound medications are medically necessary for a patient — such as someone with certain allergies — before the state's health plan will pay for it, Lembo said. Compounded medications, which pharmacists create by combining two or more drugs, include topical pain medications and anti-scarring creams. They are not tested by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Lembo said. If the trend holds, the "prior authorization" requirement could mostly wipe out an increase in state spending on compounded medications over the past three years. Claims for compounded medications in the past year have totaled approxi- mately $24 million, up from $800,000 in fiscal year 2012, according to Lembo. MANUFACTURING Heico acquires Chester manufacturer Florida-based defense and electronics manufacturer Heico Corp. said it's ex- panding its Connecticut presence. Heico, which has its turbine kinetics division in Glastonbury, said it has acquired Chester's Astroseal Products Manufacturing Corp., which makes composite mate- rials used to protect parts of planes and helicopters from lightning strikes. Financial terms of the all-cash transaction were not disclosed. Heico said most of Astroseal's staff will remain in Chester. BY THE NUMBERS 917 The number of jobs Connecticut's manufacturing sector lost between June 2014 and June 2015, according to Manufacturers' News Inc. $335,000 The new annual salary for Mark Ojakian, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's former chief of staff, who was recently named interim president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. 6 The number of years South Windsor spent trying to bring a $100 million movie studio development to town, a project that officially died last week. 28 The number of Connecticut hospitals that will lose Medicare reimbursements in 2015-16 as a penalty for high readmissions rates of discharged patients. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ Premium Outlet mall set for Windsor Locks ■ Ex-software worker's $1.7M theft ■ Greater Hartford's most concentrated profession ■ Heico acquires Chester manufacturer ■ Lydall taps Ensign-Bickford exec for CFO role 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 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Green Guide Weekly www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe WEEK IN REVIEW Simon Property Group, which owns Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets (shown above), wants to build a similar shopping center in Windsor Locks. P H O T O | C L I N T O N C R O S S I N G P R E M I U M O U T L E T S F A C E B O O K P A G E

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