Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com October 26, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 7 WHAT'S AHEAD: ■ 11/2 Focus: Real Estate ■ The List: Commercial Property Managers ■ Nonprofit Profile: Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology CALENDAR WEDNESDAY NOV. 4 Insurance Market Summit Advances in technology, consumer preferences and mobility are creating market disruption in the global insurance industry. While the world may be safer, more transparent or efficient as a result, these changes present new challenges and opportunities for the insurance industry. The Insurance Market Summit, which will be held Nov. 4 at the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, will convene key executives from globally recognized companies that are leading the strategic revolution for insurance and other consumer-driven industries. The year's annual summit, which is put on by the Connecticut Insurance and Financial Services cluster, runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will explore the rapidly changing landscape of today and tomorrow's global insurance industry. Featured speakers include Jon Kaplan, Google's vice president of U.S. sales and operations. Cost to attend is $250. For more information or to register go to: http:// www.connecticutifs.com/insurance-capital/imf.aspx. REAL ESTATE Details bared for $100M W. Hfd. nunnery-to-apts. redo West Hartford would house one of its biggest, most dense resi- dential communities yet if it allows the $100 million conversion of a century-old, 20-acre, westside nunnery into 310 apartments, town papers show. Arcadia Crossing would occupy the current site of the Sisters of St. Joseph's nunnery and chapel at 27 Park Road, on the south- west corner of Prospect Street and Park, on the West Hartford- Hartford border, according to the owner's and developer's appli- cation filed with West Hartford's Planning & Zoning Department. The long-awaited application is the first publicly detailed de- scription of Arcadia's scope since the proposed residential con- version first aired in June 2013. At that time, Center Development Corp., of Port Chester, N.Y., acknowledged interest in redeveloping the Sisters' property, whose ownership dates to 1898. Center is listed on the applica- tion as the project developer; the Sisters are listed as the prop- erty's owner. That indicates that deed to the property remains in the Sisters' hands. The first phase of construction would involve converting three existing buildings totaling 185,000 square feet to house 66 apart- ments — 36 of them for the Sisters. One of the three, a cha- pel, would become a "community-style'' building, development papers show. In addition, the site would have 550 garage and surface parking slots. Wrapping those structures would be newly erected brick-and- masonry buildings with as many as six floors housing 244 more apartments, with one level of parking beneath, papers show. EH mayor gets green light on casino bid East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc has been given the go-ahead to seek a casino. The town has identified the long-vacant Showcase Cinemas property on Silver Lane off I-84 as its single preferred site for development of an entertainment and gaming complex. It is expected the mayor will take action in the next two weeks to let MMCT Venture LLC, the Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Tribal joint venture, know of the town's strong interest. The town council backed the proposal because it believes it could provide additional tax revenue; boost local employment; and, add nightlife that will attract non-gaming consumers. However, East Hartford faces strong competition. The owners of the Enfield Square mall have presented a request to the Enfield Town Council. The Connecticut Airport Authority, which runs Brad- ley International Airport, has also expressed an interest in a casino being located at its facility. CT developer Simon Konover, 93, dies Simon Konover, one of Connecticut's leading real estate de- velopers and philanthropists, died last week in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 93. Konover founded, and for decades ran, The Simon Konover Co., based in West Hartford. SKC and Konover South remain active and are run, respectively, by his daughter, Jane Coppa, and grandson David Coppa His company and related ventures built, managed or invested in shopping centers, apartments, office and other commercial buildings throughout Connecticut and the East Coast. Konover was honored with a Hartford Business Journal Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 when he was 88 and still going to the office every day. At the time he said the key to his business suc- cess in the real estate business was diversification. Jon Kaplan A rendering of West Hartford's proposed Arcadia Crossing development. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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