Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com December 14, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 7 WHAT'S AHEAD: ■ 12/21 Focus: 5 We Watched in 2015 ■ The List: LEED Buildings ■ Nonprofit Profile: Leadership Greater Hartford CALENDAR FRIDAY, JAN. 8 2016 Economic Summit and Outlook The Connecticut Business and Industry Association will host its annual economic outlook summit Friday, Jan. 8 from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Marriott Hartford Downtown, 200 Columbus Blvd., Hartford. This year's keynote speaker will be Eric H. Schultz, president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Other top state and national economists who will share their outlooks include: Nicholas S. Perna, economic advisor to Webster Bank; Oz Griebel, president and CEO, MetroHartford Alliance; Elliot Joseph, president and CEO, Hartford Healthcare; and Vanessa Procter, senior director, Global Government Affairs, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, among others. Cost to attend is $95 for CBIA members; $130 for nonmembers. For more information or to register go to: http://www.cbia.com/. F O R A C O M P L E T E L I S T O F G R E A T E R H A R T F O R D B U S I N E S S E V E N T S , G O T O W W W . H A R T F O R D B U S I N E S S . C O M A N D C L I C K O N ' C A L E N D A R . ' A L L C A L E N D A R I T E M S M U S T B E S U B M I T T E D E L E C T R O N I C A L L Y V I A O U R W E B S I T E , H A R T F O R D B U S I N E S S . C O M . REAL ESTATE Church pays $1.45M for La Renaissance The former La Renaissance banquet facility in East Windsor is about to become a church, Realtors say. The vacant 29,000-square-foot building on 8.5 acres at 53, 55 and 57 Prospect Hill Road was sold for $1.45 million to East Hartford's Crossroads Community Cathedral, according to broker Thomas Wilks of Century 21/Clemens & Sons Realty Inc. Clemens & Sons represented the seller, People's United Bank, which acquired the property through foreclosure, and brought the buyer to the table. The property was a popular venue for weddings, banquets and other events, mainly in the '80s and '90s. Wm. Raveis to debut 1st of 30 Fla. offices Connecticut realty broker William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance says it's opening in January the first of its 30 planned Florida sales offices in the next decade. The Naples, Fla., office will be Shelton-based Raveis' first out- side its New England market. Raveis' Florida office underscores the continuing trend of Connecticut and other New England-based law firms and other professional-services vendors following their clients' southern migration, William Raveis CEO Bill Raveis said. "Our data shows over 20 percent of the homeowners in Naples have primary residences in the Northeast,'' Raveis said. "Thou- sands of people throughout the Northeast take vacations or plan to retire in Florida." CT Oct. realty sales up, but prices drop Connecticut single-family home sales increased in October but prices still slumped. Condo sales continued to be strong but their prices are also down. It was the busiest October for single-family homes in nine years. The report issued last week by The Warren Group said there were 2,610 sales in Octboer, a 9.2 percent increase over the 2,379 sales in the year-ago period. There have not been this many single-family sales in October since 2006. The numbers show, though, that sales prices have dropped sig- nificantly. In 2006, the median price of a home sold in October was $274,586. Last year, it was $241,600. In October 2015, the median single-family home sales price was $235,000, a 2.1 percent de- crease year over year, and 16.8 percent below the median price 10 years ago. Condo sales continued their growth, recording 712 sales in October, up 6.43 percent year over year from the 667 sales in October 2014. The median sales price for condos in October was $155,000, a 7.7 percent decrease from October 2014's median of $168,000. Half of CT renters deemed heavily burdened A new Harvard study finds more than half of renters in Connecticut are either severely or moderately burdened by housing costs. That puts the state above the national average. In Connecticut, 23.2 percent of renters are deemed moderately burdened, which represents about 105,000 households. The na- tional average is 22.8 percent. An additional 28.5 percent of renters, 130,000 households, are severely burdened versus a national aver- age of 26.4 percent. Moderately-burdened households pay more than 30 percent and up to 50 percent of their income to rent while severely impacted pay more than 50 percent of household income for housing. Eric H. Schultz At the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, we bring those who need, and those who give, together for good. Find out how you can be a philanthropist too at hfpg.org. As part of the Catalyst Endowment Fund, I can spark a positive change in Greater Hartford. I am a philanthropist. The former La Renaissance banquet facility will become a church. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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