OCTOBER 2, 2017 • HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL | 15
Connecticut River, Rentschler Field was built.
What have now become fixtures of downtown
were part of the project, including the
Convention Center, the Connecticut Science
Center and Front Street.
Piggybacking on Adriaen's Landing was a broader
push for more housing downtown, most notably
with the Hartford 21 residential tower built by
Massachusetts-based Northland Investment
Corp. Northland struggled post-recession
and lost many of its real estate investments in
downtown Hartford, but has retained ownership
of Hartford 21.
Interest in investing in downtown Hartford
housing has come back in recent years with the
addition of hundreds of new rental units, which
have livened the streets of downtown, along
with the addition of Dunkin' Donuts Park. But
Livingston said from his perspective the overall
economy is still suffering. In his view, the high
taxes, particularly the state income tax that
was signed into law by Gov. Lowell Weicker in
1991, is putting the Nutmeg State at a major
disadvantage.
Currently, he said the Hartford region's
commercial real estate market experiences very
little new growth.
"Sometimes you get a company moving from
Farmington to Rocky Hill, or from Rocky Hill to
the city, but not usually from outside the market,"
he said.
"We as a state and our state leaders need to
figure out how to reduce taxes in order to
promote increased business investment," he
added.
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The Front Street Entertainment District debuted in 2012 with
the opening of Spotlight Theatres.
Photo | Sam Rodriguez, All American Aerial LLC
