The Hartford’s Simsbury campus sold
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has completed the sale of its 173-acre Simsbury campus and anchor office building to New Jersey landlord The Silverman Group, people close to the transaction say.
Documents finalizing the deed transfer for the acreage and 625,000-square-foot office building at 200 Hopmeadow St. were filed late Wednesday with the Simsbury town clerk’s office, according to one of them. The clerk’s office was closed Christmas Eve for the holidays, so the sale price could not be immediately determined.
Broker John M. McCormick Jr., executive vice president for CBRE-New England’s Hartford office, The Hartford’s listing broker for the property, on Thursday referred questions about the deal to the property-casualty insurer.
The Hartford’s spokesman Matthew Sturdevant on Thursday confirmed the sale to Silverman Group.
“The Hartford’s goal was to find a buyer that will invest in, and contribute to, the community, and we are pleased The Silverman Group shares that vision,” Sturdevant said in an email. He did not disclose the sale price.
The sale had been anticipated since last July, when Silverman Group and others close to the deal confirmed the transaction was in the works and was set to close sometime in the fourth quarter.
“We have worked for a year to acquire this property and are excited to become a part of Simsbury’s growth and future development,” Silverman Group President Blake Silverman said in a statement at the time. “We consider the property to be a tremendous redevelopment opportunity for our company and the town of Simsbury as well as the greater Hartford area.”
Silverman Group has previously said it will rely on the town’s pre-approved “form based code” for the property to redevelop it. Form-based code lays out all the specifications and restrictions for redeveloping a particular parcel, saving the developer time, money and headaches in petitioning the town to approve individual aspects of a project.
At one time, The Stag employed as many as 3,000 workers at the Simsbury campus it opened in 1984. During its last years in use, about 1,500 workers were re-assigned to The Hartford’s office facilities in mid-town Hartford and Windsor.
With its Simsbury purchase, Silverman Group resumes its stake in the central Connecticut realty market in a major way. In March, Silverman Group sold the blue glass-sheathed, 17-story 100 Pearl St. tower to Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC, also owners of downtown Hartford’s “Stilts Building,” for $36.85 million, five years after paying a reported $18 million to acquire it.
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