“We are moving forward with the potential offers,” David [...]]]> A  tax foreclosure auction set for next week on the former Hartford Office Supply Co. building in Hartford has been put off until September, allowing the owners to negotiate with two interested buyers, one of them the state of Connecticut, the building’s owner told me today.

“We are moving forward with the potential offers,” David Kushner, principal of Paradigm Capital Corp. in New York, said.

In addition to the state, Paradigm has given a developer — Dakota Partners, Inc. of Waltham, Mass. — an option to purchase the 4-story, brick-and-brownstone building at 390 Capitol Ave. in the city’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, according to court documents.

Redevelopment of the long-vacant building is seen as essential to revitalization efforts in the neighborhood.

A foreclosure auction on the former Hartford Office Supply Co. building on Capitol Avenue scheduled for next week has been postponed. Photo by Kenneth R. Gosselin/kgosselin@courant.com

Last week, Paradigm Capital argued in a court filing that the auction, scheduled for June 29, should be put off until the fall so it could negotiate with the state on a potential purchase.

Jeffrey Beckham, a spokesman for the state Department of Administrative Services, said the state has looked at acquiring the 150,000 square foot building in the past.

Beckham said the state routinely keeps an eye on building that are near those occupied by state workers. The 4-story building is just east of state offices on Capitol Avenue, down the street from the recently purchased 55 Farmington Avenue and near both the state legislative office building and the Capitol building.

He declined to comment on the claim that the state now was negotiating with Paradigm on a potential purchase.

Creditor Plymouth Park Tax Services, also known as XSpand, is seeking to foreclose after buying a tax lien on the property. Court documents show Paradigm owes Plymouth Park nearly $300,000 on a property with an appraised value of $2 million.

Juda J. Epstein, a Bridgeport lawyer representing Plymouth Park, said Paradigm told the judge a closing on the sale was expected in August.

“We are hoping to be in a better spot in a few months, and there will be a closing,” Epstein told me this morning.

The now-postponed auction was moved to Sept. 21 Tuesday by a judge in Superior Court in Hartford.

Plymouth Park, also known as XSpand, is seeking to foreclose after buying a tax lien on the property. Court documents show Paradigm owes nearly $300,000 on a property that’s worth about $2 million. XSpand is owned by JPMorganChase.

Dakota Partners, Inc. of Waltham, Mass. already has an option to purchase the property, an agreement confirmed to Property Line by city officials two weeks ago.

Dakota wants to convert the former factory building into about 115 apartments but still must line up financing.

Roberto Arista, a principal at Dakota, told me earlier this he wasn’t aware of either the impending auction or the state’s interest in the property.

“We’re trying to sort this all out,” Arista said.

Arista declined to disclose how much Dakota was willing to pay for the building under the option.

Arista said the mix of potential apartments — market rate and rent restricted — hasn’t been determined and will depend on the financing Dakota is able to line up. City officials initially said the split would be 90 percent market rate and 10 percent geared to low- to moderate-income households.

Dakota also is seeking to convert the former office building at 179 Allyn St. near Union Station into 63 market-rate apartments. The $14.7 million project has been approved for $6.5 million in funding by the Capital Region Development Authority. The funding is expected to be approved by the State Bond Commission Friday.

Look what else the owner of the former Katharine Hepburn estate is trying to sell in Connecticut:

The landmark Connecticut River windmill rising above the marshes of North Cove is up for sale.

New York construction magnate Frank J. Sciame Jr., whose plans for an upscale subdivision on Foxboro Point here a year [...]]]>  

This Essex windmill is for sale by the owner of the Hepburn estate in Old Saybrook. Photo courtesy of Zillow.

Look what else the owner of the former Katharine Hepburn estate is trying to sell in Connecticut:

The landmark Connecticut River windmill rising above the marshes of North Cove is up for sale.

New York construction magnate Frank J. Sciame Jr., whose plans for an upscale subdivision on Foxboro Point here a year ago drew controversy, has put the Dutch-style windmill on the market for $1,925,000.

Read more from my colleague Erik Hesselberg’s report here.

Abul Islam now envisions a 10-story, $18 million tower with 40 apartments and 18,000 square feet of commercial space at the Constitution Plaza site, Michael W. Freimuth, chief executive of the Capital [...]]]> The builder who owns the former Broadcast House site in downtown Hartford is scaling down plans for an apartment tower on the property.

Abul Islam now envisions a 10-story, $18 million tower with 40 apartments and 18,000 square feet of commercial space at the Constitution Plaza site, Michael W. Freimuth, chief executive of the Capital Region Development Authority, told me today.

The owner of the former Broadcast House site in downtown Hartford — now a vacant lot as shown here — has scaled down plans for an apartment tower. Photo by Kenneth R. Gosselin/kgosselin@courant.com

CRDA is considering the downsized proposal for $3.2 million in funding, including a loan and a private equity investment. The apartments would be a mix of market-rate and units affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

The commercial space would be occupied by Islam’s firm, AI Engineers, Inc., now located in Middletown.

Islam did not return telephone calls or an email seeking comment.

In addition to possible CRDA financing, Islam hopes to obtain funding from the state affordable housing program, Competitive Housing Assistance for Multifamily Properties, or CHAMP, Freimuth said.

About half the cost, $8 million, would be private financing.

The tower as now proposed would be about 70,000 square feet in size. The one- and two-bedroom apartments would range in size from 800 to 1,200 square feet. Market-rate rents would be between $1,520 to $2,280 a month.

Islam most recently hoped to construct a 15-story, 195-unit apartment, costing $50 million, also with commercial space. Those plans also called for a mix of market-rate and rent restricted units, plus space for his engineering firm.

The larger proposal also sought funding from a state program promoting affordable housing. A first attempt at securing financing from the state was not successful.

Previously, Islam proposed an office tower, but scrapped those plans because of the city’s weak office market. He also offered the site as a location for the University of Connecticut, as it considered sites in downtown Hartford to replace its regional campus in West Hartford.

Islam purchased the former Broadcast House site in 2008 and demolished it a year later, at a combined cost of $2 million.

Strong price gains amid weaker sales are raising concerns that some buyers could get priced out of the market before a recovery gains sustainable momentum, experts at [...]]]> Sales of single-family houses in Connecticut fell for the third consecutive month on a year-over-year basis, but prices paid continued to rise, according to a new report today.

Strong price gains amid weaker sales are raising concerns that some buyers could get priced out of the market before a recovery gains sustainable momentum, experts at The Warren Group, which released today’s report, said.

“The housing market continues to improve, but could be hindered if rising prices cause an affordability issue,” said Timothy M. Warren, Jr., Warren Group’s chief executive. “Seven consecutive months of price increases is slightly concerning.”

Sales of single-family houses in Connecticut dropped more than 2.5 percent in April, compared with the same month a year ago, Warren, the publisher of the Commercial Record, said.

The median sale price — where half the sales are above, half below — jumped more than 9 percent to $250,000 from $229,000 a year ago. New London and Tolland were the only counties in April where prices decreased from a year earlier.

In Hartford County, single-family house sales fell 6 percent in April, to 487 from 519 a year earlier. The median price rose 5.3 percent, to $215,000 from $204,250 in April, 2012.

Real estate agents in the Hartford area report strong buyer demand but a dearth of new houses coming on the market. That has sparked bidding wars for the attractive properties in the most desirable towns, some selling even before the properties are officially on the market.

Through the first four months of this year, sales of single-family houses statewide slipped 2.5 percent, to 1,923 from 1,973 for the same period in 2012. The median sale price for the same period rose 9.2 percent, to $250,000 from $229,000 a year earlier.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers has leased 15 acres on West Stafford Road for years but has long been searching for a larger site, according to Biff Zoephel, a broker for Colliers International hired by [...]]]> A company that auctions off heavy construction vehicles in Stafford Springs is moving the operation to a larger site in New Hampshire.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers has leased 15 acres on West Stafford Road for years but has long been searching for a larger site, according to Biff Zoephel, a broker for Colliers International hired by Ritchie Bros. to conduct the search.

The Manchester, N.H. property is nearly four times bigger, at 54 acres.

Zoephel told me the auction house, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has been searching for a larger site for its Northeast operations for a decade. The company first looked in Connecticut but then widened its search to New England.

Ritchie Bros., founded in 1958, conducts auctions in 25 countries and has 44 auction sites worldwide.

Joseph Baranowski, who led Developers Realty Corp. in West Hartford as president and chief operating officer from 2000 until 2012, will focus on development and brokerage deals along the East Coast.

Baranowski, 54, told me today that he decided [...]]]> An industry veteran has joined New England Retail Properties Inc. in Wethersfield as director of development.

Joseph Baranowski, who led Developers Realty Corp. in West Hartford as president and chief operating officer from 2000 until 2012, will focus on development and brokerage deals along the East Coast.

Baranowski

Baranowski, 54, told me today that he decided to take the new post after 22 years at Developers Realty Corp because his former company wasn’t pursing new development. He said the parting was “amicable.”

Baranowski was first hired at DRC in 1990 for leasing but later assumed duties of managing, renovating and leasing the firm’s entire portfolio of 35 shopping centers encompassing three million square feet.

In 2000, Baranowski was named president and chief operating officer. In that role, he headed development and renovating several million square feet of property in Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, New York and Connecticut.

Briarwood Hills Apartments on State Street, built in 1970, was purchased by Briarwood Hills LLC from California-based special servicer Situs, which foreclosed on the property in [...]]]> A 176-unit apartment complex in North Haven has been sold to Waterbury investors for $14.4 million, or about $82,000 a unit, according to a broker involved in the deal.

Briarwood Hills Apartments on State Street, built in 1970, was purchased by Briarwood Hills LLC from California-based special servicer Situs, which foreclosed on the property in September.

Briarwood Hills Apartments has been purchased by Waterbury investors. Photo Courtesy of Chozick Realty.

The previous owner was Briarwood Connecticut LLC, according to online records.

While the complex was a foreclosure, the complex is typically at or near full occupancy and maintains a waiting list, Rick Chozick, of Chozick Realty in Hartford, told me today.

Chozick, who represented both the buyer and seller in the deal, declined to comment on the circumstances of the foreclosure.

Briarwood Connecticut LLC couldn’t be reached for comment.

All of the units in the complex are one bedroom, but many have dens and townhouse-style loft rooms.

The units in the complex represent a third of the 549 non-age restricted rental units in the North Haven, Chozick said.

The Walmart at the Flatbush Avenue shopping center is adding 31,000 square feet to convert into a “supercenter” with [...]]]> A Denny’s restaurant will open at Hartford’s Charter Oak Marketplace by the end of this summer — part of an expansion that will include an addition to the existing Walmart, it was announced Wednesday.

The Walmart at the Flatbush Avenue shopping center is adding 31,000 square feet to convert into a “supercenter” with groceries. The shopping center also is adding another 6,800 square feet of space for The Children’s Place and Famous Footwear.

Wal-Mart has said expects its expansion to be complete in 2014. The opening dates for the other two stores weren’t available Wednesday.

The announcement came as the shopping center’s owners, Paramount Realty Services Inc., secured $15 million in financing, a portion of which is being used for the expansion, according to HHF, which placed the loan.

In February, Wal-Mart confirmed to Property Line that the expansion would convert the general merchandise store, opened in 2005, into a “supercenter” that also would have a full array of groceries.

At its current, 150,000 square feet, the Walmart already is the largest store in Charter Oak Marketplace.

About 30 American School for the Deaf alumni lined the sidewalk in front of the school on Monday morning, holding purple signs saying “Preserve ASD” and “ASD Not For Sale” and eliciting honks from passing cars.

The “Concerned Alumni” group came together [...]]]> My colleague Julie Stagis reports:

About 30 American School for the Deaf alumni lined the sidewalk in front of the school on Monday morning, holding purple signs saying “Preserve ASD” and “ASD Not For Sale” and eliciting honks from passing cars.

The “Concerned Alumni” group came together to protest the demolition of Gallaudet Hall, the sale of nine acres of property and the possible sale of two other ASD buildings, changes they say were not communicated to the alumni.

Read Julie’s story here and a story we wrote together on the sale of the nine acres and what a developer plans to do with the land.

Steven B. Tanger, the chief executive of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, told those gathered at an industry conference Thursday a groundbreaking is close.