Konover Commercial Wins Contract To Manage Three State Properties

Konover Commercial Corp. said today it has been awarded a five-year, $2.6 million contract to manage three state properties, including the vacant Seaside Regional Center in Waterford.

West Hartford-based Konover’s contract with the state also includes Uncas on Thames in Norwich, a 300,000-square-foot office, medical and healthcare facility on 123 acres. Konover has managed the property, which includes 20 buildings and primarily social service-oriented tenants, since 2007.

Both Seaside and a third property, the Mystic Educational Center in Groton, which also is vacant, are being added to the management contract for the first time. Both could be sold within the term of the management contract, Elizabeth Judd, president of Konover Commercial, said today.

One of five buildings at the Seaside Regional Center in Waterford. Photo by Rick Hartford/The Hartford Courant.

Farmington developer Mark Steiner won approval from the state legislature to purchase Seaside, a former, 35-acre tuberculosis hospital, for $8 million. Steiner hopes to redevelop a portion of the property for housing and has successfully gained approval for lifting a 55-and-over age restriction. Neighbors, however, are now fighting that in court.

Thomas V. Wagner, Waterford’s planning director, told me today that Steiner has yet to submit formal plans.

The state recently completed seeking proposals for the 47-acre Mystic Educational Center, according to Jeffrey Beckham, a spokesman for the state Department of Administrative Services.

Beckham told me today that the state is reviewing the information it has received, but he declined to discuss the details.

The state’s decision choosing Konover to continue managing Uncas on Thames is a testament to the company’s stewardship of the property and “was well qualified to handle additional properties and saw fit to expand the scope of this contract,” Judd said.

Judd said Konover is working with the state on strategies to cut the costs of running the facilities.

Konover Commercial is an operating company of the Simon Konover Co.