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CityPlace I Sale Delayed As City Sells Land

By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN

February 01, 2012

The purchase of Hartford's CityPlace I by a Newton, Mass.-based real estate investment trust was expected to close by the end of last year, but a land deal has held up the sale.

The land in question is the 1.2 acres where CityPlace I is located between Asylum and Pearl streets downtown.

The buyer, CommonWealth REIT, is now waiting for the city of Hartford to sell the land under the 38-story tower to the current owners, CityPlace LLC. Then, the office tower — the tallest in Connecticut — and the land would be sold as a package, according to William Crowe, a Hartford attorney involved in the deal.

A price of $2.5 million has been negotiated for the 1.2 acres, but city council approval is first needed. A public hearing, expected to be scheduled to be scheduled for late February, also is needed because the sale of city-owned land is involved.

The city has been leasing the property under a 99-year lease since CityPlace I was built in 1983. It sees the sale as an opportunity to bring $2.5 million quickly to strained city coffers.

The buyer sees a package deal, which could close in March, as cleaner for financing, dirt and all.