A roughly half-acre parcel in downtown Hartford that was once eyed for a 100,000-square-foot office building has been sold to Hartford Steam Boiler.
A deed received by the city on Nov. 20 shows the insurer — a division of Germany-based Munich Re — paid $1.3 million for the vacant property at 3 Constitution Plaza, located just across the street from Hartford Steam Boiler’s 24-story tower at One State St.
The site had served as WFSB Channel 3’s broadcast center headquarters for more than 40 years before its 2008 sale for $700,000 to Middletown-based civil and structural engineering firm AI Engineers.
After acquiring the site, AI Engineers tore down the former WFSB building with plans to construct a new headquarters in the capital city. But financing dried up in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, forcing the company to scrap the project. Other ideas — including a mixed-use apartment development and a park — were floated in subsequent years but never advanced, leaving the property vacant for more than a decade.
HSB said it bought the land as a “strategic decision” to protect the value of its headquarters.
“We would entertain a higher use value for the property but otherwise are looking to build additional street-level parking for employees,” a company spokesman wrote. “We look forward to improving the general condition of this corner of downtown Hartford.”
