A Hartford Superior Court judge has ordered a large chunk of downtown Hartford’s Constitution Plaza into strict foreclosure, paving the way for the centerpiece of downtown’s urban renewal in the ’60s to revert back to lender MetLife later this month.
The order, issued in late October, means GE Capital and developer Richard Cohen, who invested $10 million renovating Constitution Plaza after purchasing it in 1999, will lose control of a crown jewel of downtown real estate.
Capital and GE owned One, 10, 100, 248, 250 and 260 Constitution Plaza. One Constitution Plaza, fronting Market Street at the corner of State Street, is the flagship tower.
GE and Cohen’s New York development firm Capital Properties had a $60 million mortgage on the six office buildings within Constitution Plaza. The loan, which was issued by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. in 2006, was due to mature last January.
The lender and borrower agreed to a six-month extension while they tried to refinance the loan, but no agreement could be hatched, said West Hartford attorney Richard Weinstein, who represented the property owners.
As a result, the property fell into foreclosure in July. Weinstein said a judge ordered the property into strict foreclosure at the end of October, and the title of Constitution Plaza is scheduled to revert back to MetLife Nov. 20.
A last-minute deal could be struck before then, but it is unlikely.
“We think it was an unfortunate position taken by MetLife during the negotiations,” Weinstein said.
Sources familiar with the property say it is 82 percent leased and cash flow positive. Tenants include the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, numerous city and state agencies such as the Department of Economic & Community Development, and the University of Connecticut School of Business.
The six buildings being foreclosed hold more than 650,000 square feet of office space, and were put up for sale by Capital Properties and GE Capital in March. Cohen did not immediately return a call seeking comment. His New York-based Capital Properties firm has been running the day-to-day operations of the buildings.
Weinstein said Cohen and GE were disappointed by the foreclosure. He said Cohen had done a good job revitalizing the property since taking it over in 1999.
“He was a good landlord and great for the city of Hartford,” Weinstein said.
