Stanley Black & Decker and Cigna have agreed to contribute to a supplemental loan pool designed to help fund private real estate deals in Hartford.
The two companies will fund a loan pool that will provide $1.7 million to the Downtown North project, helping the developer proceed with the second phase.
Each company will provide $850,000 toward the loan pool for the mixed-use development near Dunkin Donuts Park.
The Capital Region Development Authority Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution Sept. 16 to enter into the agreement with Stanley and Cigna.
“It’s a significant contribution,” said Michael Freimuth, CRDA executive director.
The companies will fund the loan, which the developer must pay back; the CRDA will disburse and service the loan.
Since 2018, the CRDA has held discussions with several large corporations in Hartford about creating a supplemental loan pool to help fund private retail deals in the city, Freimuth said.
Over the last year, Stanley, Cigna and the CRDA resolved legal and operational issues that allowed them to proceed with the loan agreement. Other potential participants are still trying to iron out those issues, Freimuth said.
In this case, the loan will leverage additional equity and conventional financing while helping reduce CRDA financing needed for the DoNo project, thus stretching public dollars, Freimuth said.
The net result is that the $13.5 million loan request developer RMS Cos. of Stamford made to the CRDA is reduced to the $11.8 million the agency ultimately lent, and RMS can now use the $1.7 million to begin the second phase of construction of the project.
RMS broke ground on the project’s first phase last fall, completing construction of a 330-space parking garage, and expects to finish the $50 million development of 270 apartment units by next summer.
