A 286,415-square-foot building in a prominent Hartford location that had long housed the Hartford Courant’s headquarters is heading to auction for the second time this year.
The office and industrial complex at 285 Broad St., near the state Capitol and General Assembly’s buildings, has been on the market for more than four years.
This time, however, the property could sell for as little as $20,001.
The property is being offered in an “absolute auction” Dec. 8-10, conducted by national brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap through the RI Marketplace online platform.
Starting bids will begin as low as $1.
Regardless of the final bid, the buyer must also pay a buyer’s premium to the auction platform of $20,000, or 5% of the bid price, whichever is higher. So, any winning bid up to $400,000 carries an extra $20,000 charge, while bids above that threshold include an additional 5% fee. A $1 million bid, for example, would add another $50,000 fee paid to RI Marketplace.
Under the absolute auction process, there is no reserve price, meaning an offer cannot be rejected for being too low.
“There is no better way to authenticate what a property is worth than by doing an absolute auction with the caveat of having the right brokerage team and auction platform to create mass exposure,” said Ian Grusd, senior managing director of auction service for Marcus & Millichap.
Marcus & Millichap will provide prospective buyers with title, environmental and engineering reports, along with current and historical financial data, as part of its marketing materials.
“This is one of the reasons this works very well, … we do all the due diligence in advance to help a buyer comfortably evaluate a property,” Grusd said.
The property’s current owner, 285 Broad Street Hartford LLC, is tied to New York-based Alden Global Capital, which acquired the Courant’s real estate for $6.9 million in 2018.
Alden purchased the Courant’s parent company, Tribune Publishing, in May 2021.
The four-story, reinforced-concrete building sits on 4.4 acres and offers 423 parking spaces. Highly visible from I-84, the site is within walking distance of the state Capitol and Legislative Office Building.
According to Marcus & Millichap, the former Courant building includes offices, studios and production areas, along with a two-story atrium lobby, cafeteria, conference rooms and “robust” loading capabilities. It is 22.7% occupied, with leases held by Fox 61’s parent company and the Tribune Co., parent of the Hartford Courant.
The Courant announced in December 2020 that it would close its offices at 285 Broad St., by the end of that month and transition employees to remote work. Tribune’s lease expires in early 2026, while Fox 61 recently renewed its lease for another year.
Marcus & Millichap is promoting the building as an opportunity for value-add investment or adaptive reuse.
“Ultimately, the person who buys this is going to get a very good deal,” Grusd said. “This is going to be sold substantially below replacement cost and it’s going to give that buyer the ability to reset the cost basis of the property.”
He added that doing so will allow the new owner to invest in the property and offer competitive lease rates.
“I really think that opens up a lot of avenues for the new buyer of this property,” Grusd said.
Marketing for the auction began Friday, Oct. 24, and as of Monday afternoon, the online listing had drawn more than 5,200 page views.
The sale is being handled by Marcus & Millichap’s national auction services team in collaboration with the brokerage’s Boston-based regional team. Marcus & Millichap is welcoming cooperative broker participation on the property, meaning it is willing to share the listing fee.
Grusd said potential buyers have already begun reaching out, and two had toured the site as of Monday.