The property, at the West End section of Hartford, incorporates one-, two- and three-bedroom units with 10,000 sf of retail and commercial space. Steve Witten and Victor Nolletti of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services represented both the buyer and seller.

"It's kind of a gateway property," Witten tells GlobeSt.com. "It's at the intersection of interstate I-84, I-91, [and] downtown Hartford so it's a highly visible property." The hard-to-find highway accessible space in the CBD makes it a perfect fit for Enterprise Rent-a-Car, which takes up a portion of the building's fully-leased retail space.

According to Colliers Dow & Condon's Q1 report, vacancies are increasing in the suburban markets here, with virtually no activity downtown. The Hartford market is slow in general, mimicking the national economy with a steady trend towards valuing more suburban markets. Office rates are down overall in the CBD and tilting up in suburbia. The presence of insurance companies, however, buttresses the CBD and helps keep prices from sliding.

Witten feels that multifamily property, such as this one, are currently the solid investments. Citing the recent $43-million, 303-unit Waterford Commons deal he brokered and "another three or four large deals pending," indicate that Connecticut "is not insulated or isolated from the rest of the issues in the economy, but it certainly suggests--with respect to well-placed real estate assets, particularly multifamily--as far as generating yield, these deals are the best game in town right now." Pointing to the regional success of these products, Witten intimates, "we have both large institutional and private buyers chasing this type of product because we can deliver long-term, stabilized returns." His confidence is reflected in the Harford market. "The market is very much alive and well in the region."