West Hartford MXD Trades for Reported $105M

WEST HARTFORD, CT-In the Hartford metro area's biggest retail deal since the June 2012 sale of Connecticut Commons in Plainville, CT, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group and Starwood Retail Partners has purchased Blue Back Square, a mixed-use project here. The project was acquired from a partnership of Atlanta-based Ronus Properties LLC, Street-Works LLC of White Plains and JDA Development of West Hartford, which completed the center in 2008.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Citing municipal documents, the Hartford Business Journal on Monday quoted a sales price of $104.9 million, or about $228 per square foot. A spokesman for Greenwich, CT-based Starwood Capital tells GlobeSt.com the company has no comment.

The Ronus-led partnership spent $159 million to develop Blue Back Square, and a 2011 revaluation by the town of West Hartford gave the six parcels comprising it a market value of $121 million, published reports say. The 566,481-square-foot Connecticut Commons went for $87.5 million, or $155 per square foot, as part of a 48-property portfolio acquired last year by a joint venture of the Blackstone Group and DDR, according to Real Capital Analytics data.

The 460,000-square-foot Blue Back Square acquisition includes 210,000 square feet of retail, 205,000 square feet of office and 48 rental apartments comprising 45,000 square feet. There are also 59 residential condominiums which were not part of the sale announced Monday.

Among the retailers are Crate & Barrel, Cheesecake Factory, Barnes & Noble, REI and Bow Tie Cinemas, which operates a six-screen movie theater. Hartford Hospital and a number of law firms and professional services tenants occupy the bulk of the office component. The project currently is 96% leased, according to a release.

Minus the condos, the property reportedly had been on and off the market since at least August 2011, the Business Journal reported. No asking price was ever publicly disclosed. A CBRE team led by EVP Chris Angelone represented the sellers in the sale to the Starwood affiliate.

In the release, Ethan Bing, VP at Starwood Capital, calls Blue Back Square “a fundamentally strong, infill asset in an attractive market with limited new supply that generates strong cash-on-cash returns and presents an excellent opportunity for Starwood and its investors.” The onsite management team at Blue Back will continue to operate the property under the direction of Starwood Retail.

A hospitality property may soon rise near Blue Black. The Business Journal reported that the town recently signed a letter of intent with a joint venture of Greenwich Hospitality Group and the East Hartford, CT-based Matos Group to develop a 100- to 120-room boutique hotel that would serve as a gateway to the center, located in Hartford's CBD.