262 replies to this topic

[The Voice of Reason]

Cigna is buying a Healthspring a medicare company. It announced today the 3.8 Billion deal.

this is about 25% of Cigna's market cap, so its a pretty big acquisition for them.

The target was from Nashville area, so with our new HQ status I am thinking this might lead to some jobs filtering up here.

Good stuff!

http://www.courant.c...0,2576172.story

Edited by The Voice of Reason, 24 October 2011 - 12:31 PM.

[HartfordTycoon]

I read that Aetna is also primed to make a similar acquistion in order to boost their share of Medicare business. Definity good anytime Hartford businesses are acquiring and not being acquired.

http://www.bloomberg...s-real-m-a.html

[The Voice of Reason]

peoples united has leased 7000 SF in Manhattan as a flagship branch. @250 Park Ave in Manhattan on the corner of 47th St and Park Ave

http://newyorkreales...h-in-NYC.aspx

Looks like they are fully intending to move more aggressively into NYC and obviously have been aggressive in Boston.  I think their hopes are to one day become the Fleet bank of today.


in other news, the boat building will start leasing space to outside companies because the phoenix does not need all of its space any more.   this is pretty much all of the base of the building, but not so much any part of the tower from best I can tell.  65000 SF


in still other news... Rockville bank is leasing space in Glastonbury 22ksf.  interesting news that, because glastonbury is on the Southern and Western edge of their territory, and glastonbury is becoming one of their largest back office operation as they continue to grow. (south Windsor is 35kSF)  I wouldn't be surprised to read soon that they are expanding across the river and further south.
https://www.rockvill...r-locations.htm

EDIT: ok, Im dumb... they just filed paperwork to open a branch in West Hartford.

so, to me, that means Hartford downtown is not far away either as are branches N and S of Hartford likely all along the West of the river.  they are gonna pop open a bunch of branches with that $171 million in IPO money.  I suspect Farmington bank is ding the same kind of growth from the opposite side of Hartford.  lets just hope that some hartford based banks can stick around and not get gobbled up, and maybe provide some jobs in the hartford area.

Edited by The Voice of Reason, 05 December 2011 - 06:10 PM.

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

Potentially good news (but who can they get????)

http://www.hartfordb.../news21883.html

Edited by Theophrastus Bombastus, 19 December 2011 - 03:20 PM.

[The Voice of Reason]

yes, this is an interesting article.  kind of an add in a way.

anyways, we know its a great building and location and they got it for a steal and it has great parking options...   but what, is it 700,000SF  

if they land a 700k sf tenant I will choke on my lunch!

they are however a legit REIT with resources and connections, and even some great tenants already in their other downtown towers.


So, the question is do they snag a tenant from NY, or from the burbs?  I am sure they will get someone since they got such a deal they can negotiate aggressively.  

any way it would be nice to have 2000+ people working in there again and add in 200 apartments to the clarion hotel.

[The Voice of Reason]

OK, so here is more Banking news since its just my thing...

Peoples bank has fared fairly well in the markets since they are stable and have tons of cash, so their stock is pretty strong.   Other stock of regional banks have struggled, and even after the markets revovered ad all, they still are lagging

Peoples is in an amazing position to go shopping right now as they have for the last few years, and as far as targets in their near by territory there are some sweet looking options.

I have been tracking a few....

the dream buy is Hudson City...   Based out of NJ, they are culturally alot like Peoples bank, did the huge stock raise and evn have some cash of their own on hand... but they tried to grow too quickly, so have has some sour loans especially on long island.   this bank dominates NJ and parts of NYC/LI and has I think 8 branches in CT.  they have 50 billion in assets (almost double what peoples has...28B) but their market value is still depressed and hovering just above 3.7 billion  while peoples is at 4.5B    A month or two ago it was 2.8B to 4.2B...   I look at this as a dream buy because Hudson City is a much bigger bank, but according to an article in the courant its apparently a possibility.... who knew? (me I guess)  But this ties into their terrotory and culture perfectly.  If PBCT put 1B in Cash and the rest in stock, they would still likely have to give away 3.8B in shares giving significant ownership to HCBK shareholders (assuming 30% premium). But you never know because banks have been selling at lower levels lately, and its possible they could get a better price.  

the resultant institution would have 78 Billion in assets and 500 or so branches making it one of the bigish boys in regional banking.   Think Soverign, Citizens M&T.   It still wouldnt be a powerhouse bank like Fleet was, but it would be well on its way and surely help Bridgeports employment base.

Astoria Federal is another bank I have been tracking and I see its acquisition is MUCH more likely.. so much so I think owning shares in it might be smart. (Just a personal feeling, I don't work in Banking or mergers or anything)  AF has 14 billion in assets and its market value is a much more digestible 900 Million.  PBCT could buy these guys comfortably and even hold cash for other acquisitions or what have you.   AF is struggling worse than HCBK but has rallied recently.  
the resultant bank would have a great NYC presence, Long Island would be much stronger, and the bank could reasonably say it had a decent market share in NY.  42 Billion in Assets and 450 Branches or so.   Not too shabby, but also still able to likely make other moves to fill gaps and maintain flexibility.  The recent article also mentioned this possibility making me feel smart...

Lastly Susquahanna Bank in PA to me seems a pretty damn good fit.  It has 18 Billion in assets, but is mostly in PA MD and NJ, so there would be a small gap through NYC in territory.  at $1.44 billion market cap its a hefty buy, but not too much bigger than AF.  Its more stable than AF too, but ya get what you pay for.    230 branches would bring PBCT to almost 600 branches, and 46 Billion in Assets.  A pretty significant bank, but one that would need to fill in the NYC gap as soon as possible.

Reference image
http://en.wikipedia....k_footprint.png

regardless, PBCT will make some moves, I am interested to see how that will help Bridgeport. and CT in General.

Here is the article.

http://www.courant.c...0,5729416.story


So As an Also, Webster bank came out as being interested in Mergers, so it seems they are finally stabilized, healthy and have some cash... (remember they have private equity backers.  It will be interesting to see where Webster tries to expand.   they are however clearly in a different league than Peoples bank.

and lastly, Rockville bank, Farmington bank, and Savings Institute Financial are all cash rich after public offerings.  each have about 20 branches and about 1-2 Billion in assets.  I am sure they will all be looking to grow organically and through acquisitions.    while at the same time Brookline bank from MA just bought Bank of Rhode island, and berkshire hills bank just bought CT Bank and Trust.  

The little mergers rarely grow jobs much, just move them around, but all those companies are at the point where they are starting to affect the economies of their regions (like Rockville Bank renting 20K SF in Glastonbury and moving jobs there (Eventually that should hold almost 100 jobs)


Thats your banking update...Next one will likely be some merger headline.   and if you think this doesn't matter, go look and see what PNC banks growth has done for downtown Pittsburg...

[The Voice of Reason]

as I thought there would be an acquisition announcement.
http://www.courant.c...0,3698923.story
nothing epic, but good to see them continuing to grow their territory.  this one is good because it cost almost nothing in relative terms and totaled 56 branches.  These grocery store branches average like 4-5 million in deposits, while peoples bank tends to average 35 million per grocery store branches.

so if they are able to replicate that kind of success at the citizens branches, this will be a nice pick up.  I also suspect there will be more..  Valley national bank is a perfect fit for them.  

also citizens is claerly selling branches, so you never know what they might do with them.

[The Voice of Reason]

As I thought, there would be an acquisition announcement.
http://www.courant.c...0,3698923.story
nothing epic, but good to see them continuing to grow their territory.  this one is good because it cost almost nothing in relative terms and totaled 56 branches.  These grocery store branches average like 4-5 million in deposits, while peoples bank tends to average 35 million per grocery store branches.

so if they are able to replicate that kind of success at the citizens branches, this will be a nice pick up.  I also suspect there will be more..  Valley national bank is a perfect fit for them.  

also citizens is clearly selling branches, so you never know what they might do with them.

[HartfordTycoon]

http://www.courant.c...0,4846301.story

NU and the State have finalized a deal for state approval of the merger with NStar. I'm glad they decided to review it since they have gotten concessions on rates, a credit for customers, and importantly the retention of Hartford as the primary headquarters for at least 7 years. It's no guarantee that we can keep the HQ forever but 7 years is a pretty long time and will give the state plenty of time to try to work with them to make sure they do decide to stay here. The deal with Mass didn't have any provision on HQ location so if they decide to drop the dual HQ plan within the next 7 years it won't be at Hartford's expense.

[The Voice of Reason]

yeah, that was a good move.
I am not sure it will matter in the end though, the new guy is like the posterboy for Boston.

It would be great however if during the 7 years Hartford somehow managed to beat out Boston as the eventual power center.  I find this highly unlikely as Boston is simply a world class city, and Hartford has a long long ay to go.

but its a start!

[The Voice of Reason]

As additional business news, SS&C put an official bin in for GlobeOp, and the boar accepted it.  this may not be done obviously as there are 2 bidders, but if SS&C wins out the bidding, they would have operations in the Goodwin building downtown as well as up in Windsor.  and they would be QUITE A BIT LARGER than they currently are.  especially overseas.  market cap would be 3+billion, so not too shabby for a locally grown company.


We need more of these mid size companies.  we have more than our share of monsters, but very few mid size and small caps.

[The Voice of Reason]

This is something I have been talking about for a long time and it seems as though its not just in my imagination.


TD bank is expanding in downtown.

They are leasing 10,000 SF in the H-21 tower.  they are taking the big fancy shiney corner space and the upper floor there as well.

first the bad....   This is in essence a relocation from 280 Trumbull.  The branch at 280 Trumbull will be closed eventually.

The good!
-in addition to the 10 or so current employees at the downtown branch, an additional 30 more people will be hire/relocated to this location.
While its a tiny number of jobs, it is at least indication that TD bank conciders Hartford an important market, and worthy of allocating some of its workforce here.

This is a 10 year lease I might add, so thats pretty good, and as a result of it they will be building out the as yet unfinished space.  When you have unfinished space like this its really hard to find a renter, so its awesome news that Northland found a renter that is committed and that will spend the money to put in flooring lighting and all the other requirements of occupation.

while this is nothing compared to the losses Hartford will face at "the Hartford"  and really who knows about other companies leaving downtown or cutting back, This could bode well for things to come.

Like it or not, TD has moved into the area with authority, and have expanded from Maine down to Florida quite successfully.  With Hartford the center of a large piece of their market the bank had kept many of the regional jobs out of the city.  There is an office in Wethersfield next to Rt 3 on the riverfront, and Springfield even hosts the main presence in the area.  even New Britain and Waterbury have a bigger TD presence.

If banks like TD Peoples and Webster continue to put operations downtown it would begin to create an industry cluster.
banking is an incredibly enviable business cluster to have.

dont believe me?

just google map or bing any major city with the birds eye images.  look at the tallest office buildings and what logos are on them. most of them are banks.
Honestly, I think Hartford is probably the largest city in America without signage for a major bank on a building.
We have insurance, and that is awesome, but banks are in every town, so we might as well also have some regional banking offices and headquarters.  Even worse, those banks are putting HQ all of the place around here but not consolidating them.
Springfield, Waterbury, New Britain, New haven, Bridgeport etc

We just need to lure more operations ceters to downtown and put a nice banking cluster together and we will only lure more jobs.

[The Voice of Reason]

http://www.hartfordb...tml?Type=search

LFG is looking for new space
apparently downtown and according to the article likely in the same building.

they are looking for 180K SF, 10K less than they have now, so it might actually be good news if they re-sign!

At this point I think it is key for downtown to hang onto downtown tenants while vacant buildings are converted into residential.  some day, we may be in a position to look for downtown growth, but IMO the residential growth has to happen in order to make working downtown more attractive.




and another vote of confidence
http://www.hartfordb...tml?Type=search
not sure how many people work for this company, but its still a nice sentiment and a few more downtown workers is nice!

Edited by The Voice of Reason, 25 April 2012 - 02:24 PM.

[The Voice of Reason]

Glad this went through!
http://www.hartfordb.../news23928.html

It seems that Greater hartford is more and more being chosen as a key shipping location.

this can only bode well for us long term as it might increase air freight as well as rail usage too.
I guess its not finalized yet, but at least its not dead yet


As previously reported in The Hartford Courant, the retailer is also considering a site near Albany, N.Y.
Dollar Tree has said the $57 million facility would create 200 new jobs over five years with an annual total average of $7.7 million in salary and benefits.

[MichaelQReilly]

The Voice of Reason, on 14 May 2012 - 09:47 AM, said:

Glad this went through!
http://www.hartfordb.../news23928.html

It seems that Greater hartford is more and more being chosen as a key shipping location.

this can only bode well for us long term as it might increase air freight as well as rail usage too.
I guess its not finalized yet, but at least its not dead yet


As previously reported in The Hartford Courant, the retailer is also considering a site near Albany, N.Y.
Dollar Tree has said the $57 million facility would create 200 new jobs over five years with an annual total average of $7.7 million in salary and benefits.

I hate this project. How much farm land does this state have to have chewed up by sprawl? Its not like there aren't a million other established industrial sites waiting for redevelopment. I'm all for jobs, but let's put them in already-developed places, not on virgin farmland.

Edited by MichaelQReilly, 15 May 2012 - 07:11 PM.

[The Voice of Reason]

dude, agreed, but this site is in an industrial complex.   its farming days are over.  we might as well get the jobs and tax revenues

let me edit... the reality is that this state is terrible at land planning and farms will loose to strip malls or warehouses.
but as long as our urban core grows and strengthens, im not sure a little sprawl will hurt.  If the metro grows up and out and the downtown strengthens, its a win.  we are in New England, so If Hartford and Springfield grow together, so be it... we will never be Atlanta or Dallas with sprawl, but as long as our downtown is attractive and vibrant to visitors, workers and residents, I am OK

Edited by The Voice of Reason, 15 May 2012 - 09:53 PM.

[beerbeer]

Connecticut does not have a sprawl problem.  It's laughable how some folks come up with these buzz words and pretend there is a crisis. The entire eastern part of the state is a virtual forest.  Tom Condon (?) in the Courant bangs the sprawl drum constantly.  And I have never understod why he's on this crusade. Just google Connecticut and look at "maps." Concluding there is a sprawl problem is not intellectually honest.

IMHO. Connecticut could us a little more sprawl as that would indicate economic development. Would I prefer growth inside of city boundaries, absolutely. But getting worked up about a dozen acres or less is silly.

Edited by beerbeer, 16 May 2012 - 06:01 AM.

[The Voice of Reason]

The land use planning is the real issue in CT

we have these bedroom communities that want to increase grand list, so they allow crazy strip malls and vehicle based developments.

We should promote greater urban density with mass transit in Greater hartford.  But its a tough call since The highways and roadways and small towns chasing grand list dollars keep winning.

I just read about a huge "mized use" development in Rocky Hill near the Rt 3 N exit on I-91
the developer refers to sales leakage or something like that refering to the shopping dollars of its residents leaving town.  meaning people from RH spend money in Manchester and Farmington I guess.  and that the town should strive for retaining it all.

the development is hardly mixed use BTW, its just strip malls like the ones on Silas Deane and The Berlin turnpike, but instead on Rt 3

crazyness!

we need a regional planning authority that forces better cooperation between downs, and maybe even revenue sharing on commercial development, so Canton could have remained a bedroom community or so that commercial centers like Manchester are better managed. so they can serve the entire community while preserving the regions around it.  (like S Windsoe prettymuch HAS to develop roads in order to serve the developments in Manchester on its boarder, and IF you are stuck with the traffic, you might as well get some tax revenues, so Evergreen walk, is built... and expanded, and... expanded and expanded to include apartments

[beerbeer]

You're mixing appels and oranges.

I completely agree there has been an absence of intelligent regional planning in the capital region. Better cooperation would serve the greater good. Having a strong centralized core serves the public interest.

But, I repeat, Connecticut does not have a sprawl problem.  60% of the land in the state is forest. There are are more than adequate public lands, agriculture and wilderness in the state. Most of the towns in the state would be considered low density or rural.  This is one of those environmental alamist issues that are so popular these days. Everything is a crisis. The sky is always falling.  Except, it ain't true.

Edited by beerbeer, 16 May 2012 - 01:44 PM.

[The Voice of Reason]

I don’t think it has a sprawl problem, but like I said it has a land use problem.

If we were a rapidly growing metro, the land use issue would promptly become a sprawl issue.   Even still it would not necessarily overly develop the state or be a crisis.  But it is important to protect your character and it is important to look at planning before it is too late.  Reason being that once the landscape is "ruined" it cannot be undone.  While I didn’t disagree with you before I absolutely disagree with you now.

State land is fine and good and so are forests and agriculture, wetlands and yada yada yada right... hugging trees and all that good stuff my parents do and taught me as a kid.

But if due to poor preservation, low density sprawling development or some other malady, central CT loses the last of its Tobacco plantations it would be an absolute tragedy... even if 55% of the state remained forest or rural or whatever.
So I think it is important to plan today for the development of tomorrow and that begins by adding density early on and having towns work together.

I have mentioned the Auckland city council structure in NZ that dictated to towns within Auckland city, county and surrounding counties how many people they needed to be able to absorb.  This allowed town to remain rural (or as they called it "lifestyle" and others to be "urban" If you Google Orewa, you will see that this town is much denser than the towns west of it.  But this town is slated as a satellite urban center and is supposed to absorb a lot of growth.  Some through the sprawling development in Silverdale and red beach near the motorway but also through high-rise development downtown.

It’s called regional planning and while it does not stop sprawl, it at least organizes it and it has allowed communities to retain their agricultural past and character (dairy flat).


I dont think it has a sprawl problem, but like I said it has a land use problem.

If we were a rapidly growing metro, the land use issue would promptly become a sprawl issue.   Even still it would not necessarily overly develop the state or be a crisis.  But it is important to protect your charachter and it is important to look at planning before it is too late.  reason being that once the landscape is "ruined" it can not be undone.  while I didnt disagree with you before I absolutely disagree with you now.

State land is fine and good and so are forests and agriculture, wetlands and yada yada yada right... huggung trees and all that good stuff my parents do and taught me as a kid.

But if due to poor preservation, low density sprawling development or some other mality, central CT loses the last of its Tobacco plantations it would be an absolute trajety... even if 55% of the state remained forest or rural or whatever.
So I think it is important to plan today for the development of tomorrow and that begins by adding density early on and having towns work together.

I have mentioned the Auckland city council structure in NZ that dictated to towns within Auckland city, county and surrounding counties how many people they needed to be able to absorb.  This allowed town to remain rural (or as they called it "lifestyle" and others to be "urban"  If you google Orewa, you will see that this town is much denser than the towns west of it.  but this town is slated as a satelite urban center and is supposed to absorb a lot of growth.  Some through the sprawling development in silverdale and redbeach near the motorway but also through highrise development downtown.

its called regional planning anf while it does not stop sprawl, it at least organizez it and it has allowed communities to retain their agricultural past and charachter(dairy flat).


Regardless, small ammounts of sprawl can be bad, and I do not think we are terribly sprawly here, but I dint like the way you dismiss sprawl based on assumed % of tree cover.  since it is not about that.  Much like climate change (global warming if you prefer the old name for it) is not about the earth getting 20 degrees warmer over night, its about 1,2,5 degrees warmer. therefore putting slightly more water vapor into the atmosphere and changing weather patterns globally creating a year of freak storms, tornados, and other sever annomilies.  2 degrees IS bad, just like the ugly mess that is Manchester regardless of how much preserved land is still out there.

Edited by The Voice of Reason, 16 May 2012 - 02:57 PM.