CT’s tallest skyscraper 46.19% occupied amid struggling office market
COSTAR
City Place I tower, at 185 Asylum St., in downtown Hartford
Connecticut’s largest skyscraper, the 38-story City Place I office tower in downtown Hartford, is 46.19% occupied, according to a recent report by its court-ordered receiver.
A Hartford Superior Court judge placed the 537-foot-tall, 884,669-square-foot skyscraper under the control of receiver Lewis Taulbee, of Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., on Feb. 10, acting on a petition by debtholders.
Taulbee’s report to the court for the quarter ending March 31 illustrates the depth of the vacancy challenge at the building. Fourteen floors are entirely available for new tenants and portions of 12 more are open, according to the report.
The report also notes a need to address some deferred maintenance and “tenant comfort concerns.” Taulbee assures, however, that all areas needing repair will be addressed in an upcoming budget.
A conditions assessment by JLL identified a need for maintenance and repairs to portions of the HVAC systems, landscaping, garage, loading dock bollards and a couple leaky roof areas, as well as a need to replace the building’s four revolving doors.
Chris Ostop, managing director of real estate services firm JLL Connecticut, said that while there are some repairs to pursue, City Place I overall is in very good shape. The building has seen major investments in roofing, new elevators and other places in recent years, he noted.
“It historically has been one of the best-run, best-condition buildings in the market,” Ostop said.
City Place I is New England’s tallest skyscraper outside of Boston. Its high vacancy rate is reflective of a downtown Hartford office landscape particularly hard-hit by post-pandemic shifts in working patterns and a dramatic decline in demand for office space.
Cushman & Wakefield’s fourth quarter 2024 Hartford office market report reflected a 32.8% vacancy for the 7.4 million square feet of office space in Hartford’s central business district. But some experts put that number closer to 40%, accounting for existing vacancies and tenants expected to downsize leases in the near term.
The plummeting value of downtown Hartford office buildings has also cost the city millions in property tax revenue, as owners of several Class A office buildings have prevailed in tax appeals.
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