Pivotal office complex in heart of downtown Hartford sold. More housing may be on the way.

HARTFORD — Downtown Hartford’s largest commercial landlord said Tuesday it has acquired a commercial complex at the pivotal corner of Trumbull and Pratt streets, giving it control of nearly all of Pratt Street where there has been a push to create an entertainment destination blended with new apartments in historic buildings.

Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC said it acquired 242 Trumbull St., an 8-story office building that also includes almost all of the storefront space along the north side of Pratt. The seller, Northland, of Newton, Mass. put the property up for sale about a year ago, with the upper floor office space targeted for conversion to housing.

Shelbourne, of Brooklyn, N.Y., which had emerged in recent weeks as the expected buyer, did not disclose a purchase price in a news release.

“Our intention with acquiring 242 Trumbull is to embark on the repositioning of excess office space to much needed quality housing downtown,” Ben Schlossberg, Shelbourne’s managing member, said, in a release. “Our developments at Pratt and Temple streets have, in a short period of time, achieved occupancies in the mid-90% levels, and the demand for additional housing downtown has been corroborated by the influx of quality developers to this marketplace.”

“The city’s and the state’s vision for a robust downtown ecosystem is now a reality, and we hope to expand upon it,” Schlossberg said.

The complex at 242 Trumbull St. was marketed by Northland without an asking price. City records show Northland, once the city’s largest commercial landlord, bought the property for $11.7 million in 2003.

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said Tuesday in an interview that the structure is a “natural candidate” for a residential conversion.

“If it’s converted to residential, it could really build on the progress that we have seen on Pratt Street,” Bronin said.

Bronin declined to comment on a pending foreclosure involving Shelbourne’s ownership of three buildings on Pratt Street. Shelbourne is seeking to negotiate an extension of a loan that matured in March which financed the purchase of the structures.

“We would want to work closely with anyone who had control of 242 Trumbull because it’s a really important property that if reinvented could add a lot of residential units right around Pratt Street, which is emerging as the nerve center of downtown,” Bronin said.

Last week, Shelbourne said the conversion of the upper floors of 57, 65 and 75 Pratt St. to apartments or commercial loft space had not moved ahead as quickly as had been anticipated. The conversions include resolving both state and city building code issues, Shelbourne said.

In its release Tuesday, Shelbourne said: “All landlords across the country are facing challenges as a result of current market conditions, high interest rates and the changing nature of workplace norms — at Shelbourne we are addressing those issues with confidence in the city of Hartford.”

At 242 Trumbull, which has anchored the corner with Pratt since 1926, there are 8 stories of office space that face Trumbull. There are 15 storefronts and those along Pratt are interconnected with differing architectural styles with a 6-story office annex above the Pratt storefronts.

It is likely a residential conversion would require public funding, perhaps with a low-cost loan through the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority. Office-to-apartment conversions in downtown Hartford often have include financing packages with historic tax credits in the last decade. Although a portion of 242 Trumbull could be considered historic, a large portion was added on along Pratt Street in the 1980s.

Last May, when the property was first listed by the Hartford office of CBRE, the commercial real estate services firm, floors 3-8 of office space was largely vacant.

Downsizing of corporate leases in downtown Hartford and throughout the rest of the region and country in the aftermath of the pandemic are raising questions about what to do with excess office space. One option has been converting the space to housing.

Check back for updates.

This story was updated at 9 a.m. to include comments from Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.