Northland Pulls Out of XL Center

Developer Northland Investment Corporation is pulling out of the XL Center in Hartford. The move marks yet more trouble for the Massachusetts-based company, which has invested heavily in the city in the last decade. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Northland took over the running of the XL Center in 2007, along with partner AEG, a California-based sports management company. But now the developer says it will cede its interest in the center to its partner, a move that it says will allow both sides to focus on their core businesses.

Northland and AEG had also partnered in managing Rentschler Field, but they lost that contract earlier this year, when the state said it would not renew. Northland has been hit hard by the downturn in commercial real estate during this recession, and has seen its troubles mount in Hartford in recent months. Its Goodwin Square property, which includes a landmark hotel as well as office space, has recently gone into foreclosure. That follows two other Northland sites, the Metro Center and City Place 2, where mortgages became delinquent earlier this year. Northland also owns the Hartford 21 tower and the Standard Building.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.