The city of Hartford is hoping to add to the development it has recently enjoyed, such as the Connecticut Convention Center, which opened in 2005.

The good news in downtown Hartford continued to roll in during the last few months of 2005, and 2006 will likely see more of the same.

Shortly before the start of the new year, the head of Newton, Mass.-based Northland Investment Corp. – which is already heavily invested in Hartford – announced that he is considering building a new $250 million, publicly subsidized arena in the city and bringing in a National Hockey League team to play in it.

The announcement follows a year that saw the opening of a new Marriott hotel, which is connected to Adriaen’s Landing, and the opening of the new Connecticut Convention Center, one of the centerpieces of the new development in Hartford.

Commercial real estate experts believe the investment in the state’s capital city, where there is new construction on virtually every corner, will continue.

“There’s a whole different feel in the city than there was three or four years ago,” said Bill Fenn, vice president of asset management for Boston-based New Boston Fund, the firm that owns 100 Pearl St. in downtown Hartford. “The mood of the city is a lot different than it was.”

Commercial real estate agents and investors are hopeful about the revitalization of downtown Hartford, Fenn said. Evidence of progress can be seen all over town: Construction on Northland Investment’s mixed-use project Hartford 21, which includes a high-rise tower that will house luxury apartments and retail shops, is well under way and the outside of the tower nearly complete. Work also has begun on a number of other projects in the city.

Yet despite the progress, investors are still proceeding with caution.

“There’s still a lot of a wait-and-see attitude,” Fenn said.

But people are hopeful, he added.

The addition of the residential and retail components that are being built in the city will be good for the market, but likely will not have much of an effect on the office market, Fenn said.

“I’m not sure how much of an effect it will have on creating office jobs,” he said.

Overall, the commercial real estate market in 2006 will mimic that of 2005, according to Fenn.

“I think we’ll see more of the same,” he noted.

‘Anyone’s Guess’

The healthy sales activity of last year is expected to continue throughout 2006. In Hartford, the market likely will stabilize somewhat because of rising interest rates. But in high-priced Fairfield County, Fenn said, anything could happen.

“Fairfield County is anyone’s guess,” he said.

The abundance of money and competition makes Fairfield County a different animal, he added.

Recently in Fairfield County, rentals for Class A office space have been firm, but Class B space has not seen that, according to Tom Pajolek, senior vice president for CB Richard Ellis in Stamford. He added that he expects to see that trend continue next year.

“Down here, this has been a two-level market,” he said.

Rents for Class B office space have not been as good.

“Those rents are very depressed,” Pajolek said. “There has been a real flight to quality.”

That will probably continue in 2006, he said, but there could be some trickledown effect that will benefit Class B property.

This year probably will be a good one for office space in Hartford’s suburbs, according to Dale Reese, New Boston Fund’s vice president and regional director for Connecticut. Last year saw a tightening of occupancy in cities and towns like Farmington and Glastonbury, and 2006 likely will bring more of the same, he said.

And for the first time in some years, tenants have been expanding and taking more space, a sign that the touted economic growth is trickling down to Hartford County, Reese said. Most of the expansion has so far been small, but it helps the market, he noted. Reese said he expects to see more expansion in 2006.

The recent announcement of the possible construction of a new arena likely will bring even more hopefulness to the market.

“We’ve got our own money, we’re willing to invest in an arena, and we’re willing to buy a team,” Lawrence R. Gottesdiener, head of Northland Investment Corp., told the Associated Press. “It would be an important entity and symbol of the city, the region and the state to provide a first-class venue for the residents.”

Gottesdiener’s plan calls for building a 16,000-seat sports and entertainment venue that would be home to a major league hockey team. The University of Connecticut men’s and women’s basketball teams also would play some of their home games there.

The arena would replace the Hartford Civic Center, which is next to Hartford 21, Northland’s mixed-use development. Gottesdiener announced his plan last week. The announcement comes eight years after the NHL’s Whalers left Hartford.

The Connecticut Development Authority will study how to use the city-owned Civic Center, which the CDA leases, according to the AP.