Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • December 10, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 9 Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Wittmann Battenfeld, Torrington, CT | 2000 | 37,000 sq. ft. 2006 | Addition — 14,400 sq. ft. 2013 | Addition — 18,900 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. Baby Boomers and other older workers exit the workforce at an increasing rate. A recent spate of new tenant deals in some of downtown Hartford's sig- nature office buildings bear that out. In June, New York adviser Global Atlantic Financial Group relocated its suburban Simsbury office and 85 workers to downtown Hartford's Gold Building/One Financial Plaza. In October, information-technology and outsourcing vendor Infosys chose more than 56,000 square feet in the Goodwin Square office tower, 225 Asy- lum St., for its regional technology hub. Nearby, on the second floor of down- town's One Constitution Plaza, New Britain hand- and power-tool maker Stanley Black & Decker is putting fin- ishing touches on 23,000 square feet for its pilot Stanley Technology Center. There, dozens of aspiring techpre- neurs plus scores of Stanley engineers work to develop the next generation of innovative processes and products. Meantime, other key downtown em- ployers reaffirmed their commitment to the city. Virtus Investment Partners signed a lease for about 65,000 square feet at the Gold Building, including the top two floors that once served as United Technologies Corp.'s corporate offices. Also, accounting and consulting firm PwC renewed its lease for about 46,000 square feet at CityPlace I. All that activity is on top of UConn's relocation in fall 2017 of its former West Hartford campus to downtown, in the former Hartford Times Building on Prospect Street. In recent years, the state and city have made consid- erable strides and invest- ments to beef up downtown. New attractions have included Dunkin' Donuts Park, the Hartford Rail Line train service to New Haven and Springfield, a livelier Front Street entertainment district and a soon-to-open renovated Dillon Stadium, as well as hundreds of new apartment units downtown. Two more older office building-to- apartments/condominiums conver- sions — the 64-unit Teachers Village at 370 Asylum St. and eight-unit The Hartford Lofts condos, 289 Asylum St. — emerged recently as downtown housing options. And one of the city's most significant downtown housing projects in recent years — conversion of the long-vacant office towers at 101- 111 Pearl Street — will add another 258 units when completed in 2019. "We need more companies to decide on their own," Ostop said, "that Con- necticut and Hartford is a good place to do business, and elect to move here." Aquarium amenity To lure tenants to his buildings, Stark says he finds they covet ameni- ties, like fitness centers, cafeterias, "quiet'' rooms and open areas, to huddle with fellow workers or clients. One peculiar amenity found in many of Stark's office buildings is an aquarium like the one installed at the main entry desk at 750 Main. Stark says since he installed one in his earli- est office acquisitions, he has gotten plaudits from tenants who consider it a refreshing decor addition. Stark, president of Stark Office Suites and a former Wall Street mergers and acquisitions adviser who professes an abiding interest in older buildings, is among numerous New York investors who have bought downtown properties in recent years because they see it as an up-and- coming and more affordable market. Other renovations he's put into the building include upgrading its mechanical systems, interior lighting, fiber-optic network and a new lobby, among others. He is looking for tenants who want a smaller footprint and a longer-term lease. Mean- time, he said he is narrowing his search for a tenant to occupy the former CVS retail-store space fronting the State Street side of the tower. Hartford architect William Cross- key II relocated to 750 Main in Aug. 2016, doubling the 4,000 square feet of office space he and his 25 staffers in Crosskey Architect's had at down- town's Union Station, "where we were bursting at the seams,'' he said. "It's been a real plus having Adam buy the building,'' Crosskey said. " … We're really glad about the open feel of the space.'' Downtown Hartford office vacancy rates 4Q 2018 est. vacancy rate 15.5% 3Q 2018 vacancy rate 18% Source: Cushman & Wakefield This Constitution Plaza space is being converted into the Stanley Technology Center. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED SUPPLY THE PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE INDUSTRY WITH A SEALMASTER FRANCHISE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY * Offer made by prospectus only. Learn more at sealmaster.net or call (800) 341-7325 Protected Territories Available Throughout New England Distribute a Full Line of Pavement Maintenance and Sport Surfacing Products and Equipment.

• Cover