Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • February 4, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Reporter's Notebook Gregory Seay | gseay@HartfordBusiness.com Real Estate, Economic Development/Construction, Banking & Finance and Manufacturing REAL ESTATE Hartford's Spectra owners covet building downtown 'communities' I t's been nearly a decade since New York developers Jeffrey Ravetz and Joseph Klaynberg identified a rundown former high-rise hotel in downtown Hartford's Constitution Plaza as a housing-redevelopment opportunity. In summer 2013, Ravetz, principal in Girona Ventures, and Klaynberg, prin- cipal in Wonder Works Construction & Development Corp., began a two-year conversion of the former Sonesta/ Clarion Hotel property into the 203- unit Spectra Plaza Apartments. They followed that project up with two more downtown deals. The most recent was last year's approximately $28 million acquisition of the 132-unit former Trum- bull on the Park Apartments and adjoin- ing parking garage at 100 Trumbull St., since rechristened as Spectra Park. Now, Ravetz and Klaynberg, who have quickly become prominent down- town landlords, regularly travel to Hartford to oversee progress on their latest offices-to-apartments conver- sion: transformation of two long-va- cant, adjacent office towers at 101 and 111 Pearl St., into 265 "premium'' but mostly one-bedroom apartments. Dubbed Spectra Pearl, both buildings, like Spectra Plaza, will offer their occu- pants more than just a place to lay their heads and store their stuff. Spectra is selling a lifestyle to prospective tenants, who could begin moving in by late spring or early summer, according to Ravetz. "We don't think about it as develop- ing apartment units,'' he said. "We think about it as expanding a community.'' So far, Spectra Park and Spectra Pla- za house about 500 occupants, based on an average of 1.25 residents per unit, Ravetz said, adding that headcount will grow once its two newest downtown properties fill, Ravetz said. It's the lifestyle aspect of downtown liv- ing — not the number of bedrooms or the monthly rent — that is drawing tenants to Spectra properties, Klaynberg said. Klaynberg and Ravetz say they find Spectra communities' amenities to be ma- jor tenant draws. Spectra Plaza features a fitness center, indoor gym with a half basketball court, theater room and upper- floor community-room space, among its other communal-leisure spaces. The Spectra Wired Cafe, housed in a building across the street from Spectra Plaza, is the most visible amenity, one that is publicly accessible. Inside is ample lounge space for residents and their guests to chill, order a latte, pastries, or other light fare, or they can sip a craft beer or wine "happy hour'' in the bar area. Ravetz and Klaynberg have even extended many of those same "commu- nity'' amenities to Spectra Park. Recent- ly, Spectra's landlords refreshed some interior sections of that building, mainly to add or update resident amenities. The former leasing office, for instance, was converted to a business center. The landlords plan to take Spectra Pearl's amenities to another level — liter- ally. Instead of one or two clustered on a ground or upper floor, both buildings will have amenities on every floor, Ravetz said. For instance, the 101 Pearl St. tower will offer recreational rooms on each of its 10 floors, featuring video-screen- ing rooms, business centers, libraries, and games, including table tennis. Both will offer round-the-clock con- cierge services and a manned lobby. Another resident perk is that ten- ants of one Spectra community can tap any of the amenities available in another, Ravetz said. DEAL WATCH Enfield's Fabbrica to relo to leased Windsor space Fabbrica USA, the Enfield building- products maker that recently sidelined plans to erect a $17.3 million Windsor production facility, has settled for the time being on leasing 135,410 square feet of office, manufacturing and warehouse space in Windsor. A maker of building facades and architectural interior components, Fabbrica leased space in the I-91 Logistics Center, at 1 Market Circle, into which it will relocate its Windsor operations at 25 and 35 International Drive. I-91 Logistics Center is a 364,044-square-foot distribution facility located on some 53 acres that was refurbished in 2016 and is partially leased to United Parcel Service, according to the landlord's co-broker Sentry Commercial. CBRE also represented landlord 1 MC Connecticut LLC. Fabbrica announced last September a halt to plans to pursue Windsor town approval to build a facility that would have consolidated its 100 or so Enfield workers and administrative-production operations under one roof. $800K S. Windsor sale A 12,800-square-foot South Windsor industrial condominium sold recently for $800,000. Nutmeg Road South Associates LLC purchased Units J,K,L & M at 250 Nutmeg Road South from Four S LLC. Sentry Commercial was the sole broker. MANUFACTURING CT's smaller manufacturers retrying for apprenticeship tax credit C onnecticut's small- and mid-size manufacturers are trying again to persuade state lawmakers and the governor to grant them access to a tax credit open to larger producers that train apprentices on their shop floors. Senate Bill 242 would extend the state's manufacturing apprentice- ship tax credit to so-called "pass- through entities.'' This is at least the fourth legislative attempt in six years at adopting a measure that many state producers say would make it less costly and less risky for them to hire, train and retain new workers. State lawmakers have passed similar bills in years past, but they were vetoed by Gov. Dannel P. Mal- loy, who raised concerns that they would cost the state tax revenue — as much as $650,000, according to a 2018 estimate — at a time when the budget faces deficits. A new governor — Ned Lamont — could this year change the fate of the legislation, which has been lobbied for by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), chambers of commerce as well as individual manufacturers. The measure, which is pending in the Commerce Committee, essential- ly would allow investors in, or owners of, small- to mid-size manufacturers set up as pass-through entities, to claim as a credit against their Con- necticut income-tax returns a por- tion of their companies' investments in apprenticeship training. Currently, state law only allows C- corporations, which tend to be larger companies, to take a credit against their corporate income taxes for each apprentice they hire and train, while manufacturers with 100 or fewer workers, and organized as S-corpora- tions, limited-liability companies or partnerships, cannot. The bill comes as many manufac- turers across Connecticut have had a difficult time filling job openings created by an aging workforce and significant work from large defense contractors like Electric Boat and Pratt & Whitney. 250 Nutmeg Road South, South Windsor. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Work underway on 111 Pearl St. (left), which is being converted to apartments. HBJ PHOTO | GREGORY SEAY

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