Hartford Business Journal

22 Hartford Business Journal • August 24, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Office, retail development coming to South Windsor's Evergreen Walk area By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com V acant land across from South Windsor's Evergreen Walk shopping center will soon become home to a four-building complex with a mix of medical office and retail space. Farmington's Metro Realty Group is leading the project aiming to con- struct 50,400 square feet of medical office and 38,880 square feet of re- tail space on Buckland Road across the street from LA Fitness. South Windsor's planning and zoning commission recently granted key land-use approvals for the real estate developer, which acquired the vacant land for an undisclosed sum in Sept. 2019, and filed applications for the development months later. Tenants have not yet been selected for the so-called Gateway Boulevard development, town records show. The mixed-use property is expected to join a new Chase Bank branch and Aldi grocery store as new additions to the corridor. Metro Realty is also leading those projects, officials say. It's not clear when construction will begin on the development, or how much it will cost to build. Metro Realty declined multiple requests for comment. Town Planner Michele R. Lipe said Metro Realty, one of Connecticut's largest medical office developers, still needs certain environmental approv- als before it can break ground. According to plans filed with the town, the complex will house two retail buildings near the well- traveled Buckland Road corridor. A combination of restaurants, with outdoor seating, and clothing retail tenants would be ideally suited for the buildings, officials say. Another two medical-office build- ings are to be constructed at the rear of the property. A total of 486 parking spaces and several electric car charg- ing stations are planned for the de- velopment, plans show. There will be more than 600 parking spaces if the Aldi and Chase buildings are included. A map of the development on Metro Realty's website shows the office buildings will comprise 25,700 square feet and 30,000 square feet. Forteen retail units in the other two buildings mostly range from 2,495 square feet to 4,050 square feet. A second phase of development is currently being eyed on a small piece of land just north of the property also controlled by Metro Realty, town officials have said. Con- struction on the Chase branch has already begun, and work on the Aldi supermarket is expected to begin soon, town records show. Metro Realty will also create a four-way intersection and crosswalks where Buckland Road, Cedar Avenue and the new Gateway Boulevard meet. The office-retail development will compete with its neighbors across the street at The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk. The outdoor shop- ping center spans more than 374,979 square feet, and is home to many specialty retailers and restaurants including Anthropologie, Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Ted's Montana Grill, Red Heat Tavern, Sakura Garden and Omaha Steaks, among other storefronts. Headquartered at 6 Executive Dr. in Farmington, Metro Realty owns and operates more than 30 medical office, industrial and multifamily buildings around Connecticut, ac- cording to its website. Last year, it sold a 29,000-square- foot medical office building on Middle Turnpike Road in Manchester for $11.3 million, and is looking to invest $2.4 million to construct a 16,200-square- foot, one-story medical building on Cromwell Avenue in Rocky Hill. Deal Roundup A Southington industrial build- ing on Clark Street has sold for $840,000, brokers say. New York-based 339 Clark LLC recently sold the 16,020-square-foot building to Marion-based Mantz Auto Sales and Repair Inc., accord- ing to broker Sentry Commercial, which was the sole broker in the deal. Mantz Auto Sales and Repair is planning to relocate and expand at the facility by year-end, Sentry Com- mercial said. • • • Marlborough's Two Brother's Auto LLC has acquired more than 2.3 acres in Bloomfield for $80,000, according to Sentry Commercial. Alice Leshem was the previous owner of the property at 15 Highland Park Dr. Sentry Commercial said it's not yet clear how the auto service busi- ness plans to use the property. Joe Cooper is HBJ's web editor and real estate writer. He pens "The Real Deal" column about commercial real estate. THE REAL DEAL Metro Realty Group plans to construct a four-building development across from South Windsor's Evergreen Walk with a mix of medical office and retail space. A rendering of the mixed-use development on Buckland Road. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED IMAGE | CONTRIBUTED

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