Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1362760
07 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 19, 2021 | LOGISTICS & DISTRIBUTIONS Lescalleet said INDUS — which traces its corporate roots in Connecticut back to the 1900s — has seen the types of companies interested in Connecticut evolving, a sign of growth. Beyond just companies interested in industrial space for warehousing are advanced manufacturers and biopharmaceutical companies, for example, as well as food distribution. "It's not just one sector," said Lescalleet. "Amazon is tilting it, but there is other activity, too. This generates other growth and there is diversification in tenant demand. There is growth occurring." This diversity is alive and well. Mixing it up INDUS sold a Bloomfield office building within its 600-acre Griffin Center business park in January to a plastic injection mold manufacturer, for example, for $1.4 million. Meanwhile, Amazon's last-mile delivery station at 100 Helmsford Way in Windsor, a 169,500-square-foot facility leased by Winstanley, is 80% complete, said Winstanley. He said the firm's largest Connecticut project, purchased in the summer of 2018, is the former J.C. Penney warehouse, which has been redeveloped into a multi-tenant distribution center. J.C. Penney will remain in 600,000 square feet of the 1.95-million-square-foot campus, with Amazon and Ahold Delhaize — the parent company of Stop & Shop and Hannaford — also leasing space. Lescalleet and Winstanley agree Connecticut's land supply and labor pool, especially for non-warehousing uses, isn't infinite, however, and will require strategy moving forward. "Connecticut's on the radar," said Winstanley. "We're in busy times right now." " " "There is diversification in tenant demand. There is growth occurring." Tim Lescalleet, Executive Vice President, INDUS Realty Trust Inc. Planned and developed by INDUS Realty Trust, New England Tradeport comprises 600 acres in Windsor and East Granby, with 18 buildings and 4 million square feet of space. With access to Bradley International Airport, rail, ports and major highways, the business park is 100% leased. Tenants include Dominos, Westinghouse, Tesla, FedEx, UPS, Tire Rack, Ford, Dollar Tree, Walgreens and Pepsi. The site is a federally approved Foreign Trade Zone and Bradley Economic Development Zone, offering cost savings to qualified companies.