Hartford Business Journal

22 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 26, 2021 accounting fi rms and it has multiyear relationships Aetna, UTC/ Raytheon, Hartford HealthCare and MetLife. Despite the pandemic and its signifi cant impact on Hartford, Grieco said he remains bullish about the city's future. "It's time for the Hartford County offi ce market to improve," he said. "We have been fl at for too long, and the pandemic didn't help. But there are simply too many strong fundamentals and quality of life benefi ts for this area to remain subdued. Plus, there is stronger leadership, in both government and the private sector, that is making a difference in Hartford's future." Putnam says in the last 10 years he's seen a transformation of downtown Hartford from a weekday offi ce park to a livable city center. "Of course, this gradual change has been ongoing for the past 30 years, but in the last decade it seemed to be taking hold," he said. Carlos Mouta C arlos Mouta doesn't focus on just one project at a time. The Hartford developer keeps multiple irons in the fi re. Head of Parkville Management, Mouta has been investing in the city since the late 1980s, starting with apartments — which remain a key focus — and eventually transitioning into commercial real estate, mainly in the city's Parkville neighborhood. Mouta's portfolio of revitalized and repurposed properties includes Pope Commons, 360 Main, the Hartford Design Center and the Design Center Lofts. He owns more than 200 apartment units, mostly in Parkville, and is working to add more. Mouta opened his expansive $5.1 Joel Grieco and Jonathan Putnam C ommercial brokers in downtown Hartford tend to have staying power. Many have been in the market for decades, not just years. That's the case with the brokerage duo of Joel Grieco and Jonathan Putnam. They are both executive directors in Cushman & Wakefi eld's Hartford offi ce with 30-plus years of experience. And they represented landlords on deals that welcomed two of the only new tenants to move to Hartford during the pandemic: Accounting fi rm RSM's lease at Goodwin Square and IT fi rm HCL's 17,000-square-foot lease at State House Square. Overall, Cushman recorded $77.3 million in commercial volume activity in 2020, according to HBJ's Book of Lists. Cushman also represents a deep roster of Hartford's top employers including eight large law fi rms, six Geoff rey Sager G eoffrey Sager isn't well-known to the general public, mostly because he rarely, if ever, talks to the media. But he's a prolifi c Greater Hartford developer, particularly when it comes to building medical offi ce buildings in the town of Farmington, where his fi rm is based. According to Metro Realty's website the company owns and manages over 30 properties, including multifamily, medical offi ce, industrial and traditional offi ce space. Metro Realty has been particularly active building more than a half- dozen medical offi ce properties along "medical row" on Farmington Avenue in Farmington. One of the latest to debut was a 34,000-square-foot property at 10 Birdseye Road, which is anchored by Hartford HealthCare's Tallwood's Men's Health. He's also been actively acquiring properties in the town, including a 14,384-square-foot offi ce building at 111 South Road in March, purchased for $1.1 million. One of his most recognizable current projects is a controversial plan to build a 146-unit apartment complex in Farmington, near the UConn Health campus. Sager bought the land a few years ago and pitched the development earlier this year, in hopes of satisfying the needs of nearby employers, which have complained about a lack of nearby housing. However, the plan has received major opposition from some deep- pocketed neighbors, who have funded a multifaceted campaign to prevent the project from gaining approval, arguing the site was never intended for high-density housing, among other things. Sager is active in other Greater Hartford communities as well having built luxury apartments in West Hartford and South Windsor. His fi rm is also involved in a mixed- use development in South Windsor across from Evergreen Walk called the Gateway Boulevard development. John M. McCormick J ohn M. McCormick is one of the top brokers in Greater Hartford. He's the executive vice president of CBRE Hartford, which annually tops the list of largest local deal activity. CBRE Hartford had $275.8 million in commercial volume activity in 2020 alone, ranking it fi rst in HBJ's list of top commercial brokers. In the past year, one of the biggest deals McCormick has been involved in is representing landlord Intercontinental Realty Corp. at 400 Capital Blvd., in Rocky Hill in a 40,000-square-foot lease with MTU Aerospace, the fi rst signifi cant suburban lease to be completed during COVID-19. Protocols for touring, construction material lead times, and buildout were all new, but both sides were able to make the deal work. McCormick has been in the business for 30 years and his largest career deal involved the sale of downtown Hartford's 845,000-square-foot State House Square offi ce complex for $97 million. He's also helped lead CBRE's fi ve-member leasing and investment sales team (Michael Puzzo, Patrick Mulready, Anna Kocsondy and Tina Briggs), which has worked together for over 20 years and collectively completed over 500 leasing assignments and 200 property sales representing over $1 billion of aggregate value. His team earlier this year was tapped by defense giant Raytheon Technologies to sell the 300-acre plot of land adjacent to Rentschler Field and Pratt & Whitney's East Hartford headquarters as a potential major logistics hub space. As we re-emerge from COVID-19, Michael Freimuth & Suzanne Hopgood T he quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in recent years has converted run-down Hartford offi ce buildings into more than 2,000 new apartment units. Michael Freimuth and Suzanne Hopgood have led that success. Both Freimuth, executive director of CRDA, and Hopgood, chair of its board of directors, stepped into leadership roles at the economic development agency with backing from former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The state legislature created the agency in 2010. Their staying power since then refl ects the signifi cant impact they've had on Hartford's redevelopment efforts. Under Freimuth and Hopgood, CRDA in recent years helped develop Dillon Stadium, complete The Front Street District, which is home to UConn Hartford and part of the larger Adriaen's Landing revitalization project downtown, and helped fi nance more than 2,000 apartment units. It's currently in the process of overseeing a renovation to XL Center. A few CRDA-backed projects currently underway include a $26 million apartment and retail community near the corner of Park and Main streets in Hartford's South End and the $50 million fi rst phase of the Downtown North mixed-use redevelopment near Dunkin' Donuts Park. In March, CRDA approved funding for the redevelopment of the historic 55 Elm St. offi ce building in downtown Hartford into 164 apartments as well as coworking space and a restaurant. FOCUS Power 25 Real Estate Suzanne Hopgood Michael Freimuth John M. McCormick Jonathan Putnam Joel Grieco Geoff rey Sager he said there will be some continued uncertainty in the offi ce market. "Our large employers are well- capitalized and were able to successfully leverage technology during the pandemic so there will be a shift where we see these employers providing more fl exible/ hybrid work environments going forward," he said. "Overall, we anticipate increased activity in the Class A offi ce market and should see some momentum going into the latter half of 2021 and throughout 2022. The urban migration trend will also continue to provide opportunities for downtown building owners." PHOTO | GETTY IMAGES

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