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18 n e w h a v e n B I Z | O c t o b e r 2 0 2 1 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m Real Estate 2021 R E A L E S T A T E P O W E R 2 5 Barbara Pearce, CEO, Pearce Real Estate As CEO of Pearce Real Estate in North Haven, Barbara Pearce has taken the company founded by her father Herbert Pearce in 1958 to new heights. Aer practicing law in Boston, Pearce returned to the area to join her family's real estate business. In the decades since, Pearce has built upon what her father started. Today, Pearce Real Estate is one of the region's largest real estate agencies, with more than 100 agents in New Haven and Middlesex counties. Her agency regular- ly represents buyers and sellers in deals involving everything from private homes to large commercial properties. According to Pearce, much has changed in her four decades in the in- dustry, "but the basics of knowing your territory and giving value to your clients have remained the same." Pearce has witnessed many trends, such as languishing industrial real estate and dwindling manufacturing, but also "a lot of creative repurposing of old property." She notes that multifamily real estate has boomed, from a few units to big projects, as Millennials and seniors have embraced living in urban areas. "e stigma of renting instead of buy- ing has all but disappeared," Pearce says. Whitney Grove Square in New Haven, which Pearce's firm was involved in de- veloping in the 80s, was a forerunner of change in the downtown area, according to Pearce, who notes it led to a host of multiuse developments in the decades since. Two and a half years ago, Pearce took a sabbatical from real estate to serve as in- terim CEO of Connecticut Hospice, with a goal of improving its financial situation. Nanette Pastore, President, Pearce Real Estate Nanette Pastore has been with Pearce Real Estate since 1993, working her way up the ladder to become president of the company in 2019. CEO Barbara Pearce says she is "grate- ful for the able leadership" of Pastore since she took over as president, as Pearce has been focused on her interim role leading Con- necticut Hospice. Pastore has been running both the residential and commercial divi- sions and manag- ing the firm's staff and daily opera- tions. e inde- pendently-owned, full-service real estate company has roughly 100 agents and seven offices in the Greater New Haven and shoreline areas. Under Pastore's leadership, the firm has handled several big deals in recent months. Examples include the recent sale of land on Plains Road in Milford, which is being eyed for a possible medical office or warehouse. e firm also recently han- dled the lease of more than 10,000 square feet at 1770 Boston Post Road in Milford. In the past three years, the firm has helped the Archdiocese of Hartford complete several million dollars worth of sales involving 22 buildings, from churches to convents to school buildings, in multiple New Haven area communi- ties. Pastore not only had to take on new work at the firm, but she had to deal with the impact of the pandemic shortly aer becoming president. Earlier this year, the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce named Pastore its "Woman of the Year for 2020" at its 2020 Women's Achievement Awards. Clayton Fowler & Frank Caico, Spinnaker Real Estate Partners Clayton Fowler and Frank Caico of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners plan to turn the vacant former New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum site, now a parking lot, into a bustling mix of residential and retail space. e South Norwalk-based Spinnaker has approvals for the first phase of the project, which in- cludes one mixed- use building with 200 housing units and 15,000 square feet of retail on the 275 South Orange St. parcel. e retail space is expected to have a mix of stores and eateries. Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2022, Caico told New Haven Biz in September. It will be the first activity on the site since the coliseum was knocked down in 2007. Spinnaker anticipates the first phase will be done by the fall of 2023. Spinnaker eventually plans for the 5-acre site to have five or six new build- ings, with a total of 500 to 700 housing units, 80,000 square feet of commercial space to include office and laboratory uses, and 30,000 square feet of retail. Caico, vice president of development with Spinnaker, has said the develop- er will pursue the project in phases. Approximately 30,000 square feet of the parcel will be reserved for public open space. Spinnaker has been behind several mixed-use developments around the region, and is the developer behind the Audubon Square project in New Haven. Fowler, CEO and principal of Spin- naker, has said they are "community builders," who try to work with the community to make things better. e company has projects around the country. In the Hartford area, for example, the developer has two major mixed-use projects underway. At 55 Elm St., Hartford, Spinnaker plans to overhaul a former state office building into 164 residential units, plus space for coworking and a restaurant. Vincencia Adusei, Founder & President, VASE Management A passion for making real estate im- provements is part of Vincencia Adusei's heritage, as the Ghana native comes from a family of builders. Adusei's parents built a successful construction company and she oen accompanied them to job sites as a child. Adusei is both founder and president of her own construction management and real estate devel- opment company, VASE Management, which is based on Ferry Street in New Haven. She launched the company in 2002, and since then, it has completed several residential and commercial projects in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, including for the state of Connecticut, Elm City Commu- nities/New Haven Housing Authority, Yale University and Ansonia Housing Authority. e company, for example, renovated Yale University's Phelps Hall offices, a project that included painting, floor- ing, ceiling, woodwork and lighting. Following the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy, VASE Management assisted homeowners in rehabilitating and rebuilding some 37 residential struc- tures. Adusei has recently been involved in redeveloping Elm City Communities' 214-unit Charles T. McQueeney apart- ments for elderly and disabled residents. As a member of Fairfield County's Community Foundation, she works to encourage interest in the construc- tion and real estate fields among other women. Adusei's goal is to expand her business in the coming years throughout Con- necticut, Miami, Kenya and Ghana. Carter Winstanley, Developer, Winstanley Enterprises Drive into downtown New Haven, and developer Carter Winstanley's handiwork reaches toward the sky before you. Winstanley has been instrumental in New Haven's development into a biotech hub. Winstanley is the developer behind the tower at 100 College St., the Alexion building. In June, workers began building Winstanley's second, $100 million, 500,000-square-foot bioscience tower next door at 101 College St. Construc- tion is slated to finish in 2023. e new 10-story tower will mean more room for the city's blossoming bioscience industry, which has been calling for more lab, research and incu-

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