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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | July 18, 2022 29 POWER 25 REAL ESTATE FOCUS and restaurants provide professional firms with convenient, pedestri- an-friendly amenities. Part of the goal of the conversion, Brandes said, is to help fill some of the vacant retail space within the development. Although based in Greenwich, Char- ter has significant holdings in Greater Hartford, owning and/or operating about a dozen commercial and retail properties, including Farmington's Westfarms Center, Hartford's Front Street District and South Windsor's Evergreen Walk. Charter has also been working to shore up an elevated vacancy rate at Evergreen Walk, where construc- tion is underway to make room for a new Whole Foods supermarket and Shake Shack fast-food burger joint. Brandes is Charter's founding officer and he has focused his efforts on identifying shopping center acqui- sition, development and redevelop- ment opportunities. Prior to founding Charter, he spent a combined 10 years working in acquisitions, development, and property man- agement roles for National Realty and Development of Purchase, New York, as well as the CGI Cos. of Brookline, Mass. Andrew Filler Andrew Filler has helped broker some of the region's major office deals over the past year, at a time when many companies are downsiz- ing their square footage. Filler is a principal at brokerage and advisory firm Avison Young's Hartford office and he's been in the indus- try since 1987, starting out as a project manager for a major developer, The Casle Corp. in Avon, before transi- tioning into brokerage. Filler's long industry experience caught the eye of Avison Young, which tapped him in 2015 to open its Hartford office. Over the past year, he secured Sun Life's 47,000-square-foot lease at the Gold Building, one of the few recent deals involving a new company tak- ing space in downtown Hartford. He represented Shelbourne Global Solutions and Hartford Health- Care in the health system's mas- sive 108,000-square-foot lease at 100 Pearl St. He also represented Ares Cap- ital/Landmark Partners in its 22,000-square-foot relocation to West Hartford's Blue Back Square from Simsbury; Gengras Auto Group's corporate relocation to 60 Hartland Street in East Hartford (23,000 square feet); and Shelbourne in the renewal of law firm Hin- kley Allen at 20 Church St. (22,400 square feet). Filler said the most significant trend impacting the market is the move to a hybrid workweek. "The lasting effects of this are still unknown but will obviously be a major factor going forward in the way companies utilize office space," he said. "The biggest challenge will be backfilling major blocks of office space being given back by major corporations in Hartford's [central business district]. Large blocks of space at CityPlace, One Financial Plaza and 280 Trumbull Street will all be coming back to the landlord in 2023 and will pose a significant challenge to Hartford's [central busi- ness district]." Hartford HealthCare leased 108,000 square feet of space in the office building at 100 Pearl St., in downtown Hartford, one of the largest leases the city has seen in years. HBJ PHOTO | GREG BORDONARO Andrew Filler Rebuilding State Pier, reimagining our future A New Day for New London To learn more visit revolution-wind.com CONGR ATUL ATIONS TO THE 2022 POWER 25 IN REAL ESTATE HONOREES 160 TRUMBULL STREET, 4TH FLOOR • HARTFORD, CT 06103 PH: 860.528.0884 • INFO@SENTRYCOMMERCIAL.COM