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8 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | August 29, 2022 DEAL WATCH at its Farmington office, most of whom also live in Farmington or West Hartford. Employees are attracted to the area's performing arts centers, museums, restaurants, parks and trails, according to LuAnn Ballesteros, Jackson Labo- ratory's vice president of external and government affairs. Many are looking for short-term lodging. "Currently, our most-pressing need in Connecticut is short-term, temporary housing to accommodate our postdoctoral associates, graduate students, visiting scientists, contract positions and other visitors to JAX," Ballesteros said. Jackson Laboratory has a globally competitive workforce and hires people from Connecticut, across the country and worldwide. Employees who relocate to the Farmington area are looking for proximity to the organization's campus, along with "excellent schools, safe neighborhoods, and diverse, sustainable communities," Ballesteros said. As a whole, the town has more than 4 million square feet of office space, Ponte said. Along New Britain Avenue, there's more than 2 million square feet of indus- trial space — with about zero vacancies, she noted. The manufacturers range from commercial laundry facilities to the German industrial machine manufacturer Trumpf to aerospace suppliers. "We are very diversified, whether it's manufacturing, whether it's health care, we have financial advisers, we have bankers, we have all sorts of different industries," Ponte said. "And then we also have very nice independent shop owners, and restaurant choices. So it's really a nice mix." Multifamily projects More developers are hoping to capi- talize on Farmington's development opportunities, and several multifamily projects are in the pipeline. The town does not monetarily incen- tivize or abate any project, Ponte said. Instead, it focuses on keeping the tax rate low by adding to the grand list. In addition to CSRE's plan to add 225 rental units, another developer has proposed 199 apartments and more than 54,000 square feet of commercial space in new and rehabilitated buildings at 1371 Farmington Ave. Located at the midpoint between Unionville and Farmington center, it's on a 25-acre parcel along the Farmington River. The developer, JRF Management LLC, is also proposing upgrades to the adjacent Farmington Heritage Canal Trail. Sager Development is proposing 62 mixed-income units, with 80% designated as affordable housing, at 80 South Road. The principal of Sager Development, Geoffrey Sager, is also principal of Metro Realty Group, which has received town approvals to build 146 units on a prop- erty near UConn Health at 402 Farm- ington Ave. Rock blasting for the project has begun. Meanwhile, Pond LLC has proposed nearly 200 new apartments adjacent to two office buildings near Batterson Park. In the short term, rising interest rates and inflation have made the rental market even more attractive, Reiner said. The "price-per-pound" of renovating an existing hotel and converting it into apart- ments is less than new construction, he said, and the turnaround is faster. UpHouse will target workers who are looking for "a lifestyle-type-of-environ- ment, empty nesters looking for ameni- ties they won't typically have in another community and obviously millennials who are making amenities their priority," Reiner explained. Multifamily projects have not been without controversy. Some residents have complained that large, high-density buildings are incompatible with the town's quaint and quiet character. In 2021, residents of Tunxis Village voiced strong opposition to the develop- ment at 402 Farmington Ave., calling it "out of scale." But Ponte said these projects will help Farmington catch up with other towns like Simsbury and Hartford. "We're trying to create these 24-hour communities where young talent may want to relocate — and they can live, work and play all in one area," she said. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED Former Southington Pratt & Whitney facility fully leased after major renovation By Hanna Snyder Gambini hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com I t was a team effort to rejuvenate the former Pratt & Whitney campus on Aircraft Road in Southington, a five-building, 650,000-square- foot property that is now fully leased and home to multiple industrial tenants. When broker Frank Hird first got the lease listing several years ago, the decades-old aircraft engine property — which includes one main building with more than 500,000 square feet of space, and four smaller buildings — was in poor condition and virtually empty except for one tenant. Hird, vice president of Bran- ford-based O,R&L Properties, said it's likely that most devel- opers would've taken one look at the main building and opted to tear it down. "That would've been a mistake, it's a very well-con- structed building," it just wasn't suitable for today's business needs, Hird said. Another challenge to leasing the space was the location, as Southington is in the middle of the Hartford and New Haven real estate markets, he said. His solution was to team up with a Realtor in the Hartford O,R&L office, Carol Karney, and offer the listing in both markets. "I thought we could do a better job reaching both markets working as a team," Hird said. Property owner IRG — Industrial Realty Group — also came on board with plans to renovate the entire Aircraft Road site as part of a multimillion-dollar investment. IRG, which owns more than 100 million square feet of industrial space around the country, originally bought the Southington property in 2001 for $1.5 million, town records show. "It was a major renovation," Hird said. "They attacked it piece by piece to improve it." The entire property has a current appraised value of $8.6 million, town records show. Hird signed a lease with the first tenant about five years ago. Now, the property is completely renovated and fully leased with the most recent tenant signing on this month. Harvey Building Prod- ucts, which makes windows and doors, has leased a 124,000-square-foot space in the main building for its North- east distribution center. There are six tenants in the property; Harvey, 3PL Logis- tics, and Paragon Medical suppliers occupy the entire main building. Jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney shuttered the campus more than 25 years ago. Hird said properties like this are difficult to convert from a specific use to a modern, flex- ible space that accommodates multiple tenants. He said he's glad the prop- erty was preserved and is now home to several profitable businesses that bring jobs and tax revenue to Southington. "We tried to take a new approach and it paid off," Hird said. "It's kind of a showplace compared to what it was … and it's a real success story for Southington and Connecticut." Window and door maker Harvey Building Products recently signed a 124,000-square-foot lease at 75 Aircraft Road, Southington. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Frank H. Hird Housing Boom: Continued from previous page A rendering of the interior common area of UpHouse, a high-end apartment development.