Hartford Business Journal

8 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | September 12, 2022 DEAL WATCH 14 Bobala Road 3rd Floor Holyoke, MA 01040 Tel: 413.536.3970 Headquarters 280 Trumbull St 24th Floor Hartford, CT 06103 Tel: 860.522.3111 One Hamden Center 2319 Whitney Ave, Suite 2A Hamden, CT 06518 Tel: 203.397.2525 Largest Connecticut-Based Accounting Firm For over 60 years, Whittlesey's team of professionals has provided superior service and value-added advice, with specialization in the following areas: Assurance Advisory Tax Technology Learn more at WAdvising.com square feet. "We have plenty to work with for now, to continue to build-out and continue to lease what we have, and if we could selectively expand upon that up here, that would be our M.O.," Lescalleet said in a recent interview. "Most of our development activities have been concentrated in expanding our portfolio outside of Connecticut. For the past 10 years we have been doing that, first starting in Pennsyl- vania, then moving to Charlotte, now South Carolina, Florida and soon-to-be Tennessee." Indus, a publicly-traded company, is focused on growing its holdings in perceived "hot" markets, diversifying in areas that appeal to investors. "I think the preference from an investor standpoint would be to not have as large of a presence or proportion of our portfolio in Connecticut as opposed to other markets, to try and diversify," Lescal- leet said. "The Connecticut market is not as widely recognized as other markets in the U.S. … Where are the hot spots today? It's Lehigh Valley; it's Charlotte, North Carolina; it's Charleston, Greenville, Spartanburg; Orlando; Tampa; Jacksonville; Nash- ville. A lot of these markets we are now in and trying to grow, or are now looking in." 'Gold standard' The Tradeport remains a solid draw for industrial users. It went through development fits and spurts, dictated by economic trends and conditions, Lescalleet said. A program of speculative devel- opment began in the late 1990s. At some point the Tradeport reached a "critical mass" in which demand was driven partly by growth of existing tenants, Lescalleet said. The park's expansion was helped by state and local investment in roads and other infrastructure. "It's a destination of its own for industrial users looking for space that can serve all of New England and New York," Lescalleet said. Located just outside Bradley International Airport, the Trade- port has access to nearby highways that put it within one day's truck drive of New England states, western New York up to Montreal and Toronto, according to Lescalleet. "Logistics patterns change constantly, but there is still a need, in my view, to have something east of the Hudson River to serve the market," Lescalleet said. Windsor Economic Develop- ment Director Patrick McMahon praised Indus — and its imme- diate past incarnation as Griffin Land — for growing jobs and tax revenue in the area. The company has worked with the town to minimize impacts while drawing "prestigious" companies including FedEx, Pepsi, UPS and others, he noted. McMahon said he admired the company's delivery of flexible buildings that can suit manufac- turing as well as logistics. "It's quite the legacy," McMahon said of the Tradeport. "Griffin Land and Indus Realty Trust have really been a great partner with the town getting the New England Tradeport off the ground and filled up over these decades." Art Ross, senior managing director with commercial brokerage Newmark, said Indus has built up a reputation for being the "gold standard" of industrial development in the area long before national developers took notice. "These guys are solid citizens," Ross said. "They've been here for decades. They have a very good reputation. They're all about high levels of service to their tenants." Ross said he believes those qualities will help Indus as it expands holdings outside of Connecticut. Ross said one of his clients in an Indus property in Connecticut is contem- plating expansion into an Indus property elsewhere. "I'm guessing more of that is going to happen, where they are able to potentially connect tenants in one market who might be expanding in another market, given their relationships and their level of service and so forth," Ross said. "That could be very beneficial to them."

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