Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 10, 2024 9 Deal Watch Bradford Wainman (left), of Glastonbury-based commercial real estate investment firm Hollister & Moore LLC, and Steven Inglese, of the New Haven Group, teamed up last year to purchase the struggling industrial and office building at 175 Addison Road in Windsor for $9 million. HBJ PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER 'The Hub' After bargain acquisition, owners breathing new life into long-neglected Windsor industrial/office complex; major warehouse expansion planned The region's commercial office market, however, has changed dramatically since then, in part due to the pandemic. At the end of the first quarter of 2024, 23.7% of Greater Hartford's 30.4 million square feet of office space was vacant, according to real estate firm CBRE. That was up from a 16.35% vacancy rate recorded at the end of 2016. Windsor's office market in particular has taken a beating. The Hartford north market, which includes the town of Windsor, had a 54.8% office vacancy rate at the end of the first quarter, according to CBRE. The office building at 175 Addison has a 62% vacancy rate, Inglese said. That allowed Wainman and Inglese — who each have portfolios of commercial, industrial and retail prop- erties in Connecticut and elsewhere — to acquire 175 Addison last June for that bargain price of $9 million. "The building had been owned by an out-of-state investment fund," Inglese said. "It was underwater, so the value was well underneath what (the fund) paid for it." The previous owner had planned to redo the common areas, he said, but lacked the money to get it done. "Because we bought the property when we did, we have the ability and the resources now to invest back in the building," Inglese said. They also have proposed using land across Addison Road from the building, currently occupied by 1,180 parking spaces, to erect two more flex- ible buildings for use as warehouse or industrial/manufacturing space, which has remained in demand despite the office market's struggles. "There's expansion potential," Wainman said. 'Never goes dark' The new owners said they are making the investment to reno- vate certain areas of the property because they see its potential. Both Inglese and Wainman say it's the common areas, and some uncommon features, that make this By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com F orgive Chuck Terrio if he was a little skeptical about the new owners of 175 Addison Road in Windsor. Terrio has been the property manager for the site, which includes both office and industrial space, for 31 years, long enough to have worked for all four previous landlords. "I've seen it sold for $67 million all the way down to $9 million," he said. He's also seen a number of reno- vation plans over the years, most of which didn't come to fruition. A quick tour of the complex in mid-May, however, demonstrated that things are different this time, with Terrio expressing his satisfaction with the newest owners: Bradford Wainman of Glastonbury-based commercial real estate invest- ment firm Hollister & Moore LLC and Steven Inglese of the New Haven Group. The duo bought the site, which was appraised at $43.2 million, for just $9 million last year. Not only are they following through with over $1 million in renovations, they also have applied to the town of Windsor for a special use permit to add two 150,000-square- foot flex warehouse/manufacturing buildings on the property. Changing hands Located just 15 minutes north of downtown Hartford, 175 Addison, formerly known as the Addison Corporate Center, sits on 78.6 acres. It includes a 400,000-square-foot, one-story flex/industrial building attached to a 200,000-square-foot, four-story office building. The prop- erty also offers 2,200 parking spaces. The complex was built in 1974 by Aetna Life Insurance Co., which sold it 30 years later for $23.75 million. Just 23 months later, in October 2006, it sold for $64.4 million. Ten years after that, in November 2016, it was sold again, this time for $41 million to Addison Property Owner LLC, whose principal is Julia A. McCullough, of Mackenzie Realty Operating Partnership. Greater Hartford office vacancy rates 4Q 2016 24.6M TOTAL OFFICE SPACE (SQ. FT.) 4Q 2017 25.2M 4Q 2018 25.2M 1Q 2020 25.2M 4Q 2020 25.7M 4Q 2021 25.7M 4Q 2022 25.9M 4Q 2023 30.4M Source: CBRE OFFICE VACANCY RATE 25% 20% 15% 10% Continued on next page

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