Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 24, 2025 7 DE AL WATCH 100% focused on our owners: Our Customers As a mutual bank, we're 100% committed to the best interests of the individuals we serve, the businesses we support, and the communities we're building together. No wonder we retain so many customers for life. Learn more at WindsorFederal.com. Windsor | East Windsor | South Windsor | Bloomfield | Granby | Suffield windsorfederal.com With three warehouse purchases in early 2025, New York- based Snowball Developments expands growing CT portfolio By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com S nowball Developments Pres- ident Brian Ker describes the 87,525-square-foot East Hartford warehouse his company purchased for $5.95 million in early March as "a big, white box." It's an apt description for the roughly 58-year-old industrial building at 12-14 Eastern Park Road. The large, metal-sided facility is tucked onto nearly 4 acres just off Route 5. Its exterior white paint could use a touch up. There are many cracks in the pavement. Ker, during a recent visit, pointed to bay doors with no leveling mechanisms to help meet the height of incoming trailers. The building also lacks awnings to keep rain from seeping through bay doors. Ker said he plans to spend up to $800,000 in the short-term on repairs and modernization, confident of rising rents and unmet demand in the Greater Hartford market. "We are not a big-box industrial developer," Ker said. "We are not a big, institutional player. We are very opportunistic in terms of what we acquire. We are not looking to buy shiny buildings. We are looking to buy buildings that we have a high conviction we will be able to improve — improve the rent roll and improve the value." Launched in 2021, New York-based Snowball has so far spent $108.6 million buying 10 Connecticut ware- houses, according to land records. The company has spent another $40 million to $50 million to acquire three New Jersey industrial properties, with another Garden State deal in the works, Ker said. In Connecticut, Snowball has bought primarily decades-old class B and C buildings that need some upgrades and have room for rent growth. Ker said he plans to spend up to $10 million on Snowball Developments President and CEO Brian Ker (left) with Andres Aldrete, at a recently acquired multi-tenant warehouse at 12-14 Eastern Park Ave., in East Hartford. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER renovations to his Connecticut portfolio over the coming two years. "We want to demonstrate to our competitors as well as elected officials and the community our commitment to upgrading the industrial stock in this region," Ker said. "It's needed. There has been 20 to 30 years of disinvest- ment. … It's starting to get reinvested in, and we want to be part of that story. In fact, we want to lead that story." Brisk pace Ker's company remains on the hunt for logistics properties, targeting secondary industrial markets with strong labor forces and constraints preventing the construction of new warehouse space. So far, the strategy has held up, as rents keep rising due to several factors, including users getting priced out of warehouses closer to Boston and New York City, Ker said. "Tenants in those markets that can't afford to pay those prices, including paying higher taxes on higher valuations, are going to be seeking a more cost-efficient loca- tion," Ker said. "That cost-efficient location is central Connecticut." Snowball's acquisitions in 2025 have continued at a brisk pace, with three purchases by early March. That includes a 52-year-old, 507,000-square-foot South Windsor warehouse purchased for $27.85 million in February — Snowball's largest and most expensive acquisi- tion to date. Also in February, Snowball paid $17.27 million for a 53-year-old, 257,000-square-foot warehouse in South Windsor. The company's first two purchases in Connecticut — in Danbury and Norwich for a combined $15.7 million — were made in early 2022, at a time, Ker said, the young company was trying to "build momentum." Value add Ker said he's comfortable with the prospects of long-term demand, given Connecticut's increasing resistance to build new warehouses, and a skittishness about speculative development in the state. Snowball's value-add strategy often starts with exterior improvements, such as extending paved areas for parking and outdoor storage. The company is currently applying for local zoning approval for up to SNOWBALL DEVELOPMENTS' CT PORTFOLIO • 5 WISCONSIN AVE., NORWICH: 96,654-sq.-ft. warehouse on 5.5 acres (built in 1970); paid $6.8 million, Feb. 28. 2022. • 2 GREAT PASTURE ROAD, DANBURY: 114,408-sq.-ft. warehouse on 15.57 acres (1955); $8.9 million, March 1, 2022. • 172 OAK ST., GLASTONBURY: 50,644-sq.-ft. warehouse and office building on 5.2 acres (1974); $4.7 million, April 4, 2022. • 47 LEGGETT ST., EAST HARTFORD: 71,500-sq.-ft. warehouse on 3.1 acres (1988); $6.9 million, May 2, 2022. • 169 CALLENDER ROAD, WATERTOWN: 86,255-sq.-ft. industrial building on 20 acres (1974); $5.89 million, Dec. 13, 2022. • 555 NUTMEG ROAD NORTH, SOUTH WINDSOR: 112,000-sq.-ft. warehouse on 12 acres (1980); $9 million, Feb. 1, 2023. • 567 SOUTH LEONARD ST., WATERBURY: Three industrial buildings totaling 155,975 square feet on 11 acres; Jan. 26, 2024. • 301 GOVERNORS HIGHWAY, SOUTH WINDSOR: 507,000-sq.-ft. warehouse on 35 acres (1972); $27.85 million, Feb. 5, 2025. • 1640 JOHN FITCH BLVD., SOUTH WINDSOR: 257,000-sq.-ft. warehouse on 12 acres (1970); $17.27 million, Jan. 29, 2025. • 12-14 EASTERN PARK ROAD, EAST HARTFORD: 87,525-sq.-ft. warehouse (1966); $5.95 million, March 4., 2024. 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