Hartford Business Journal

28 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 30, 2025 POWE R 25 | RE AL ESTATE Mark Duclos M ark Duclos, president of Hartford-based Sentry Commercial, is a commercial real estate industry veteran and a go-to resource on the region's industrial sector. He's been focused lately on growing his firm's presence across the state. He recently led the merger between Sentry — which provides brokerage and advisory, prop- erty, construction and facilities management services — and Commercial Development Co. in Orange. The deal, which was completed in September, gives Sentry a stronger presence in the south-central region of the state. Duclos has also been involved in a few big deals over the past year, including GXO Logistics' lease renewal for 528,997 square feet of space in a North Haven industrial complex, at 300 Montowese Ave. Overall, Duclos said the indus- trial market remains on the "quiet side." There are some new proj- ects in the works, like Amazon's plans to build distribution centers in Waterbury and Enfield, "but activity is much shallower than in the past." The office market remains even quieter, he said. "Large footprints in office buildings that aren't top-of-the-line remain challenged," he said, while "smaller and medium-sized office leases still appear to be active, albeit not robust by any means." Duclos is active in the region's real estate community. He has been on the boards of the Hartford Real Estate Finance Association and CT/Western Massachusetts chapter of the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors. An alum of the American Inter- national College in Springfield, Mass., Duclos, prior to founding Sentry in 1991, worked for Griffin Land, The Farley Co., and Hart Corp. John Cafasso & Nicholas Morizio J ohn Cafasso, a principal, and Nicholas Morizio, president, of Colliers' Hartford office have been in the middle of some major sale and lease deals in the state over the past year. Cafasso brokered the $22.7 million, off-market sale of 1700 Joel Grieco & Patrick Mulready had been on the market since 2018, traded hands in May for $3.99 million to a developer that has been active in multifamily development in Connecticut. Mulready also leased over 90,000 square feet at the Inwood & Winbrook Business Park in Rocky Hill with several transactions. Overall, in the past year, Mulready said he has leased a total of 275,000 square feet of office and industrial space, and brokered the sale of 11 properties, including office, retail, industrial, development and multifamily sites. One trend Mulready said he's been witnessing is the increase in physical occupancy of office space "as many companies are slowly rolling back work-from-home and flex office programs." Grieco has also been active, having worked on deals in excess of 1 million square feet over the past 12 months. That has included reposi- tioning The Hub at 175 Addison Road in Windsor. He brokered the $9 million sale of the 600,000-square-foot indus- trial building to local owners who have invested significant money into modernizing and amenitizing the facility. He also represented Selective Insurance in the firm's reloca- tion from Glastonbury to State House Square in downtown Hartford for 25,000 square feet. In today's market, Grieco said, office tenants are focusing more on amenities, building vibe and a landlord's financial solvency as opposed to only focusing on the economics of a lease. "West Hartford Center is the perfect example, where tenants are willing to pay significantly higher rents to tap into the energy and vibrancy of the Center," he said. "In fact, several tenants have struck out trying to find space in West Hartford Center due to lack of available options. I expect the high- est-quality buildings with great amenities and strong ownership to outperform the market." C ushman & Wakefield's Hartford office made a big splash late last year when it announced the hiring of a veteran broker from competitor CBRE. Patrick Mulready joined Cushman & Wakefield as a managing director, where he is primarily focused on investment sales and office leasing in tandem with the firm's established team led by Executive Director Joel Grieco. Mulready has already brokered some major deals, including the sale of MassMutual's 425,000-square-foot former headquarters campus in Enfield. The 65.5-acre property, which Asylum Ave., in West Hartford. The former UConn branch campus will be redeveloped into The Residences at Heritage Park, a 322-unit, mixed-in- come residential community. The deal will not only reactivate a dormant university campus, but also integrate community amenities and public green space into the redevelopment. He also helped broker the $5.5 million sale of 45 Frontage Road, in North Stonington, where General Dynamics Electric Boat plans to build a 480,000-square- foot logistics warehouse. Cafasso represented the seller, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, in what was a two-year marketing effort. Over the past year, Cafasso was involved in property sales totaling over $30 million, 70 acres and 800,000 square feet of space. Activity has been strongest in industrial, redevelopment and multifamily land, Cafasso said, and there has been a noticeable uptick in retail pad sites and flex properties that can accom- modate light manufacturing or logistics. Morizio has helped broker deals involving a combined 1.2 million square feet of space, including several significant leases for manufacturer Trumpf Inc. and Tire Rack. New look, same powerful insights—dive into the Power 25 in Real Estate at HartfordBusiness.com.

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