Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1536873
HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 30, 2025 21 Chris P. Reilly & Alan Lazowski I t would be hard to find two figures more impactful to multifamily development in Connecticut than Chris P. Reilly and Alan Lazowski. Reilly heads up Lexington Partners, a Hartford-based firm that is either leading, or partnered in, some of the largest mixed-use developments in Connecticut. Lazowski heads national parking giant LAZ Parking, and has for years been a faithful partner in all of Lexington's endeavors. Lexington and Lazowski are among several partners advancing a redevel- opment of the Founders Plaza office park along the Connecticut River in East Hartford. Plans call for about 1,000 apartments mixed with 400,000 square feet of commercial space and an expansion of park-like amenities. Reilly expects to begin that project this year with the demolition of an office building at 99 Founders Plaza. That will set the stage for construc- tion of a roughly $100 million to $120 million, 330-unit apartment building overlooking the riverfront. Even before that ground-up devel- opment begins, Reilly aims to launch a roughly $90 million conversion of a 19-story office tower at 111 Founders Plaza into 240 apartments. That project should take about 30 months, he said. Lexington and Lazowski are partnered with Shelbourne Global Solutions on the ongoing transfor- mation of a downtown Hartford office building, at 64 Pratt St., into dormitory space for 200 UConn students. That roughly $30 million project is expected to be completed by July 2026. Lexington and Lazowski are also advancing plans for the redevelop- ment of the Westbrook Outlets near the shoreline into 595 apartments, 100 townhomes, a new hotel and restaurant and entertainment space. Reilly said the goal is to break ground around the end of the first quarter of next year. The project will take up to four years to complete. Reilly took over Lexington Partners in fall 2023, following the sudden death of company founder Marty Kenny, a close friend. So far, Reilly has helmed projects initiated or envisioned by Kenny. Now, his firm is advancing new proj- ects, including a 130-unit apartment development in West Hartford. Reilly said he sees no letup in demand. "Housing needs are off the chart," Reilly said. "We know that because every time we build something, it fills up quickly." Jessica Bailey & Alexandra Cooley J essica Bailey and Alex- andra Cooley realized in the mid-2010s that a state- backed loan program for energy efficiency projects could go nationwide after seeing insatiable interest from borrowers and institutional investors. Since then, the two women have started and sold a business — Green Works Lending, which has since been rebranded as Nuveen Green Capital — and originated more than $3 billion in sustainable commercial real estate financing. Bailey and Cooley, who both earned master's degrees at Yale, met in 2012 while originating loans for developers and landlords through a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) loan program they set up at the Hartford-based Connecticut Green Bank. C-PACE makes it possible for commercial property owners to obtain low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency, water conservation and renew- able energy projects. Bailey and Cooley co-founded Green Works Lending in 2015 to set up C-PACE lending programs in other states. The financing model has caught on since then, with about 40 states now permitting such loan programs. In 2021, the co-founders sold Greenworks Lending for an undisclosed sum to Nuveen, a Chicago-based asset manager and subsidiary of New York financial planning firm TIAA. Following the deal, the company changed its name to Nuveen Green Capital, which is still led by Bailey (CEO) and Cooley (chief investment officer). The company this year is marking a decade in business and currently has almost 100 employees. POWE R 25 | RE AL ESTATE