Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 22, 2025 7 DE AL WATCH where they're going to be for a long time. Q: What's your 12- to 18-month outlook for the Fairfield County office market? Carcaterra: There's still a glut of obsolete office stock that exists in Fairfield County — in Stamford, Norwalk and all points in between — that's been scheduled to be repurposed into different uses. For example, Stamford is a 16 million- square-foot office market. There's 3 to 4 million square feet that is being discussed and/or approved (for conversion to multi- family). That would leave you with only about 12 or 13 million square feet, which pushes the supply to an all-time low. There'll be a massive disconnect between supply and demand. There could be pres- sure on rental rates, and there's going to surely be pressure on occupancy levels. Q: Do you expect the leasing activity to pick up, remain flat or decline further? Ritman: We feel strongly that it's going to pick up and remain strong, just because the market is healthy. We have a lot of activity in the market, and we see more and more companies that will be entering the market and maybe even repurposing other buildings. Q: What do you see as the biggest chal- lenge facing landlords in Fairfield County? Carcaterra: It's a high-cost market- place and not a very inexpensive place to drop in a footprint of 1,000, 2,000 or 3,000 employees. Labor costs, taxes and schooling are very expensive. That creates a barrier to entry. Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam inside a demonstration apartment at 525 Main St. HBJ Photo | Michael Puffer New UConn student housing debuts in downtown Hartford By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com N early 40 UConn students have moved into a newly converted apartment building in downtown Hartford, filling about two-thirds of the units set aside for the school. It marks an early milestone in UConn's efforts to expand student housing in the Capital City, where the school operates a growing satellite campus of about 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students, said Mark Overmy- er-Velázquez, a chief administrative officer with UConn and dean of its Hartford campus. At a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new apartments at 525 Main St., located across the street from City Hall, Overmy- er-Velázquez said the university is eager to support Hartford's efforts to boost downtown vibrancy. He added that the project will also give students greater access to the city's cultural, retail and entertainment amenities. "All of this is about connecting our students and their learning with opportunities in the city, which … has so much to offer," Overmyer-Velázquez said. Students said living in the building allows them to be close to campus and more engaged with their academic community. "When I heard they were opening, I was like: 'I have to get in,'" said Aleysah Ortiz, a 20-year-old freshman from Hartford plan- ning to study political science. "It's a city where I go to school, and a city I grew up (in), so it's a city that I love… It's a very nice place to live in." Continued on next page An Award-Winning Community Bank Contact us today. Voted Best Local Bank, Best Mortgage Lender, Best Financial Planning, Best Place to Work and Top Corporate Charitable Contributor, PeoplesBank understands its customers and the communities it serves. Our commercial banking team serves as a growth engine for businesses, providing expert banking advice, local decision-making, and innovative products and services. David Ference First Vice President Commercial Banking dference@bankatpeoples.com Daniel Bishop First Vice President Commercial Banking dbishop@bankatpeoples.com Jennifer Yergeau Vice President Cash Management jyergeau@bankatpeoples.com Mark St. Pierre Vice President Business Banking mstpierre@bankatpeoples.com Learn More bankatpeoples.com/businessteam Member FDIC

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