Hartford Business Journal

6 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | DECEMBER 1, 2025 Deal Watch Sandy Cloud Jr. stands outside the Westbrook Village redevelopment site in Hartford, where his firm has partnered with Pennrose to rebuild the former public housing complex. HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever Shared Vision Cloud Co.-Pennrose partnership reshapes affordable housing across CT to head the National Conference for Community Justice in 1994, a role that took him to New York City for a decade. Cloud returned to Hartford in late 2004 and the next year launched The Cloud Co. with his twin sons, Adam and Christopher. (Adam left in 2011 after being elected Hartford's city treasurer; Anthony Healis Sr., a retired Hartford Fire Department captain and family cousin, joined the firm in 2014.) The Cloud Co.'s inaugural project was converting the former 11,400-square- foot University Club building on Lewis Street into office space, part of which the firm still occupies. The Cloud family soon began pursuing larger projects, inspired in part by the Hartford Housing Authority's effort to find a developer to overhaul two deteriorated public housing complexes — including Westbrook Village, where Sandy Cloud grew up. Cloud said he was advised to propose a "transformational" redevelopment and to partner with a more experienced developer. Following that guidance, he visited major redevelopment sites in Atlanta, New York and Washington, D.C. During that process, a New York developer suggested he contact Pennrose. Pennrose staff brought Cloud to see affordable housing projects the company had completed in Philadel- phia and New Jersey. He said he was impressed by the quality of the work and by the company's values, particu- larly its commitment to gathering neigh- borhood input during the design phase. "I came away from there with a really good feeling that maybe we had found our potential national partner, because we wanted someone with really deep experience … and resources," Cloud said. At the time, Pennrose had no Connecticut projects and only a limited New England presence. The Cloud Co. Sandy Cloud Jr. embraces Gov. Ned Lamont at the kickoff of a project to convert former state office buildings in downtown Hartford into apartments. HBJ Photo | Michael Puffer By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com O n paper, The Cloud Co. hardly looks like a powerhouse. The Hartford-based real estate development firm has only three employees. Yet, over the past 13 years, this modest outfit — guided by Sanford "Sandy" Cloud Jr. and supported by a long-standing partnership with national affordable housing giant Pennrose — has helped create 599 apartments across Connecticut. The partners have completed nine projects in Hartford, Torrington, New Britain and Meriden. Most were components of larger, multiphase developments. Some sites are fully built out, while others still have phases pending. Pennrose and Cloud have another 240 apartments across five projects in various stages of construction. "We are long-term partners and we enjoy working with each other," said 81-year-old Sanford "Sandy" Cloud Jr., chairman and CEO of The Cloud Co. "Our long-term intent is to continue working together." A distinguished career Cloud, a Hartford native, built a career in politics and business that forged key relationships and expertise before launching his namesake company in 2005 at age 60. Cloud graduated from Howard University in 1966, where he served as student body president and worked as a research assistant in the office of U.S. Sen. Thomas Dodd. Three years later, he earned his law degree from Howard University School of Law. He later became the first African American attorney hired by law firm Robinson+Cole and went on to serve two terms in the Connecticut Senate, where he sponsored legislation establishing the state Department of Housing and helped advance broader housing policy reforms. In 1978, Cloud joined Aetna, eventually spending six years leading the health insurer's community development work. He became the first African American

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