Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal • December 22, 2014 www.HartfordBusiness.com Industry Focus E c o n o m i c F o r E c a s t YEar in rEviEW June 5 Two top CT realtors share success secrets As real estate brokers, Debi Rozews- ki and Margaret Wilcox are masters of their craft, top-producing go-betweens in the exchange of millions of dollars worth of Hartford area houses annually. But it is as entrepreneurs where Rozewski, of Century 21/Clemens & Sons Realty in Rocky Hill, and Wil- cox, of William Raveis Real Estate in Glastonbury, stand out. Rozewski alone annually racks up between $3 million and $5 million in gross sales; Wilcox and her team, listed on The Wall Street Journal's top 2013 U.S. realty sales teams last year, sold houses valued at more than $69 million. They, along with many of Connecticut's 18,500 other licensed agents, understand it is their ability to manage long days, the constant attention to even the minutest details, people skills, and all the rest, that are starting points for long-term success. Spring is the unofficial seasonal kickoff for the home-sales industry, a time when most consumers begin their earnest efforts to buy or sell. For top producers like Rozewski and Wilcox, both full-time brokers year-round, warm weather brings out the best — and sometimes, the worst — in their industry. Hartford region home sales totaled 9,711 units worth $2.5 billion in 2013, up from 8,711 and $2.2 billion in 2012, according to the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors. For eight weeks starting last January, Rozewski, formerly with Aetna, and Wilcox, an ex-teacher, social worker and office manager, opened to the Hartford Business Journal a brief window into their daily routines — mostly paperwork, communicat- ing with clients, other brokers and a retinue of craftspeople and fixers. January 13 Keener CT consumers pace rebounding housing market With the Hartford area's home and condominium sales rising, some noteworthy trends are on display amid the uptick, brokers and lenders say. Market observers credit a cadre of determined buyers not only for lifting sales of existing houses, but their new-found frugality also is contributing to median sales prices that have yo-yoed in recent months. The Greater Hartford Association of Realtors recently reported that area homes sales through November were on pace to top 2012's sales total. The growth in de- mand is even responsible for the reemergence of multiple offers in pockets of the Hartford area market where sales inventory is tightest, observers say. Re/Max of New England last week reported a strong climb in Connecticut's 2013 single- and multi-family and condo sales. Yet Re/Max also pointed to a looming dilemma: An inventory shortage and rising interest rates will pester New England's housing market this year. March 31 With legault, developer Cil soars as landlord The Corporation For Independent Living (CIL) has leveraged — and exported — its talent as a group-home developer to shelter a diverse swath of central Connecti- cut's population. Since its launch in 1979 to finance, build, lease out — then ultimately give away — supportive shelter for thousands of the state's physically and mentally disabled, CIL has invested $458 million to construct or convert 2,205 dwelling units into shelter for 7,200 residents in Connecti- cut and Massachusetts. For at least a dozen years, CIL has applied that same skill set to its expanding for-profit realty development operations that include the derelict Capewell Horsenails factory in Hart- ford's South End, and a neighboring nonprofit-office-space cluster. In February, CIL announced it bought and will resume work on the $3.34 million Depot Crossing mixed-use project across from Berlin's train station. Its marriage of its nonprofit mission to house the dis- abled with its for-profit template of converting mostly old factory and mill sites into market-rate and affordable hous- ing makes CIL rare among nonprofits, said CEO Martin "Marty'' Legault, who is scheduled to retire Dec. 31. april 7 Propark gears up again to expand U.S. parking assets Seven years ago, Propark America was on the verge of a major parking expan- sion, planning to buy up $250 million worth of U.S. urban and suburban garages and surface lots. Then the bottom fell out of the U.S. and local economies, and the Hartford parking operator-manager lost a $100 million funding commitment from a major New York investor, shelving its expansion, Propark's investment chief says. But in 2014, ProPark signaled the restart of its acquisition engine with a series of deals amid broader indications that a consolidation is underway among the nation's private-parking operators. On March 24, Propark declared that, with Canadian equity real estate investor Parkit Enterprises as a partner, it has targeted seven parking facilities worth $85 million in four states. A month earlier, the company said it paid an undisclosed sum for approximately 20,000 parking spaces and additional valet operations run by WinPark Management LLC in three Texas cities and Phoenix, Ariz. May 12 Thompsonville the next stop on Enfield's revitalization express As the northernmost stop in the "knowledge corridor gateway" linking Hartford and New Haven to Springfield, Enfield has plenty to admire. This former textile-producing, tobacco-farming town of 44,000 has a diverse tax base, characterized by working-class neighborhoods and a well-defined retail core of shops, restaurants, and a mall. Despite 3M's impending closure of its Enfield facility, left are stable employers like toymaker Lego and insurer MassMutual, which is expanding, on top of the town's commercial and cultural amenities. Vehicle-parts retailer Advanced Auto's new regional distribution center opens around Labor Day. In Springfield's recent coup landing a gaming casino, Enfield sees prospects for more revenue flowing into commercial and town coffers from casinogoers eager for lodging, dining and shopping options outside that city. But for all its positives, Enfield is dogged by a sobering reality: Thompsonville, the once-thriving historic village — home to one in 10 town residents — and the Real Estate realtors Margaret Wilcox, above, and Debi rozewski, below. Martin "Marty'' legault, President and CEo, Corporation For independent living P H O T O S | H B J F i L e

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