It Was Once a Rural Area Near a CT Airport. Now It’s a Warehouse Row and Soon To Expand
The warehouses of Amazon, Dollar Tree, Walgreens and others now dominate the corridor.
It’s Route 20 near Bradley International Airport and it’s replacing what was once a rural landscape.
Even with nearly a dozen warehouses, a developer says there is room for at least one more, a belief so strong that construction is getting underway without a signed tenant lease.
The Silverman Group, of New Jersey, is building a 250,000 square foot warehouse on Hamilton Road in Windsor Locks, seeing the site’s close proximity to both the airport and Interstate 91 as strong selling points that have driven warehouse and distribution development in the area.
Toby Nelson, vice president of leasing at SL Industrial Partners, an arm of Silverman Group, declined to comment on the project’s cost. But Nelson estimated that similar buildings would typically cost $25 million to $30 million.
In addition to distribution, the structure — named Bradley Airport Logistics Center East — could be used for light manufacturing or other business expansion space – with up to three tenants sharing the space.
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Thursday.
Travelers driving to and from the airport may have already noticed the land being cleared. The structure is expected to be completed in the first three months of 2025.
Nelson said there have been some inquiries about the space, but, so far, there are no active negotiations.
“There’s a lack of new product in the Greater Hartford market that we felt like we fill a need for new, modern warehouse space,” Nelson said.
Unlike office space, which has seen surging double-digit vacancies in the aftermath of the pandemic, modern, warehouse space in the area has a vacancy of less than 1%, according to Shawn P. McMahon, managing director at commercial real estate firm JLL in Hartford and longtime office and industrial broker.
“The market is still very strong on the industrial side,” McMahon said. “There is very little product in the marketplace for tenants looking for 100,000 square feet or more.”
Greater Hartford did not overbuild industrial and warehouse space in the past, unlike New Jersey, New York and Boston area, McMahon said.
Silverman once owned the 100 Pearl Street office tower in downtown Hartford. The development company also is active in housing construction in Simsbury on the sprawling site where the suburban campus of The Hartford Financial Services Group once stood.
But Silverman Group has come up against local zoning opposition to a 400-plus unit apartment development on part of that property. The matter is in court.
In recent years, Silverman has expanded its presence in the industrial and warehouse market. Silverman now oversees the leasing and management of 25 million square feet of industrial space in 20 states.
In addition, Silverman is managing the construction of another 15 million square feet in nine states, including Connecticut.
“We’re still very bullish on Connecticut and Hartford and the growth there,” Nelson said.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at [email protected].
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