Eastern Connecticut Economic Boom!

CT Commercial Real Estate Boom Market



Eastern Connecticut leads the State in job growth and likely will continue for the next tens years. Economic growth in Eastern Connecticut is booming with major projects underway or proposed. Half way between Boston and New York and 30 minutes to Providence. Home to Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun casinos, Eastern Connecticut is very similar to central Florida when Disney World opened.



Current Projects:



Utopia Studios: proposed $1.6 Billion movie studio, theme park and entertainment center. Expected to create 22,000 new jobs when the project begins in 2007. Once completed the Studio is expected to attract an additional 8 to 10 million visitors a year to the area.



North Stonington Studios: a $1 billion movie studio proposed by Frank Capra Jr., president of EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, N.C., The project includes movie studios, an academy of arts and sciences, a high-end retail village with 20 to 30 shops and restaurants and a 200-room hotel on 488 acres near Interstate 95 in North Stonington.



Center of Excellence, Plainfield: proposed by Global Enterprise and Associates, the center, which will be housed in the old Plainfield High School on Route 12, will be home to three separate, but collaborative, businesses geared toward education, health care and entertainment.



Norwich Harbor Redevelopment: a $500 million 37-story twin condominium towers at the marina, an upscale theme park on Hollyhock Island, a retail plaza above Chelsea Harbor Drive and 100 high-end housing units where the Norwich Police Department now sits.



Wauregan Hotel Redevelopment: Downtown Norwich, preservation and adaptive re-use of historic 1855 Wauregan Hotel into 70 units of moderate income housing, 4,000 s.f. of /retail space, ballroom restoration, and 100-space parking garage. Completed by Becker & Becker of Fairfield, Connecticut.



Mohegan Sun: celebrating their ten years anniversary, Mohegan Sun continues to evolve. The Tribe has hired an architectural firm which is in the midst of developing a master plan for the casino resort. The Tribe also recently purchased a golf club and country club in Franklin.



Foxwoods Resort: $1 billion expansion will add 2 million square feet to the complex. The expansion, expected to be completed by 2008, will include a 825-room hotel, a new casino, a 5,000-seat concert theater, six nightclubs and restaurants, and a 21,000-square-foot luxury spa.



Storrs Center: a mixed-use town center and main street corridor at the crossroads of the town of Mansfield, and the University of Connecticut. Storrs Center Alliance, LLC, an affiliate of LeylandAlliance LLC, Tuxedo, New York, is the master developer. PROJECTED MIX includes

Market Rate Rental: 200-300 units, For Sale Residential: 400-500 units, Retail/Restaurant: 150,000-200,000 s.f., Commercial (office): 40,000-75,000 s.f., Civic and Community: 5,000-25,000 s.f.
Windham: retail expansion including Lowes, nearby Walmart, Home Depot, Sears and busy growing retail area. The downtown revitalization and growing arts district including the now open Arts School, Artspace, and Bridge of Flowers. Redevelopment of Nathan Hale and Hooker Hotel.



Killingly Commons: developer Ceruzzi Holdings, project for 470,000 sqft of retail space will serve the busy Route 395 corridor in Northeastern corner of the State. Leases have already been signed by Stop & Shop, Target, Lowes, Staples, Applebees, and McDonalds.



The State currently has generous tax incentives for developers and businesses in designated communities.



Enterprise Zone Program benefits can include: a 5-year, 80% abatement of local property taxes on all qualifying real and personal property that are new to the Grand List of the City/Town as a direct result of a business relocation, expansion or renovation project; and a 10-year, 25% or 50% credit on that portion of the Connecticut Corporate Business Tax that is directly attributable to this business relocation, expansion or renovation project as determined by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services and as provided under section 12-217(e) of the Connecticut General Statutes.



Windham has been designated an Entertainment District, giving certain entertainment related types of businesses, as defined by statute, eligibility for full Enterprise Zone level benefits, if they complete an eligible project anywhere within the municipality. Within the Entertainment District any type of real property improvement is eligible for an enhanced property tax benefit.



Griswold , Killingly, Lisbon, Plainfield, Putnam, Sprague, Sterling and Thompson are towns of the Eastern Enterprise Corridor. Benefits for eligible projects in an Enterprise Corridor Zone are identical to those in an Enterprise Zone.



Investors continue to be active in the region, looking for investment properties of all types. Especially in demand are net-leased properties with credit tenants, and residential income properties. The demand for warehouse and flex space continues to be strong with very little new supply coming into the market. Eastern Connecticut is expected to experience sustained growth for many years with a lot of activity in the commercial, industrial and retail real estate areas.