🔒After $2.7M purchase, developers plan major office-to-multifamily housing conversion in Windsor

Two prominent developers have teamed up to redevelop one of Windsor’s largest vacant office properties. In a deed recorded Aug. 4, Massachusetts-based Condyne Capital Partners and Litchfield investor/developer Mark Greenberg, through limited liability companies, purchased the 99,720-square-foot Konica Minolta office building at 500 Day Hill Road for $2.7 million. Jonathan Putnam, of Cushman & Wakefield, was the listing broker. The partners plan to add a wing to the existing 1982-vintage, concrete office building and build three additional residential buildings, creating a total of 300 multifamily units. Three retail buildings totaling 18,417 square feet and fronting on Day Hill Road would be added to the 20.6-acre property.

Greenberg said Tuesday the partners have not yet decided whether to sell the units as condominiums or operate them as rental apartments. His portfolio has historically emphasized office and retail, but the collapse of the office market has pushed him to pivot. Greenberg, one of Windsor’s largest landlords, was an early and vocal supporter of zoning reforms to allow adaptive reuse of struggling office buildings. The Day Hill Corporate Area, Windsor’s primary office and business district, has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic-driven shift to remote and hybrid work. The town’s office vacancy rate, 34.7% in 2019, soared to 59.1% in early 2024, according to CBRE. Windsor officials have worked with consultants to evaluate how best to repurpose vacant space. Two proposed zoning changes now before the Planning and Zoning Commission would allow easier conversion of offices to housing or mixed-use developments. “It has to happen, there is no market for office,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg grows a multifamily portfolio

The Konica project is one of several redevelopment efforts Greenberg is pursuing in Windsor. He is working with Florida-based Citicore Development Group on a plan to convert the vacant offices at 1 and 10 Targeting Centre into 201 residential units, a Starbucks and 9,200 square feet of commercial space. The commission has approved the conceptual plan, but litigation has delayed the purchase of 1 Targeting Centre. Greenberg also plans to redevelop the 48,000-square-foot office building at 10 Griffin Park North. That could involve either an adaptive reuse or demolition and new construction. Other developers are moving in as well. Manchester, New Hampshire-based Brady Sullivan Properties is under contract to purchase two adjacent office buildings in Windsor totaling 217,152 square feet on 26.43 acres. The developer, working with town staff, submitted one of two zoning regulatory proposals under consideration in order to speed redevelopment of vacant office spaces.