🔒Effort to convert two Windsor office buildings into 171 apartments scores key victory

A New Hampshire-based developer's plan to convert two vacant office buildings in Windsor into 171 apartments took a major leap forward Tuesday night. The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission signed off on a special use application by Manchester, New Hampshire-based Brady Sullivan Properties. It would see the conversion of the three-story, glass-and-metal-sided office buildings at 1 and 3 Waterside Crossing into an apartment community thick with amenities. The developer chose a two-step approval process: the commission approved the concept, and town staff will later review and may approve site plans for lighting, landscaping, signage, utilities and amenities. Brady Sullivan is under contract to buy both buildings, pending completion of the entitlement process, company representatives said. Brady Sullivan has three decades of experience redeveloping commercial buildings, with projects in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, said Benjamin Kfoury, an investment analyst with the company. A lot of that work has focused on reuse of older mill buildings, but over the past two years the company has increasingly worked on conversion of Class B office spaces, Kfoury said. Developers and building owners have increasingly looked to residential conversion to breathe life into office buildings that have seen demand wither following the COVID-19 pandemic and a large-scale move to remote and hybrid work. “Our focus is really on delivering an amenity-rich, nice place to live,” Kfoury said. The apartment complex will feature a pet washing station, bike storage, two fitness centers, games rooms, a movie theater, internet café, shared events space with kitchen, a “grab-and-go” micro-market, golf simulator and reading room, Kfoury said. Outside, the company is looking at installing a basketball court, two pickleball courts and a shared patio overlooking a neighboring pond. The town is also very interested in connecting the development to local trails. The 91,100-square-foot building at 1 Waterside Crossing sits on 12.26 acres. The 125,152-square-foot building at 3 Waterside Crossing comes with 14.17 acres. Completed in 1982 and 1984, the structures sit in proximity to each other at the border of their respective properties. Brady Sullivan’s plans call for 55 one-bedroom apartments, averaging 768 square feet; 100 two-bedroom units, averaging 1,045 square feet; and 16 three-bedroom units, averaging 1,288 square feet. Tuesday’s vote was a major step forward for the proposed conversion. The application was made possible by the Planning and Zoning Commission’s adoption of zoning regulation changes intended to speed conversion of vacant office properties in Windsor’s Day Hill Corporate Area corridor. That regulation had been proposed by Brady Sullivan, in cooperation with town staff.