A New Hampshire-based developer is expected to submit plans soon to convert two large, vacant and adjacent office buildings in Windsor following the adoption Tuesday of enabling zoning changes.
The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission agreed to add “adaptive reuse” zoning — intended to speed conversion of vacant office buildings into housing and complementary uses — for specifically identified properties in the Day Hill Road Corporate Area.
“This is a great first step,” Windsor Economic Development Director Patrick McMahon said Wednesday morning. “We have some opportunities with some vacant corporate office buildings that private sector developers are interested in converting into housing or mixed-use.”
The proposal was introduced by Brady Sullivan Properties, a New Hampshire-based multifamily developer that is under contract to purchase a 92,000-square-foot office building at 1 Waterside Crossing, and a 125,152-square-foot building at 3 Waterside Crossing.
The regulation was crafted with input from town staff.
It follows recommendations from a planning study the town had undertaken with consultant Camoin Associates in response to the post-COVID shift to remote work that saw office vacancies in Windsor jump to 59.1% by the first quarter of 2024.
Town staff are also asking the commission to adopt “Day Hill Design Development District” (DH3D) zoning, a two-step review process for redevelopments that would involve building of entirely new structures.
This DH3D zoning proposal, introduced Tuesday, is expected to receive a public hearing at a meeting in October.
To qualify, properties have to have been at least half vacant for at least one year, and lie within either the “Waterside Crossing” or “Voya Village” focus areas.
In addition to 1 and 3 Waterside Crossing, maps accompanying the new regulations identify several other properties as adaptive reuse candidates, including:
- 1 Griffin Road North — A 457,396-square-foot office building on 72.9 acres owned by The Hartford, which consolidated out of the building in 2022.
- 1 Orange Way — A 470,000-square-foot office on 76.8 acres that Voya Financial put on the market in August 2022.
- 500 Day Hill Road — A 20.64-acre property with a 99,000-square-foot building that business office equipment supplier Konica Minolta put up for sale in 2022.
- 200 Day Hill Road — A 55,470-square-foot, three-story office building on 4.6 acres.
- 300 Day Hill Road — A 71,380-square-foot, three-story office building on 9.3 acres.
The new zoning allows conversions into apartments, condos and assisted living facilities; offices; research and development facilities; recreation facilities; restaurants; food halls and neighborhood-serving retail.
Retail uses would be limited to no more than 20,000 square feet or 20% of existing floor area, whichever is least.
Town Planner Todd Sealy told the commission Tuesday the idea is to encourage office conversions while allowing complementary retail, restaurant and other amenities.
