A year ago, 20 Church St. stood nearly empty. With two new leases in just the past few weeks, it’s now set to be nearly half full. That’s no small thing for an office building with 23 floors, 400,000 square feet and a ho-hum reputation to overcome.
With an infusion of millions from new owner The Hampshire Group, 20 Church is getting an internal makeover, including an open conference center and fitness area for tenants. Real estate professionals and tenants say the investment is renewing interest in a building which several years ago had been downgraded from Class A to Class B office space.
And in a commercial real estate market which has laid essentially listless for the past few months, the activity at 20 Church makes it the current star of downtown Hartford.
“The building had had a bad rep,” said Michael Cantor, co-partner of the intellectual property law firm Cantor Colburn, which is moving 125 employees from Bloomfield into 50,000 square feet of space in 20 Church. Word of mouth – and the place’s demotion to Class B – had once pegged the building as poorly maintained and not worth a look from tenants on the move.
But now, “It will be, for all intents and purposes, a new building,” he said, pointing to the improved elevator and heating and cooling systems, the refurbished commons areas and the new fitness center, which will offer free access to employees.
Without the new owners’ investments, he said, Cantor Colburn wouldn’t have considered 20 Church St. as a viable relocation option.
With the prize of Cantor Colburn secured, August brought two new wins for the building: Catlin Specialty Insurance Group will lease more than 13,000 square feet – set to move from its current location at 10 State House Square – and a personal injury law office is planning to move in from Vernon.
Frank McCoy, attorney with McCoy & McCoy, said the small law office moved to 20 Church in Hartford because the building has some inherently strong factors.
“The location is really good. It’s easy to access, easy to find, and it’s one of the more recognizable buildings in Hartford,” he said.
Parking Plus
Patrick Mulready, a broker at CB Richard Ellis, said lower-cost parking has proved to be a draw as well. While 20 Church’s parking goes for $150 per space, Mulready said CityPlace’s is $240.
In addition, building owners and managers are trying to ditch the building’s old nickname, the “Stilts building,” Mulready said. People often equate that title with the place’s dusty, Class B reputation, but he said owners and managers are encouraging the “20 Church Street” moniker, denoting the building’s new ownership and new life as a revitalized player on the downtown scene.
The new tenants are the fruits of brokers’ efforts to play up that new life for the building. Combined with the buzz over refurbishments, Mulready said CB Richard Ellis has gone after prospective tenants both inside and outside Hartford.
The next few years will bring deadlines on many existing leases around downtown, he said, so brokers are making contact with tenants who might be looking for a change of location as their deadlines approach. It’s also targeting smaller companies, regardless of whether their leases are coming due – for smaller outfits that are growing quickly, the offer of newly remodeled space in a well-known building might prove tempting.
Downtown Desired
Several of the new leases come from outside Hartford, including FirstLight Power, which brought about 70 employees to its 24,000 square-foot space from Rocky Hill. Chuck Burnham, external affairs administrator, said the company chose 20 Church St. in part because they liked the downtown location and the proximity to the state Capitol. Also, the available space would allow the company to expand: FirstLight’s space has room for 38 additional employees if need be.
McCoy & McCoy settled into their new offices several weeks ago, and have been pleased with them so far. The building still has large gaps to fill, but McCoy said he feels like there are enough tenants around to keep the place from feeling deserted. And, hopefully, the continued leasing will attract more of the same.
“Once people start coming in, the floodgates open,” he said.
