Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

June 24, 2024 / 2024 Power 25 Real Estate

2024 Power 25 Real Estate: John McCormick

John McCormick
Check out the other 2024 Real Estate Power Players
More Information

The sales price may not have been big, but the plans to redevelop the shuttered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus north of downtown Hartford are.

The 12.7-acre Rensselaer site, at 275 Windsor St., sold in late 2023 for $3.8 million to developer Randy Salvatore, who plans to redevelop the property into hundreds of apartments.

A key cog in helping make that deal happen was John M. McCormick, who brokered the sale. McCormick, executive vice president of CBRE Hartford, is one of the top brokers in Greater Hartford.

His main focus over the years has been office market leasing, which was significantly disrupted by the pandemic and the embrace of remote and hybrid work.

Many companies are designing collaborative “non-addressed” space, which means offices with unassigned workstations that provide more flexibility and require less square footage, McCormick said.

In addition, increasing construction costs have impacted decision-making and led to a higher lease-renewal probability for tenants, McCormick said.

“More plug-and-play opportunities, increased renewal activity and shorter-term leases are having a big impact in the local market,” he said. “There are several examples of downtown and suburban lease transactions that have recently been completed for one- to three-year lease terms, with minimal construction required. Suites that have modern, low-height workstations and a flexible design offer significant value to both landlords and tenants. This trend also takes the potential obstacles of construction risk and timeline for delivery out of the equation.”

McCormick said he’s seeing a disproportionate amount of activity in buildings that are highly-amenitized. Go-to office markets continue to be the Hartford central business district, West Hartford Center, Glastonbury and Rocky Hill, he said.

“With the market constrained by increasing vacancy rates, higher construction costs and smaller office requirements, it will continue to be a tenant’s market for most of Greater Hartford, and landlords will need to be aggressive and accommodating to attract new tenant activity,” he said.

Check out the other 2024 Real Estate Power Players

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF