Windsor Property Sells For $13M

WINDSOR, CT — A nearly 30-acre industrial property on Day Hill Road has sold for $13 million, and the new ownership group is already looking at what could be built on the unused portion of the site.

The property at 600 Day Hill Road includes a 187,992-square-foot manufacturing building occupied by Spencer Turbine Co. The company makes industrial blowers, vacuum systems and gas-pressure boosters used in manufacturing and wastewater treatment.

Spencer remains listed at the Windsor address by its parent company, Chart Industries, which identifies the site as a location for centrifugal blowers and compressors.

The sale was first reported by the Hartford Business Journal, which cited Windsor land records. The seller, Industrial Lease II PropCo LLC, bought the property for $10.43 million in 2018, according to the report.

The new ownership group includes entities tied to New Jersey-based Devli Real Estate, New York City-based Regal Ventures and Snowball Developments, along with several individual investors. The buyers used an $8.9 million mortgage from Valley National Bank to finance part of the purchase, the Business Journal reported.

Spencer has about nine years remaining on its lease and is responsible for maintenance and structural repairs under the agreement, representatives of the ownership group told the publication.

The existing tenant was one reason the property appealed to the buyers. The other was the amount of open land surrounding the building.

Brian Ker, president of Snowball Developments, estimated that about 40 percent of the 29.69-acre property is excess land. Regal has worked with an architect on possible development scenarios, with additional industrial space the primary focus, according to the Business Journal.

“This is a very large parcel and that aligns with our vision of acquiring functional industrial buildings on very large parcels where there’s a lot of excess underutilized land,” Ker told the publication.

The idea remains preliminary. The owners have not announced a building size, tenant, construction schedule or specific development plan for the property.

Ker and Regal acquisitions director David Lawrence said they expect Spencer to remain at the site because of its long-term lease and the specialized equipment it has installed there. They also said the tenant’s current rent is below market rates, creating another possible source of future value for the ownership group.

The acquisition is Regal’s first industrial investment in Connecticut. Snowball, which holds a smaller ownership stake in the deal, has purchased several older industrial properties in the state with additional land that could be developed.

For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.