Aerospace and defense giant Raytheon Technologies has tapped CBRE to sell a 300-acre development site in East Hartford.
The site was originally part of the Pratt & Whitney aviation plant was used for test flights and maintenance operations before being decommissioned in the 1990s.
Last Spring, Raytheon – which owns Pratt & Whiteny – closed on a $180 billion merger with United Technologies Corp. and was renamed Raytheon Technologies Corp.
The company is now looking to dispose of the old airfield site, which sits adjacent to Pratt & Whitney’s corporate campus, and CBRE is marketing the land as Logistics Center @ Rentschler Field and tapping into skyrocketing demand in Connecticut for large-format warehouse-distribution centers from the booming e-commerce sector.
“We are excited about this opportunity and believe there will be significant interest from both developers and end users due to the site’s excellent central Connecticut location, immediate highway accessibility and access to a densely populated labor pool,” said John McCormick and Chris Metcalfe of CBRE’s Hartford office.
“The site’s unique history as a former airfield will add an additional layer of character and attractiveness to the site.”
Situated halfway between Boston and New York, Hartford’s wide-open spaces and extensive transportation options have attracted a slew of big-name distributors. In recent years giants including Amazon and Honda have established distribution hubs in the are while consumer-focused retailers including Walgreen, Wayfair, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Aldi and others have opened warehouses catering to customer demand for next day delivery.
The so-called Logistics Center @ Rentschler Field is situated less than a quarter mile off the exit ramp from Interstate 84 and can accommodate up to 2.3 million square feet of development on 280-acres. It is located adjacent to Cabela’s 185,000 s/f retail store and the 40,000-seat UConn Huskies football stadium.
