Lexham, one of West Hartford’s largest property owners, will do a full update of 1001 Farmington Avenue in advance of Ernst & Young’s move to the space.

By Ronni Newton

As Lexham and its partners prepare for the groundbreaking this month on a roughly $75 million luxury condominium building in West Hartford Center, its principal managing member, Marc Lewis, shared that the commercial real estate company is also poised to commence a full-scale upgrade to its property at 1001 Farmington Avenue which will soon be home to a marquee tenant.

“We closed with Ernst & Young,” Lewis told We-Ha.com in a phone interview last week, noting that the international accounting firm, one of the “Big Four,” finalized its lease late last month for more than 14,000 square feet, which is nearly the entire building.

Ernst & Young currently maintains its local office at 20 Church Street – the Stilts Building – in downtown Hartford, but will be relocating to West Hartford Center as soon as the renovations are completed. “They’ve been trying to get a headquarters location in the center of town for some time,” Lewis said.

“Ernst & Young is a big deal for the town,” Lewis said, and the firm will have their name on the building.

Class A office space of significant square footage can be hard to come by in West Hartford Center as well as in Blue Back Square, where new leases have recently been executed for several key office tenants, including Lockton, Beazley, and Ares.

According to a report by West Hartford’s Economic Development Manager Kristen Gorski to the Town Council’s Community Planning and Economic Development Committee in May 2025, the town’s vacancy rate for office space is just 4.6%, in comparison to a rate of 11.7% for the region.

Lexham will invest an estimated $1 million for a top-to-bottom makeover of 1001 Farmington Avenue. The three-story building was built in 1985, and has been mostly vacated now with some tenants relocated to other Lexham buildings in preparation for the renovation. Pink Flamingo Party Co., which has occupied space on the ground floor for the past four years, just announced their plans to move by the end of September.

After Lexham has completed its renovations, Ernst & Young will complete its own build-out of the interior before relocating.

“We are thrilled to announce EY Hartford’s upcoming move to 1001 Farmington Ave in West Hartford in 2027,” EY Hartford Office Managing Partner Sean Riegler said in a statement to We-Ha.com. “The buildout will offer state-of-the-art amenities, technology and design and was chosen as a result of ongoing dialogue between EY Hartford leaders and professionals.”

While not all employees will be in the office every day, Riegler added that the “new space will enable the firm’s more than 250 Hartford professionals to continue helping our clients shape the future with confidence.” EY also has another Connecticut office, in Stamford.

“We are excited to welcome Ernst & Young to West Hartford Center. Their decision to relocate here reflects the strength and vitality of our community, and it reinforces the reputation of West Hartford Center and Blue Back Square as one of the region’s most dynamic destinations to live, work, and do business,” Mayor Shari Cantor told We-Ha.com.

“The arrival of a global firm of this stature will not only bring more jobs to our town, but it will also support the local restaurants, shops, and businesses that make this area so special. This is another important step in building on the momentum we already see in the Center and Blue Back Square, and we look forward to the positive impact Ernst & Young’s presence will have on our community for years to come,” Cantor said.

Town Manager Rick Ledwith is also excited about EY’s plans to relocate. “Ernst & Young’s move to West Hartford Center is another sign of the incredible energy already thriving here in the Center and Blue Back Square. Their presence will add to the momentum that continues to make this area such a vibrant place to work, shop, and gather,” Ledwith said.

Lewis, who is very pleased to be able to accommodate a firm like Ernst & Young, said he hopes to lease the remaining ground floor retail space that remain, roughly 2,500 square feet, to a high-end coffee shop.

“What a transformation for that side of town,” Lewis said.

Other West Hartford properties

Lexham’s portfolio currently includes 10 West Hartford properties, but is poised to expand with the financing closed and the official groundbreaking for Center Park Place currently planned for Sept. 19.

As the entity Arapahoe Group LLC, Lewis has partnered with Jim Manafort of Manafort Construction, and Harris and Bruce Simons of Figure 8 Properties for the 58-unit luxury condominium development that will replace what is currently an under-utilized asphalt parking lot behind 27-43 and 53-65 LaSalle Road and 1001 Farmington Avenue.

Center Park Place will include four residential floors as well as three levels of garage parking (some of which will be below grade) to accommodate the future residents as well as lost spaces in the lot. The condominium building will feature high-end amenities including an outdoor pool, stateof-the-art fitness center, rooftop terrace, and pollinator gardens.

The asphalt parking lot has been closed off for use, and some preliminary construction work is already underway. As part of the project, two small buildings at 8 and 12 Arapahoe Road – former homes that had been converted to office use and were purchased by the development team – were already demolished.

According to the Center Park Place property’s website, 33% of the condominiums have already been reserved. Pre-construction pricing begins at $900 per square foot, the website indicates. Kate D’Addabbo, a luxury real estate specialist with Coldwell Banker’s West Hartford office, is the lead agent for the project.

Residences range in size from one-bedroom/two-bathroom units, measuring 1,230 square feet and include a mix of two-bedroom and two-bedroom-plus-den units that range from 1,520 to 1,932 square feet. One three-bedroom unit is located on the top floor.

Center Park Place is the first phase of a long-planned and debated development approved by the West Hartford Town Council in December 2022.

This two-building project was been years in development, dating back to at least 2016 when a proposal for increased density in the central business district (Zone BC) was submitted but was rejected. In 2017 the Town Council approved an “incentive zoning” ordinance, which allows for some level of increased density in exchange for infill development and certain amenities such as public parks and architecturally-screened and at least partially below-grade garage parking. The application for Center Park Place and the mixed-use apartment/commercial building at 75 LaSalle was the first application to fall under that ordinance.

The mixed-use building will be the second phase of the project with the construction of a 25-unit apartment building and a ground floor commercial space – 75 LaSalle – at the northwest corner of LaSalle Road and Arapahoe Road in what is currently the parking lot of the Webster Bank building. Four of the units at 75 LaSalle will be designated as affordable, according to the terms of approval by the Town Council.

According to the conditions of approval by the Town Council, a building permit be obtained for 75 LaSalle Road building before granting a certificate of occupancy for the Center Park Place condominium building.

Lewis also shared that Webster Bank, located at 65 LaSalle Road, recently signed 10-year lease extension.

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