Town Meeting Minute • Issue #13: Towns Are Taking Control of the Housing Conversation

Town Meeting Minute • Issue #13

Towns Are Taking Control of the Housing Conversation

Across New London County, Middlesex County, Washington County, and Newport County, the next real estate story is not just private development pressure. It is how municipalities are rewriting, refining, adopting, resisting, and redirecting the rules that determine what can actually be built.

Real estate value is shaped long before a listing hits the market. It changes when a town initiates its own zoning map amendment, when a follow-up text amendment appears, when a POCD moves to public hearing, when subdivision regulations are rewritten, when housing-growth…

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Town Meeting Minute Issue #12: The Rules Are Starting to Move in Southeastern Connecticut

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The Rules Are Starting to Move

Over the past two weeks, Southeastern Connecticut towns have moved from planning language into real regulatory consequences: Groton approved a major open-space development framework, Waterford rejected a large housing rezoning request, Stonington advanced its POCD review, East Lyme continued housing-growth implementation, Norwich processed incremental infill, and Ledyard studied whether its land-use governance structure needs to change.

Real estate value is often shaped before a property ever hits the market. It changes when a text amendment passes, when a rezoning fails, when a subdivision hearing is scheduled, when a POCD moves to public review, or when a town…

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Town Meeting Minute • Issue #11: Infrastructure, Infill, and the Repricing of Land

Town Meeting Minute • Issue #11

Housing Pressure Moves From Policy to Parcels

Across Southeastern Connecticut, local boards are moving from discussion to action — studying rezoning requests, updating subdivision rules, reviewing utility costs, and implementing state housing mandates that could reshape land values and development feasibility.

Real estate value does not usually change all at once. It changes first in meeting packets, public hearing notices, water-rate studies, subdivision regulations, zoning referrals, and long-range planning documents. By the time a shovel hits the ground, the value shift may have already started.

Top Story

Waterford’s 140 Waterford Parkway South rezoning request places a large industrial…

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Changing Markets: AI, Layoffs, and the Real Estate Demand Nobody Is Underwriting

Market Commentary • Issue 10

AI, Layoffs, and the Real Estate Demand Nobody Is Underwriting

Companies may still grow revenue, increase profits, and expand market share. But what happens to real estate when they no longer need the same number of people to do it?

For years, real estate professionals have watched job announcements as one of the clearest signals of future demand.

A company expands. A company hires. People move. Office space fills. Apartments lease. Homes sell. Restaurants get busier. Municipal tax bases strengthen.

That relationship has helped shape how communities, developers, landlords, lenders, and brokers think about growth.

But what happens when companies grow without adding people?

Why…

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The Seaport Multifamily Brief™ – February 2026 Multifamily Market Intelligence | Coastal CT & Southern RI

The Seaport Multifamily Brief

Issue #1 | February 2026

Coastal Connecticut & Southern Rhode Island

Powered by CoStar Data and Seaport Due Diligence

Executive Summary:
Coastal multifamily markets remain structurally tight, but momentum is moderating. Leasing velocity has slowed, rent growth has flattened, and cap rates have stabilized. We have entered a Yield Discipline Phase.

Table of Contents

Washington County Market Snapshot
Transaction Intelligence
Interpretation – Beyond the Numbers
Coastal Regional View
Underwriting Reality Check™
Seaport Coastal MF Stability Index™
The Seaport Signal™
About This Series

Washington County, RI – Market Snapshot

According to CoStar Search Analytics (February 16, 2026):

• …

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Connecticut’s Transfer Act Is Ending — Here’s How It Changes Commercial Real Estate

Connecticut’s Transfer Act Is Changing — What It Means for Commercial Real Estate

For decades, Connecticut’s Transfer Act has been one of the most significant — and often misunderstood — factors shaping commercial real estate transactions. It has delayed deals, added uncertainty, and in some cases stopped otherwise viable transactions from ever getting to the closing table.

That is about to change. Connecticut is officially sunsetting the Transfer Act and replacing it with a fundamentally different framework. This shift will reshape how environmental risk is evaluated, negotiated, and managed in commercial real estate going forward.

A Quick Refresher: How the Transfer Act Worked

Under the Transfer Act, certain commercial and…

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The 10-Year Treasury Hits 4.8%: What This Means for Real Estate

The 10-Year Treasury Hits 4.8%: What This Means for Real Estate

As the 10-year Treasury yield reaches 4.8%, the ripple effects are being felt across the real estate market, impacting buyers, sellers, and investors. Here are my thoughts on what this shift means and how we can respond to this evolving environment.

Higher Treasury Yields and Borrowing Costs

Treasury yields often set the tone for other interest rates, including mortgages. As yields rise, borrowing becomes more expensive, directly affecting affordability for homebuyers.

For homebuyers, these higher mortgage rates can significantly alter the landscape. Monthly payments increase, forcing many to either reconsider their budgets or put off purchasing altogether. This reduced…

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Community Redevelopment: How Seaport Commercial Agents are Revitalizing the City of Norwich

Original article from Claire Bessette of The Day | January 16, 2024 7:02 pm • Last Updated: January 16, 2024 9:49 pm Norwich ― New York-based real estate developers Ernest and Alfred Tollja learned about Norwich in 2018 from a persistent Norwich comedian who drove to their comedy theater nearly every night and pressured them to buy a building in his hometown. Six years later, the two brothers, originally from Albania, own more than a dozen apartment buildings in Norwich, with a total of 117 apartments. That comedian, however, has moved to upstate New York, the pair said Tuesday. On Thursday, they completed the purchase of three prominent lower Broadway buildings that are part of a larger revitalization…

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Major Distress for Commercial Properties Nationally

In the world of commercial real estate, the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) is a critical metric that plays a pivotal role in the refinancing of properties. A DSCR lower than 1.2 often signals trouble, and recent trends across the country have shown an alarming 602% increase in properties grappling with this issue. However, the impact is not uniform across the board, as we'll see in the case of Connecticut, particularly in New London County.

National Context: Nationally, the picture is stark. In just the last 30 days, properties in distress have skyrocketed from 5,562 to a staggering 33,495, covering about 1.5 billion square feet of space. This surge reflects a significant shift in the commercial property landscape, indicating a broad-scale…

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The Two Faces of Commercial Real Estate

The commercial real estate market operates within two distinct segments: off-market and on-market transactions. Each segment has its unique characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages, catering to different types of investors and property owners.

Off-market transactions refer to commercial properties that are bought and sold without being publicly advertised or listed on popular real estate websites like Crexi and Loopnet. These deals often occur through personal connections, word of mouth, or specialized brokers with extensive industry networks. Off-market properties may exchange hands before the general public becomes aware of their availability, offering several advantages: 

Less competition: Off-market transactions can allow…

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