New location for main lottery operations

By Kate Northrop

The Connecticut Lottery is packing up and moving the location of its headquarters this summer, consolidating its main operations into one building.

Once its lease at the Rocky Hill headquarters is up, the Connecticut Lottery will be moving into a larger building that will be able to accommodate all its main functions and operations.

Right now, the Lottery is situated in a nearly 92,000-square-foot building in Rocky Hill. Once they move out at the end of June, they'll be relocating to a property at 15 Sterling Drive in Wallingford, which boasts 136,615 square feet in offices and mixed-use industrial space.

"It's about taking everything we do now and putting it under one roof," Lottery President and CEO Gregory Smith told the Hartford Business Journal.

Rather than having its operations spread out over multiple locations, the new headquarters will allow it to accomplish everything under one roof, including housing its corporate offices, online betting operations, warehouse space for scratch-off ticket pallets, and a TV studio for broadcasting drawings.

Having signed a ten-year lease with possible three- and five-year extensions, the Lottery is confident that the new location will meet its needs.

Commercial real estate company CBRE led the Lottery's search for the new headquarters, which involved looking at about 15 properties located in central Connecticut over the span of six months.

"We started with a flexible client and a wide geography," John McCormick, CBRE Executive Vice President, said in an interview. "It was an exhaustive search. I think that's a testament to Greg Smith's leadership at the Lottery."

The town of Wallingford generates its own power, which will allow the Lottery to save 25% or more in electricity costs, McCormick explained. The location is also convenient for employees in that it matches many commuting routes and highways.

The Lottery will pay about $1 million in the first year of its lease at the Wallingford location, which will increase over time to $1.36 million by year ten. In contrast, the Lottery had been paying almost $1.92 million per year for leases in four separate locations, according to the Lottery.

Joe Mirra, the Chairman of the Wallingford Economic Development Commission, said the move is good news for the town because it will fill vacant commercial space and drive more potential customers to the area.

"This will generate economic benefit to the local merchants and that's always a good sign," Mirra said in an interview. "We are happy to have them, and we look forward to supporting them and servicing them and their employees."