The Swift Factory, Hartford, Connecticut

BlueHub Capital provided over $15 million in financing to transform an abandoned factory in the Northeast neighborhood of Hartford, CT into a facility that houses local businesses, generates jobs, and increases local prosperity. With a poverty rate three times that of the state, the Northeast neighborhood is ripe for investment. Conceptualized in partnership with Northeast neighborhood community groups, the Swift Factory addresses these challenges by bringing in new investment and creating economic opportunity for residents. 

Construction of the 82,000-square-foot development was completed in October 2020.

The Swift Factory offers office space, incubator space for small businesses, and commercial kitchens. Just a few months after opening, most available spaces have been leased, and tenant demographics mirror those of this Hartford neighborhood, which is 38 percent Black and 44 percent Latino. Tarek Raslan, real estate project manager for the Swift Factory, said the mission is to serve the neighborhood. “We are taking the money invested and translating that into direct benefit to the neighborhood. We have surpassed expectations in terms of engaging with local minority-owned businesses,” said Raslan. The various tenants at Swift will create more than 150 full-time, permanent jobs.

Eighty percent of businesses at the Swift Factory campus are owned by people of color, including Harriott Home Health Services, serving the Greater Hartford area with home health care services and pioneering the use of telehealth technology in the community. Due to increased need for both care and virtual health services caused by COVID-19, Harriott Home Health Services is growing. It is able to scale its operation into available space at the Swift Factory.

Photo credit: © Robert Benson Photography