The spring of 2011 has seen the sprouting of the commercial flora business in Fairfield County.
“Commercial property landscaping most definitely fell off over the past two years, with everyone tightening their belts. A lot of work was pulled,” said Tony Palmer owner of T. Palmer Landscaping. “The spending is starting to increase now in the business and corporate real estate world. You”™re trying to create a strong impression of a place business is done in Fairfield County; to do that without some form of landscaping is rare. It”™s all about a first impression.”
Palmer is the owner of 30-year-old T. Palmer Landscaping in Westport, which has recently opened a parallel nursery business, Anthony”™s Nursery and Garden Center on Main Street in Westport. Palmer bought the acre nursery property for $1.1 million from his cousin, Frank Palmieri, where it operated since the 1940s as Palmieri”™s Nursery, which closed last spring.
According to Bob Heffernan, executive secretary of Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association, Connecticut is the most landscaped state in the country with landscaping accounting for about 15 percent of the total value of the average home. Production of plants and flowers in Connecticut is an industry that produces $1 billion in sales and amounts for half of the state”™s agricultural production.
“In Connecticut you”™re dealing with a state that has a very high per capita income and high level of education. That”™s a population mix that appreciates good landscaping and gardening whether it is commercial or residential,” Heffernan said. In doing business in the county, he said, professionals expect a properly landscaped facility, and as budgets allow, the commercial landscape world will pick up distinctly as the year goes on.
Palmer said though his residential business remained strong, in the past two years it was typical to see commercial projects pulled off the table during the bidding process.
“This year there”™s signs of life in new commercial work out there,” Palmer said. He said currently commercial work accounts for about 30 percent of his work, up from 20 to 25 percent over late last year.
“There was a bit of life coming into the late fall of last year.”
Palmer said the renewal of the market has prompted him to expand his radius west into the Danbury market and has been licensed to go into Westchester County.
“Our growth parallels the general contractors”™ growth, but our market is not quite as flooded,” said Palmer. He said also with uncertainty still in the market, landscaping can be an affordable option to renew the exterior aesthetics of a building rather than committing to a construction plan.
“Good landscaping can be transformational for a property,” Palmer said. “It”™s an enticing element to many people, and building and business owners know that.”
