Hinckley Allen is proud to announce that Andrea L. Gomes, a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Group, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network Impact Award for Economic and Community Improvement. This national honor recognizes CREW members whose work on real estate projects has had a significant and measurable positive impact on their communities.
Andrea was recognized for her leadership in advancing the development of the Root Center for Advanced Recovery’s new behavioral health clinic in Hartford, Connecticut, a multi-million dollar project that will expand access to critical substance use and mental health services across the region. The new, state-of-the-art facility replaces an outdated clinic and serves more than 1,600 patients daily, offering counseling, medical care, and recovery programs in a dignified, modern space designed to reduce stigma and support long-term wellness.
As land use counsel for the Root Center, Andrea played a pivotal role in overcoming complex regulatory and zoning challenges that initially prohibited substance use rehabilitation clinics within the city. She successfully led an effort to amend Hartford’s zoning regulations, ensuring such facilities would be recognized as a special permit use, and subsequently secured all local approvals necessary to advance construction. When a last-minute condition imposed by the Planning and Zoning Commission threatened to reduce on-site parking and restrict access for patients, Andrea negotiated a settlement that restored the necessary capacity, protecting the clinic’s ability to provide care in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
“This project represents what I love most about my work, using the law to help communities remove barriers to care and create spaces where people can heal and thrive. It’s deeply meaningful to know that the Root Center’s new clinic will expand access to treatment and stand as a reminder that recovery deserves dignity,” Andrea said.
Andrea joined Hinckley Allen in 2021 and was promoted to partner in 2024. Beyond her practice, she is a past president of CREW Connecticut (2022) and a member of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Planning and Zoning Section. She also serves as a commissioner on the West Hartford Town Plan & Zoning / Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Agency, and is a member of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Central Connecticut and the National Association of Home Builders, where she contributes to the Legal Action Committee and the Land Use Policy Subcommittee. Just this summer, she was named to Hartford Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty List.