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18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 26, 2021 Deal Watch What Can We Do For You? 860.871.1111 www.nemsi.com 55 Gerber Road East, South Windsor, CT 06074 For over 50 years, clients have counted on NEMSI for: HVAC, Plumbing and Process Piping | Electrical Services Energy Management Systems | LEED Certification Programs Design-Build Construction | 24/7/365 Emergency Response Comprehensive Preventive Maintenance Programs NEMS's Recent Awards Include: » ABC Platinum Safety Award » ABC Accredited Quality Contractor (ABC-AQC) » ABC Excellence in Construction Award » ABC Specialty Contractor of the Year » Contracting Business First Place Design/Build Award License #s: E1-0125666 • S1-302974 • P1-203519 F1-10498 • SM1-192 • MC-1134 Offices in: New London | Trumbull | Pawtucket, RI Palmer, MA | Manchester, NH | Albany, NY So You Can Focus On Your Business We focus on your facilities ES_NEMSI HBJ Hlf pg_201221.indd 1 ES_NEMSI HBJ Hlf pg_201221.indd 1 12/21/20 5:05 PM 12/21/20 5:05 PM Hartford relists former Braza restaurant property By Matt Pilon After failing to secure a buyer for a former restaurant property in Hartford's West End in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, city offi cials are giving it another go. Development services offi cials have issued an RFP seeking buyer proposals for 488 Farmington Ave., which previously housed Churrascaria Braza, a Brazilian eatery that closed in 2012. Hartford took the property in 2019 for unpaid taxes. The city, which wants to see a restaurant or entertainment venue in the vacant 4,600-square-foot building, sought buyer offers last May, just weeks after Connecticut had hit its peak in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, and about a month before Gov. Ned Lamont allowed indoor dining to return at limited capacity. That effort was unsuccessful, but the restaurant sector is facing a more positive outlook today thanks to COVID-19 vaccines and the lifting of all indoor dining restrictions. RFP submissions for the property, which is valued at $688,300, are due Aug. 10. The former Churrascaria Braza space at 488 Farmington Ave., in Hartford. 51 Gabb Road, Bloomfi eld. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | COSTAR Brooklyn investor acquires Hebrew Academy property in Bloomfi eld As it prepares to relocate to West Hartford, the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford has sold its longtime Bloomfi eld campus to a Brooklyn investor for $2.3 million. According to land records, 555 Equities LLC, headed by Gershon Eichorn, bought the 36,100-square- foot, three-story building at 51 Gabb Road in late June. It wasn't immediately clear what changes might be in store for the nearly nine-acre property. A request for comment to Eichorn's fi rm Up Realty was not returned, but Eichorn is an apartment investor with holdings in New York, Connecticut and other states. Up Realty sold a fi ve-building portfolio in Queens earlier this year for $25 million, according to Real Estate Weekly. In central Connecticut, entities controlled by Eichorn own fi ve properties containing more than 200 apartments, according to CoStar. That includes 60 units at 1380- 1390 East St. in New Britain, 32 units at 12-16 Groton St. in Hartford and the 73-unit Vernon Pines complex in Vernon. The Gabb Road property has been home to Hebrew Academy since it relocated there from Hartford in 1974. Formed in 1940, Hebrew Academy billed itself as the oldest Jewish day school in the United States. In 2019, it merged with Hebrew High School of New England in West Hartford, forming a single preschool- to-grade-12 entity called New England Jewish Academy. The two schools have each operated out of their respective locations since then, but Hebrew Academy will move in with Hebrew High School at its 300 Bloomfi eld Ave. campus in West Hartford for the start of the 2021-2022 school year, according to the New England Jewish Academy's website.