Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | April 11, 2022 Industrial Rebirth With private investment, Bristol's former Theis Precision Steel site sees new life By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com W hen Theis Precision Steel ceased operations at its Bristol complex in 2019, city officials had to focus on something municipalities across the state and country have been grappling with for years: returning a former manufacturing facility to its former glory and replacing hundreds of jobs. But while many industrial hulks have sat vacant in Connecticut cities and towns for years, even decades, Bristol is making relatively quick headway in bringing the former Theis site back to life. The property is broken into separate parcels at 300 and 340 Broad St., and contains more than 300,000 square feet of industrial/ manufacturing/distribution space. In February, New York real estate development and construction firm Stillman Development International purchased the three-building parcel at 300 Broad St. for $1 million, with plans to renovate the space and lease it to new tenants. And last year, Chicago-based manufacturer Combined Metals purchased the adjacent 340 Broad St. property, which includes the former Theis tower, for $350,000, with plans to expand its steel processing and distribution business at the site. City and real estate experts say red hot demand for industrial space is helping drive activity at the property, and could provide hope for other communities looking to revive defunct manufacturing spaces. "The site itself is very significant for the city," said Justin Malley, Bristol's executive director of economic and community development. "All properties are important to us, but we don't have many very large properties with that sort of square footage that are industrial or distribution in nature." Modernization effort When Theis closed its Bristol plant in 2019 it only had about 30 to 35 remaining local employees. Theis' German corporate parent company sold the operation to private investment group TPS Acquisition in 2014; the company employed about 90 people at that time before scaling down. But in the facility's heyday decades ago, Bristol city officials said, the plant had several hundred workers. "There were significant folks who lost their jobs at that point," Malley said. "When something like that happens, what we want to do is come in and help in any way that we can." Malley said his team took meetings with interested parties over the last two years trying to find a suitor for the property. Combined Metals entered the scene in 2021. The company, which processes and distributes specialized metals, purchased the 150-foot tower building midway through last year. "Their steel operation is fairly specific, and the tower really is what Combined was looking for," Malley said. The city does offer tax abatements and grants to encourage economic development, but so far none have been approved to parties involved in the redevelopment of the Theis Precision Steel property. Combined Metals touts itself as the largest independent processor and distributor of precision flat-rolled steel and specialty metal products. Alice Stengel, the company's director of marketing, said Combined Metals was attracted to the Bristol property because the tower contains a vertical Ebner annealing furnace, which heats steel to high temperatures so it's malleable. "This really expands our capacity to roll metal," Stengel said. Stengel said a skeleton crew has been working at the facility to get machinery online, and the company has also been performing landscaping, clearing parking areas, and generally revamping the site. She declined to disclose how much the company is investing in the property. "We've made some upgrades to the facility while we continue to get the mill online," Stengel said, adding that work should be finished in the coming months. Stengel said the large machinery at the site doesn't require a lot of manpower or regular maintenance, so the company's employee count in Bristol won't be huge. It plans to employ up to 20 people when everything is up and running, she said. New inventory Stillman Development is taking a different approach with its section of the property, hoping to rehab it and then find new tenants. President Roy Stillman said the three buildings it purchased at 300 Broad St., were erected in the early 1900s, so significant upgrades need to be done to modernize it for the 21st century. "At its best, this was a three-shift employer right smack in the middle The Theis Precision Steel site in Bristol ceased operations in 2019, but two separate investors have bought different sections of the property to bring them back to life. PHOTO | COSTAR Justin Malley The Theis Precision Steel site in Bristol is broken into separate parcels at 300 and 340 Broad St. PHOTO | COSTAR

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