Hartford Business Journal

6 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | August 15, 2022 Deal Watch A family of investors from Long Island in December paid $190,000 for an 11,040-square-foot building at 111 Bank St. in Waterbury, formerly home to Tony's Men's Shop. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER Buying multiple downtown Waterbury buildings, New York family sees chance for bargain prices on hidden gems By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A Long Island-based family of investors recently paid $300,000 for the former Webster Bank executive offices in the heart of downtown Waterbury — less than half the orig- inal asking price for the 111-year-old office building. The sale of the 15,984-square-foot property at 132 Grand St. in July is the second bargain purchase in downtown Waterbury in eight months for the Mariolis family. Two additional downtown Waterbury purchases are imminent for a family that expects to get in on the ground floor of the Brass City's central business district. "We are very attracted to downtown Waterbury," said John "Gianni" Mariolis, principal of the limited liability company that made the 132 Grand St. purchase. "We feel it is a nice, historic center and it has a lot of potential." A lot of untapped potential, Mari- olis noted. Once a booming manufacturing metropolis, Waterbury has a down- town with a wealth of charming archi- tecture dating to around the early 1900s. The retail heart of the city has languished for decades as the city's prosperity waned and large shopping centers sucked away customers. A relative bargain Mariolis said he and his father and siblings have many years of experience building and running industrial and office properties — predominantly in Brooklyn, New York. Mariolis said the family began delving into Connecticut as it sought more affordable opportunities. Mariolis said he discovered Waterbury last October while searching for available properties on real estate listing site LoopNet.com. The first properties he explored didn't pan out, but he found a for-sale sign on a vacant four-story building at 111 Bank St., while driving around Waterbury's downtown. In December, the Mariolis family paid $190,000 for the century-old, 11,040-square-foot property. The ground floor housed clothier Tony's Men's Shop for 25 years before it closed in late 2020. Mariolis plans to renovate the upper floors into apartments and keep the first floor as retail space. There are still deals to be had in downtown Waterbury, especially for buyers with the knowledge and wherewithal to perform extensive renovations. Mariolis said his family plans apartment conversions for an 18,630-square-foot office building at 95 North Main St. — just off the downtown Green — and the 23,797-square-foot "Broadcast Center" building at 115 South Main St. Mariolis said his family has purchase-and-sales agreements for both of the long-vacant buildings and anticipates closing before the end of September. Mariolis said his family hopes to make "polished" apartments that draw college students or staff from Waterbury's two hospitals. Millions invested in down- town Waterbury revival Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary said he's happy for the interest. "I'm really grateful to have a few new names come into the downtown with the (development) experience this family has," O'Leary said. The O'Leary administration has steered tens-of-millions of dollars in state and federal grants into down- town Waterbury revitalization over the past 11 years. It has overhauled two public parks, rebuilt roads, replaced underground utilities and beautified some downtown streets- capes. Millions of dollars in additional investment are in the pipeline. Public investments in downtown Waterbury saw increasing confi- dence and some new developer interest before a massive downturn following the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. As in other downtowns, major employers allowed staff to work from home. In Waterbury, that meant an exodus of hundreds of staff

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