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28 n e w h a v e n B I Z | A p r i l 2 0 2 3 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m B u y e r s & S e l l e r s Middletown apartment complexes fetch $94M Two large apartment complexes in Middletown, with a combined 518 units, were recently sold for $94 mil- lion. San Francisco-based Hamilton Zanze purchased Middletown Brooke and Middletown Ridge apartments for $62.7 million in March 2018. e group sold the two properties to Jones Street for $47 million each in a Feb. 27 deal. Middletown Brooke, at 100 Town Brooke, was built in 1989, and has 280 one- and two-bedroom units averaging 812 square feet. Amenities at both complexes include a leasing office, clubroom, fitness cen- ter, racquetball courts, swimming pool, dog park, barbecue areas and a carport. Middletown Ridge, at 100 Town Ridge Road, was built in 1988 and has 236 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units averaging 1,066 square feet. During their ownership, Hamilton Zanze made improvements including unit upgrades, additions to the amenity package, repaving, HVAC replacements and other exterior improvements. Anthony Ly, senior director of dispo- sitions at Hamilton Zanze, said "Both properties … represented an opportu- nity for immediate scale and to im- prove the resident experience through unit renovations and property-wide improvements." Hamilton Zanze, founded in 2001, is a private, San Francisco-based real estate investment company that owns and operates apartment communities, having acquired more than $6.2 billion in multifamily assets primarily in the western, southwestern, and eastern U.S. e company reports it currently owns and operates 132 properties with 22,821 units across 17 states and 30 markets. 100 Town Brooke, Middletown PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED State Street mixed-use project underway A New Haven apartment building that began with a derelict lot and a stretch of abandoned street got a few shovelfuls closer to completion with a March groundbreaking ceremony at 793 State St. Developer Alex Opuszynski gathered dignitaries and family members to mark the start of construction on the site of a 17-unit complex, which will house 15 apartments and two retail spaces. Designers and architects on the proj- ect took care to create a structure that will fit into the neighborhood of older homes and small businesses, he said. Two of the apartments will be set aside as affordable, with the rest to be rented at market rate, he said. e new building is also unique in that it will rise in part on land once paved as a section of Pulaski Street, abandoned aer it was cut off by con- struction of Interstate 91. e fenced- off section of street and a derelict building sat for years at the site, long considered the most blighted in the area, Alder Eli Sabin said. Opuszynski said he had also launched a new company, Atlas Build- ing and Consulting, which has also been active on developments in New Britain. His Vanguard Private Client Group real estate company will occu- py retail frontage in the State Street building. Grilled cheese shop coming to Wallingford A trio of area restaurateurs and busi- nessmen are embarking on a new ven- ture in Wallingford, Caseus Provisions, a brick-and-mortar specialty shop and grilled cheese quick service restaurant. e new business debuted at 619 Center St. in March. Two brothers, Jason and Tom Sobo- cinski, along with Chris McMahon are co-owners and partners in the venture, while Joe Meagher serves as its director of operations. Caseus Provisions brings the offer- ings of the established Crispy Melty food truck to a brick-and-mortar cafe. e new specialty shop will have fresh- ly-made sandwiches to go, and will sell pre-ordered cheese and charcuterie platters and products such as cheese, chocolates, pickles, vinegar and pasta. Items from businesses such as Mystic Cheese Co., Cato Corner Farms and Arethusa Farms will be for sale, too. Jason Sobocinski, a Hamden resi- dent, said the team's food truck travels statewide, and they decided to set up a regular shop where customers can get their sandwiches and other offerings. He has appeared on the Cooking Chan- nel, and wrote e Caseus Fromagerie Bistro Cookbook. For years, he ran his own cheese shop with an adjoining restaurant, Caseus Fromagerie Bistro, in New Haven. He is also a co-founder of Haven Hot Chicken. He and his brother Tom have had multiple business ventures, including Black Hog Brewing in Oxford. e new business is in a 600-square- foot space, and it will be open Wednes- days through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Best Buy closes Orange store Best Buy has closed its latest Con- necticut store in Orange at 53 Boston Post Road, following the 2021 closure of the company's Enfield location. e closures come as the company continues to downsize its "large format" store footprint across the country. e company announced during its fourth quarter 2022 earnings call on March 2 that it plans to close an average of 15 to 20 traditional large-format stores per year going forward. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said the company has closed approximately 70 large-format stores over the past three years. e company also opened four new stores and relocated six stores in that period. For fiscal year 2024 specifically, Barry said the company plans to close be- tween 20 to 30 large-format stores, and open 10 new outlet stores. Hamden industrial building sold for nearly $1M An industrial building in Hamden has sold for close to $1 million. Westport-based IMAG LLC and principal Anatoliy Gurevich bought the property at 110 Webb St. for $935,000 from West Haven-based 110 Webb Street LLC. e 12,675-square-foot light indus- trial warehouse sits on just under half an acre and was built in 1965. e new owners are renovating the half-acre property by adding finished office space, a kitchen and bathrooms, to relist for both sales and lease space. Michael Richetelli, president and des- ignated broker of Colonial Properties, Inc., represented the seller. e buyer was represented by Kosta Eliopoulos of Colonial Properties. 100 Webb St., Hamden PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED 192 units planned in Milford A local developer is planning a mixed-use revamp of a plaza along Bridgeport Avenue in Milford to include several multi-family buildings and 192 apartments. e Milford Planning and Zoning Commission in early March approved applicant and owner Casey Associ- ates Limited Partnership of Milford's proposed regulation change and special permit with site plan review. e subdivision plan includes split- ting 20 acres at 589 Bridgeport Ave., Milford, into two parcels. One lot has two buildings, a fast-food restaurant and pharmacy, which would stay relatively unchanged. e other parcel, which also has two buildings, would see a more drastic redevelopment. Plans include partially demolishing part of a smaller building to build a new restaurant. e larger building on that site would be demolished, and six, three-story, multi-family apartment buildings along with a clubhouse, pool and other amenities will be constructed there. e regulation change application will change the maximum units per acre from 17 to 18, and reduce the minimum amount of land required for multifamily residential buildings from 12 acres to 10 acres. e retail parcel will have more than 500 parking spaces with 51 electric vehicle charging stations. e residen- tial site will have 357 spaces, with 36 of them for electric vehicles. e property, co-owned by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Madison Properties, has a total appraised value of $8.7 million. A sketch of plans for 589 Bridgeport Ave., Milford IMAGE | CONTRIBUTED $40M Bridgeport multi-family portfolio sold A New York real estate investor has purchased more than a dozen multi- unit properties around Bridgeport for $39.6 million. Eastern Union commercial real estate mortgage brokerages arranged more than $28 million in financing for the acquisition of a 437-unit, multi-family portfolio that includes 13 properties in Bridgeport. e properties include 1590 Barnum Ave., which has 17 units; 299 Berkshire Ave., with 24 units, and 1465 East Main St., with 46 units. Also included in the Feb. 14 deal were 30 Granfield Ave., with 15 units; 17 units at 80 Granfield Ave.; 850 and 1054 Hancock Ave., both 15 units; 1575 Iranistan Ave., with 28 units; 2209- 2225 Main St., with 179 units; 898-930 Norman St., with 28 units; 644-654 Park St., with 18 units; 85 Price St., with 17 units; and 340 Putnam St., with 18 units. According to city records, the buyer is Merritt Apts. LLC, Putman Heights LLC and Square Apts. LLC, all of which are controlled by Abraham Gottesman of Brooklyn and Monsey, N.Y. 1590 Barnum Ave., Bridgeport PHOTO | COSTAR

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