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10 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 27, 2024 DEAL WATCH Personal injury law firm RisCassi & Davis moving out of Hartford Hartford law firm RisCassi & Davis is selling its office at 131 Oak St. Fork + Band Slingshot is seeking a special permit to open in Bristol. PHOTO | COSTAR PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com H artford-based personal injury law firm RisCassi & Davis plans to relocate its main office to West Hartford. Managing Partner John J. Houlihan Jr. confirmed that the law firm has acquired 91 South Main St., in West Hartford, and plans to relocate most of its staff to that location, while some employees will also be moved to a newly leased office in Glastonbury. Meantime, the firm has listed for sale its main office in Hartford, at 131 Oak St., where it has been located for 42 years. "Our main office is going to be in West Hartford, hopefully in September," Houlihan told the HBJ. "We're moving out to where the client base has been traditionally, and listening to the client population that in the last 10 or 15 years, has cooled on coming to Hartford." Clients of the 75-year-old firm, he said, "are not the kind of commercial clients that expect to go to down- town Hartford to see their lawyer." Clients located east and west of the Slingshot gallery seeks Bristol location By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com " T his is not the Bart Simpson version of slingshot." That's the disclaimer offered by Andrew "Andy" Cislo, a Ph.D. who is seeking a permit to operate an indoor slingshot shooting gallery in downtown Bristol. Cislo is the owner of Fork + Band Slingshot, which includes not only a shooting gallery, but also a retail shop selling slingshots and accessories. He is seeking a special permit from the city to open and operate the shop in vacant space he hopes to lease at 99 Main St. The location includes 16 parking spaces and about 3,200 square feet of space adjacent to Biker's Edge Cycle Store. A New Jersey native, Cislo opened a "pop-up" shooting gallery at the Meriden mall last November, but it closed in February. He is seeking a permanent space and told the Hart- ford Business Journal that his search led him to Bristol. "We just liked Bristol because it seems, in speaking with people repre- senting the city, that there's a little bit of excitement in the air," he said. "We hope to become a destination." Fork + Band offers slingshot target shooting games and sports. Cislo said the shooting gallery is appropriate "for ages 5 to 95," and designed for safe and rewarding play — and not as a place to take out pent-up aggression. "We're the new face of slingshot," Cislo said. "We're simply doing it our way. What you don't find is aggression. There are no targets that represent people, animals, buildings, cars or anything like that. This is the 'out-with-family' version, or the 'trying-to-impress-your-date' version." He admits the focus reflects his Ph.D. in sociology, which he earned at Florida State University. He worked as a researcher in the area of "quan- titative mental health on a population level," he said. Cislo was already a fan of sling- shot, which he said is a popular recreational activity and competitive sport outside the United States, when he suffered a "major health Connecticut River prefer not to cross the river, he added. "We thought if we had a strong beachhead on both sides of the river, it would best serve us and our clients," Houlihan said. Attorneys will move freely He and his son, Christopher M. Houlihan, who together own Houlihan Realty Partners LLC, acquired the West Hartford office building for $1.06 million on April 25, from Konstantinos and Persefoni Kasolis. Commercial realty firm CBRE has listed RisCassi & Davis' Hartford office for sale, but does not state the setback." He more fully developed his fandom into a hobby that included learning to build slingshots and related equipment. "I took a look at what I was doing and decided that I think I'd be happier with a different course in life," which led to the decision to open the shooting gallery, he said. The proposal for the Bristol loca- tion would accommodate 16 players per session. Participants register in advance online, with sessions typically beginning on the hour. Parents or guardians may observe without participating. According to the application, guests must sign waivers to play and are required to wear safety glasses. Each player receives instruction on using the slingshots, which are fitted with lightweight latex bands that use rubber training ammo. Setups are customized for each player. The location will also feature a retail store carrying slingshot frames and accessories, though no slingshots will be sold to minors. The gallery will not include a food or beverage service, but will sell a selection of packaged snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, Cislo said. Cislo added that he has in the past worked with the criminal justice system, and hopes to expand his business at some point to include programs for at-risk youth. listing price. John Houlihan said the firm will let the market set the price. The two-story brick building was built in 1982, and has 8,900 square feet on a 0.3-acre lot, according to CBRE. It includes a 15-car parking lot, and offers 20 parking spaces across the street. The West Hartford office is less than half the size of the firm's Hart- ford location. According to town property records, 91 South Main St. is a wood-frame building with 4,158 square feet and was appraised at $965,000 in 2023. It is located on 0.44 acres at the corner of South Main Street and Boulevard. The law firm also has offices in Avon and Middletown, and recently leased space in a three-story, 18,000-square-foot Glastonbury office building, at 340 Hebron Ave., that was erected in 2021. Houlihan said the firm has nine active lawyers and three of counsel, as well as 10 to 15 staff members. "We will probably have approxi- mately six lawyers in West Hartford and at least three lawyers in Glaston- bury," he said, adding that attorneys will move freely between the offices. He described the West Hartford office as an old Victorian house with three floors that has only been used for commercial tenants. RisCassi & Davis will now be the only tenant, and the firm will renovate the interior, he said.