Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 5, 2024 7 DEAL WATCH | BUYERS & SELLERS Wayfair is subleasing 695 East Hartford Blvd. North, in East Hartford. WATERBURY/WATERTOWN Waterbury-based Forum Contract Manufacturing will shortly launch construction of an 80,000-square- foot new headquarters facility in Watertown, following the company's purchase of nearly 25 acres off privately-owned Seemar Road. The undeveloped industrial lot in Watertown sold in late July for $2.1 million, according to David Theroux, principal of Drubner Commer- cial Real Estate Services, which brokered the deal. Forum makes plastic compo- nents for the medical, military and industrial markets. It currently works out of a 45,000-square-foot leased facility on Progress Lane in Waterbury, and employs more than 100 people. According to Theroux, the Watertown location offers enough room for the planned 80,000-square-foot building, as well as a subsequent 80,000-square-foot expansion, if needed. Watertown offered a five-year tax abatement to help lure the company, which conducted a multi-town search for its new headquarters. CHESHIRE/PLAINVILLE A small Cheshire warehouse near the Waterbury city line recently sold for $1.2 million and will shortly become the new home of contractor Connecticut Dry Basements. Living Foods Properties LLC in July sold the 7,600-square-foot metal warehouse on 1 acre at 2091 Meriden Road to Danolas Properties LLC. The buying LLC's principal, Richard Taylor, of Southington, owns Connecticut Dry Basements, which currently operates out of a Plainville location. Taylor said he plans to move his entire company to the Cheshire building over the coming six months, following some renovations. "We've been looking for a new location for a few years now because we have outgrown our old one," Taylor said. Taylor said he started Connecticut Dry Basements in his garage 15 years ago. Today, he employs 13 people and expects to continue growing. The company serves clients in Connecticut, Massachu- setts and Rhode Island. "Every year we just get bigger and bigger based on that 100-year storm that seems to come once a month now," Taylor said. JD Altobello, of Trophy Proper- ties, brokered for the seller. The buyer was represented by Tim Stewart, of Reno Properties. EAST HAVEN An East Haven warehouse has been sold to a linen services company that is relocating from nearby West Haven. Spotless Linens LLC in July paid $1.35 million for the property at 133 Commerce St. Spotless has been leasing space in West Haven for roughly five years, but will soon move into the larger 18,000-square-foot building in East Haven, according to Cold- well Banker Realtor Joe Scarpellino, who brokered the deal. The seller was A&G Develop- ments, which bought the property for $650,000 in August 2020, according to town land records. The warehouse had been leased by a gluten-free food company, but was vacant for a year, Scarpellino said. Spotless will invest in some building renovations before moving in by early fall. BLOOMFIELD A national roofing company with an East Hartford office has leased a building in Bloomfield where it plans to fabricate pre-manufac- tured roof panels, according to a zoning application. Tecta America New England LLC is seeking a special permit and site plan approval for a change in use of the Bloomfield building at 420 Woodland Ave. Tecta's Connecticut office is currently located at 105 Cherry St., in East Hartford. Tecta plans to use the 21,156-square-foot Bloomfield facility to fabricate sheet metal roof edging. It would install a manual brake machine used to bend sheet metal, according to the application. The facility would have five office workers and 18 operations personnel, the application states. Illinois-based Tecta America Corp., which has more than 90 locations across the country, has its New England headquarters in Massachusetts. WALLINGFORD A new drive-thru only coffee shop in Wallingford is preparing to debut in the coming months, but its presence can already be seen. Arkansas-based 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee recently installed its new 510-square-foot prefabricated building at 905 North Colony Road, in Wallingford. Company officials said they're currently hiring staff for the new location, which will employ 50 people and is expected to open in September. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Wayfair seeks users for new 1.2M-sq.-ft. East Hartford warehouse A 1.2-million-square-foot logistics building recently completed at Rentschler Field in East Hartford is looking for new users, a sign that online furniture retailer Wayfair may not come to town after all. In March 2023, National Development announced that Wayfair and Lowe's Home Improvement would occupy, respectively, 1.2 million- square-foot and 1.3 million-square-foot warehouses the Massachu- setts-based real estate investor was building at Rentschler Field. Wayfair in late 2022 inked a 12-year lease with National Development for the property now known as 695 East Hartford Boulevard North. This past November, Wayfair acknowledged it was seeking to sublet half the 1.2-million-square-foot building. Now, the entire building is being marketed for sublease by Cushman & Wakefield. Wayfair has been in cost-cutting mode. In January, it announced it would lay off 1,650 employees, or 13% of its workforce amid financial struggles. At the time, Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah posted an open letter saying the company "went overboard in hiring" during the pandemic, which contributed to a surge in business. An architect's drawing of the revised Elmwood Lofts mixed-use apartments development on New Britain Avenue in West Hartford. CONTRIBUTED WEST HARTFORD A developer planning a mixed-use redevelopment in West Hartford's Elmwood neighborhood has reduced the number of apart- ments to be included in the project. Sami Abunasra last year received site plan approval for a five-story building that would include 150 apartments with restaurant and retail space at 1051-1061 New Britain Ave. The property includes the vacant former Puritan Furniture store, which closed in 2020 after 88 years in business. Abunasra, who is still working on obtaining project financing, has received approval to reduce the number of apartments from 150 to 117, about 20% of which will be affordable. Abunasra said reducing the number of apart- ments was necessary after it was determined that building an underground parking garage would not be feasible because of a high water table. The building will still include restaurant and retail space.

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