Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 19, 2024 9 DEAL WATCH | BUYERS & SELLERS You're Going Places. Is Your Bank Keeping Up? Your business is all about building strong relationships. That's the way we do things here, too. At Torrington Savings Bank, our team is dedicated to providing individualized banking solutions with expert advice at every moment. TorringtonSavings.Bank/ Business (860) 496-4495 Reach out to our experienced business team today. New owner of Glastonbury marina envisions creating 'destination location' T he owner of downtown New Britain's mixed-use luxury apartment property the Assembly Room has purchased a Glastonbury marina, hoping to make environmental and site improvements and turn it into a "destination location." Dan Czyzewski, principal of Newington-based Exclusive Devel- opment LLC, bought the 12-acre marina at 684 Tryon St., in South Glastonbury, at auction for $1.43 million. It has 225 boat slips along the Connecticut River, and was closed at the end of last season. Former owner Royden Cooper, of Epum Marina Partners, in 2021 paid $2.8 million for the site, previously known as Seaboard Marina. An auction of the marina was facilitated on-site in April by Massa- chusetts-based JJ Manning Auctioneers. The marina is open at partial capacity, and Czyzewski said he is in the process of cleaning up the property, including removing aban- doned boats. He also plans to conduct dredging work to improve access to the marina, especially for larger boats, he said. Long-range plans could include adding a restaurant at the marina. The Glastonbury marina at 684 Tryon St. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO WATERBURY A historic downtown Waterbury building could soon be demolished to make way for a five-story, mixed-use apartment building with first-floor retail. The project carries an esti- mated $18 million price tag. A limited liability company operated by Hamden-based developer Michael Belfonti recently sold the nearly two-century-old Miller & Peck building at 43 South Main St., for $125,000. The buyer was Fairfield-based real estate investor Joseph Iannelli. The 24,140-square-foot building has been vacant for years. Iannelli, a former insurance agent turned multifamily real estate investor, said he intends to demolish the building and replace it with a property containing more than 100,000 square feet and an undeter- mined number of rental units. He said he hopes to complete construction within two years. Most of Iannelli's portfolio consists of two-family to four-family rental properties. The Waterbury project would be by far his largest to date. EAST HARTFORD A team of investors pursuing a massive, mixed-use redevelopment of the roughly 50-year-old Founders Plaza office park in East Hartford has walked away from a tentative purchase of one property in the area. Earlier this month, a 25,392-square- foot, 1973-vintage office building at 50 Hartland St., commonly known as 50 Founders Plaza, was listed for sale by O,R&L Commercial, at an asking price of $1.65 million. O,R&L Managing Partner Jay Morris said the developers behind the "Port Eastside" development had been under contract to buy the property, but backed out of the deal, prompting the owner to put it on the market. The investment and development team behind Port Eastside last year announced a grand vision for about 1,000 apartments mixed with retail, medical office, recreational and entertainment spaces in a multiphase redevelopment of Founders Plaza. Last summer, Port Eastside LLC paid $4 million for a 182,890-square- foot office building at 20 Hartland St. (also known as 99 Founders Plaza). Nearly a year later, in late July, Port Eastside paid $7 million for a vacant 70,350-square-foot "flex" office building at 300 East River Drive. The Port Eastside team is also close to purchasing the 270,106-square-foot, 19-story office tower at 323 Pitkin St., known as 111 Founders Plaza, with hopes to trans- form at least portions of the building into apartments. Morris said the three-story office building at 50 Hartland had been partially emptied in anticipation of a sale to the Port Eastside developers. He is marketing the building as an opportunity for redevelopment into apartments. STAMFORD The Link office building in Stam- ford has secured new leases or renewals for more than 300,000 square feet of space. The activity was driven, in part, by a stronger return-to-office effort, the landlord and broker said. Commercial real estate firm JLL said it has brokered five lease deals following $50 million in upgrades to the Stamford office building at 200 Elm St. and 695 East Main St. The deals have increased the 560,000-square-foot property's occu- pancy rate to 92%, with 46,000 square feet of space still available, JLL said. Owner AM Property Holding Group and NorthEast Capital Group said the investment aims to capitalize on employers' return-to-work strategies by creating "high-quality space and robust amenities." JLL Managing Director Gil Ohls and Executive Vice President Matthew Felice served as exclusive leasing brokers for The Link. The recent deals included: • Job-search platform Indeed signed a new 124,180-square-foot lease in the building, where it will move its co-headquarters from another Stamford office, at 177 Broad St., in late 2025. • Henkel, a global manufacturer of consumer and industrial brands, signed a renewal for a reconfig- ured 84,000-square-foot space. • Diageo, the London-based beverage brand that moved to The Link in 2021, signed an early renewal for 57,550 square feet. • Tax, assurance and consulting firm RSM signed a long-term renewal to stay at The Link in a 24,000-square-foot space. • Ascot Group, a global specialty insurer, renewed its 23,944-square- foot lease after initially signing a short-term deal in 2020.

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