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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 7 DEAL WATCH DEAL WATCH | BUYERS & SELLERS $100M mixed-use development eyed for Enfield's riverfront By Hanna Snyder Gambini hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com T wo prominent local devel- opers want to redevelop part of the Connecticut riverfront in Enfield with new apartments, retail and a waterfront park. Lewis Brown and Gregory Vaca of HGRE Ventures, a partnership between Avon-based Honeycomb Real Estate Partners and Grava Properties of West Hartford, have presented preliminary plans to the Enfield Town Council for the Enfield Station development – a $100 million, two-phase project that would bring more than 300 apartments to the riverfront section of Thompsonville. The first phase would create a four-story residential building with upwards of 165 market-rate apart- ments, a portion of which would be affordable. Phase two will include another building similar in size and design, roughly 150,000 square feet, with 150 to 160 apartments and likely some commercial space, ideally a restau- rant with river views, Vaca said. Key to the development, which is planned for a 3.24-acre brownfield site at 33 North River St., is its proximity to Enfield's new multimodal transit hub, where work on the future Amtrak Hartford Line train station is expected to begin next year. The development property is the former Bigelow Carpet manufacturing plant, which has been underutilized since the mid-1970s, suffering from years of neglect and contamination, the developers said. While Vaca and Brown have not yet submitted a formal site plan application for the project, they have been meeting with town officials on the development. The town council has authorized Enfield's town manager to seek a brownfield remediation grant of up to $4 million from the state Department of Economic and Community Devel- opment for site cleanup, an early step in the redevelopment process. Previous environmental work on the site identified contaminants that will need to be remediated, said Vaca, who is founder and president of Grava. A rendering of the proposed residential development at 33 North River St., Enfield. 550 Marshall Phelps Road, Windsor. PHOTO | COSTAR The project is an example of transit-oriented development that will provide a "high-quality housing community near a major transit hub, … while revitalizing and returning to the community a beautiful stretch of Connecticut riverfront," according to the development team, which also includes New Haven-based Newman Architects. The developers are working on a purchase-and-sale agreement with owners of the North River Street property, and will also seek to acquire an additional parcel, currently owned by Eversource, for the project's second phase. Vaca said the team will pursue other public funding options as well as private financing. Brown and Honeycomb's portfolio includes the conversion of the old West Hartford Inn into The Camelot affordable housing project, and The Monarch affordable housing project in New Haven. Vaca is in the process of building another transit-adjacent develop- ment, the Founders Square project in Windsor Center, that will feature a mix of apartments and retail near the train station. Switzerland housewares manufacturer Bodum buys Windsor warehouse for $15M T he American arm of Switzerland-based housewares manu- facturer and distributor Bodum has purchased a Windsor warehouse for $14.96 million. New York-based Bodum USA Inc. this month bought a 226,429-square-foot warehouse on 29.7 acres at 550 Marshall Phelps Road from a limited liability company tied to Hartford-based Sardilli Produce & Dairy Co. Sardilli paid $9.5 million for the warehouse nearly five years ago. In 2019, Sardilli representatives told Windsor officials the company planned to invest millions of dollars into the Marshall Phelps Road facility as a prelude to eventually relocating its operations there. It's not clear what happened to Sardilli's planned move to the Windsor property. The company, which lists a Hartford address at 212 Locust St. on its website, didn't return a call seeking comment. Bodum makes coffee and tea products, including its well-known French Press coffee maker, and other household accessories. NEW BRITAIN A family investment team from Mystic recently paid $1.92 million for a 124-year-old, 14-unit apartment building in downtown New Britain. "I think overall, New Britain is an up-and-coming downtown area," said 30-year-old Warren Lorenz, of Boston, principal of the limited liability company that bought the "Rao Building" at 160 Main St. "The area has a lot of opportu- nity for growth." Lorenz is partnered in the deal with his brother, 33-year-old Kent Lorenz, of East Lyme, and their parents, Perry and Felicia Lorenz, of Mystic. This acquisition brings the family portfolio up to 105 apartment units in Connecticut and Providence, Warren Lorenz said. Prolific developer Avner Krohn acquired the five-story, 16,406-square-foot Rao Building from the city of New Britain in 2007 and converted the upper floors from office space to apartments. Krohn sold the property in 2019 for $2.07 million to a limited liability company headed by Miriam Gable, of New York. Lorenz said his family plans to renovate and refresh the building. "We want to make it so when you walk through the doors, everything feels brand new, inside and out," Lorenz said. HARTFORD A Hartford apartment building on the outskirts of downtown has sold for $38 million, making it one of the region's largest multifamily sales of the year. The 214-unit Element 250 apartment complex at 250 Main St. sold in August. The buyer was Element 250 Holdings LLC, which is controlled by Mordy Chopp, who lists a Lakewood, New Jersey business address. The seller was 250 Main Associates LLC, which is controlled by Yechezkel Landau, who also has a Lakewood, New Jersey business address. The property includes 182 two-bed- room units and 32 one-bedroom apart- ments. It was built in 1988 and sits on 2.08 acres. WATERBURY A 21-unit apartment building and neigh- boring retail property in downtown Water- bury recently sold for nearly $2 million. Wayne, New Jersey-based Klamke Trading Waterbury LLC this month paid $1.97 million for the 1938-vintage, four- story brick apartment building at 325 East Main St., and a neighboring 124-year-old, 3,712-square-foot retail and storage building at 317 East Main St. The principal of the seller – 325 East Main Street LLC – is Kim Opperman, of West Hartford. The properties last sold in 2015 for $825,000, city records show. The new owner is converting a portion of 317 East Main St. into three efficiency apartments, said Amanda Faroni- Sheehan, a broker with Oxford Realty Group who brokered the deal.