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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 25, 2024 7 DEAL WATCH DEAL WATCH | BUYERS & SELLERS Enjet has grown by acquiring other manufacturers, but prefers not to keep its capital locked up in real estate. With the Manchester sale, Enjet now owns just one of its nine locations, Ferraro said. The company is actively seeking more aerospace manufacturers to buy, he said. "The business is growing," Ferraro said. "We are adding equipment and trying to staff up the off-shifts. In the aerospace industry, supply is short and demand is high, so it's a good time to be a supplier in this space." Enjet acquired the 1971-vintage, light manufacturing building on 5.4 acres in Manchester when it bought Spartan Aerospace in 2022. At the time, Enjet paid $4.5 million for the property, according to town assessment records. Enjet currently operates four Connecticut manufacturing sites in Manchester, Bloomfield, Newington and New Britain. The company employs more than 800, all in the U.S. Spartan had around 80 employees when it was acquired. Today, Enjet employs about 115 at the Manchester factory, and is looking to hire several more, Ferraro said. Most Spartan employees have stayed on, including former President Allan Lehrer. Ferraro said Enjet is seeing increased demand from both the commercial and military markets, which makes it something of an unusual time. Typically, one sector sees rising demand, while the other lags, he said. Airlines are seeking more capacity, but also are pushing for more fuel efficiency, Ferraro said. This helps airlines bolster per-flight profits and meet carbon reduction regulations in the various jurisdictions in which they operate, he noted. "There's more demand than there is supply right now," Ferraro said. "The customers, the airlines, would love to have more capacity right now." Historic downtown former Simsbury Bank HQ listed for sale A historic downtown Simsbury office building, which used to be the headquarters of the former Simsbury Bank, has hit the market. The Landmark Building, at 760 Hopmeadow St., has been listed with a $1.4 million asking price. The two-story, 14,092-square-foot Colonial Revival office building was erected in 1918 for Simsbury Bank, which occupied the property for decades. The building in the 1970s served as a town hall. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In 1994, it was completely restored by a new owner, and additional capital improvements were made about 10 years ago, according to the listing from Geena Becker, of The Geena Becker Team with William Raveis. The property, which is fully leased to various small busi- ness tenants, most recently traded hands in 2014, when it was purchased for $1.1 million by plastic surgeon Patrick Felice and David A. Richman, owner of Richman Business Brokerage & Insurance LLC, a tenant in the building. The Landmark Building, at 760 Hopmeadow St., in Simsbury. PHOTO | COSTAR NEW HAVEN A Connecticut-based commercial real estate management firm has become an ownership partner with the Knights of Columbus in a major New Haven office building that is a key component of the city's Long Wharf Maritime Center. Water Street took over operational control of the 252,000-square-foot building at 545 Long Wharf Drive on Nov. 1, and will relocate its headquarters from Guilford to a 4,500-square- foot suite in the building by Dec. 1. Water Street currently owns and manages 18 commercial real estate assets, and has offices in New Haven and San Antonio, Texas. The Knights of Columbus will remain part owner and a major tenant in the building. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The property has a total appraised value of nearly $43.9 million, according to city records. The Knights of Columbus bought it for $12.8 million in 2020. The building previ- ously sold for $40 million in 2007, according to city records. Evan O'Brien, a senior director at real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, arranged the sale of the partial interest and has been retained as the leasing agent for the building. The building is currently 55% leased, with the Knights of Columbus occupying 32,000 square feet. Other tenants include the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, in roughly 30,000 square feet, Ameriprise, Barclay Damon, Morgan Stanley and Tek Systems, O'Brien said. Raising cash for growth, Kansas-based Enjet Aero completes $6.3M sale-leaseback of Manchester industrial building 41 Progress Drive, Manchester. PHOTO | COSTAR By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A Kansas aerospace manufac- turer that acquired Manches- ter-based Spartan Aerospace in 2022 recently sold that company's 66,000-square-foot industrial building for $6.3 million. But Enjet Aero is not exiting its Manchester operations. The privately-owned company has signed a 10-year lease with Eastern Real Estate, the Boston-based realty investment and development firm that bought Enjet's manufac- turing facility at 41 Progress Drive. That lease also allows for two, five-year extensions. Enjet Chief Financial Officer Chris- topher Ferraro said the sale provides liquidity that will be invested in facilities to meet growing demand. "We're there for the long haul," Ferraro said. "We love the business and the building. There are just so many opportunities for us to invest in manufacturing and the aerospace industry that the terms we sold it at made a lot of sense for us." Christopher Ferraro DANBURY A hotel near the Danbury Fair Mall is for sale for $6.25 million, according to a listing from Coldwell Banker Commercial Realty. The 76,000-square-foot Maron Hotel & Suites, at 42 Lake Ave. Ext. in Danbury, contains 86 guest rooms and 18,000 square feet of retail space, including existing long-term tenants Chase Bank and UPS Store. Built in 1989 and renovated in 1999, the brick structure contains an atrium and fitness center. The hotel also contains 11 extended-stay suites, four conference rooms and a banquet facility. The property is owned by Mill Plain Center Limited, a business controlled by the late Albert J. Salame, a longtime Danbury entrepreneur who died last November at 89. BERLIN Two Connecticut-based firms with national portfolios are teaming up on a proposed 80-unit affordable senior housing development in Berlin. O'Riordan Migani Architects of Seymour and Simsbury-based Vesta Corp. have entered into an agreement with the town to purchase for roughly $500,000 the former Knights of Columbus property at 143 Percival Ave., and build the multiphase project. The proposed plan, which still needs town approval, calls for two, three-story buildings, each with 40 units and parking. Phase one includes constructing one building, a management office and community room plus parking. Phase two includes the second three-story, 40-unit building.