Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 28, 2025 7 DE AL WATCH downtown Hartford, at 385 Main St., that long ago had been converted into 28 apartments and three storefronts. Sarot said he has subsequently spent more than $1 million on repairs and renovations. Later in 2023, Sarot paid $3.4 million for three adjacent north Hartford apartment buildings with a combined 42 units. In June, he closed an $840,000 purchase of eight apartment units in three buildings on Prospect Street in Hartford, right on the West Hartford border. Sarot said he was drawn to Connecticut by the relatively afford- able investment opportunities and the potential to add value through renova- tions and hands-on management. Now, Sarot is turning his attention to larger deals. He's exploring the conversion of a senior living facility into roughly 200 apartments and working to finalize the purchase of another apartment complex of similar size. Both prospective deals are in Greater Hartford, he said. Middletown's Charles IT restoring former pharmacy into high-tech HQ By Harriet Jones hjones@hartfordbusiness.com M iddletown-based Charles IT is consolidating its headquarters into a promi- nent downtown building at the corner of Main and Union streets. The company, which was estab- lished in 2006 when founder Foster Charles was still attending Middletown High School, provides IT security services for high-compliance companies in the healthcare, finance, insurance and other industries. It's been consistently experiencing 20% to 30% annual growth, Charles said, allowing the company to expand its Middletown employee count to 130. Charles IT recently opened a second office in Stamford with an additional 25 employees. Charles said his Middletown staff are currently spread across two different leased properties in town, as the company renovates the former Rite Aid pharmacy at 10 Main St. "I've always been interested in owning a place on Main Street, and so I've looked at probably half the buildings," Charles said. He bought the 30,000-square-foot property in 2023 for $5 million. The company is working on a full renovation with architects Quisen- berry Arcari Malik, contractor Olsen Construction and Sachem Construc- tion Consulting. Mondo's Pizza, which currently occupies part of the prem- ises, will stay. "I want something visually stimu- lating for Main Street," said Charles. "Nobody's maintained the building. It was rough, and I just wanted to put the love and care back into it." The interior will be reconstructed with a mezzanine level and include stadium seating around a central jumbotron screen, a vision that was inspired by a visit to Madison Square Garden. "We want to make it highly, highly functional for our needs as a tech company, but also fun and true to the Charles IT culture," said Julia Orosz, an executive assistant who is coordinating the project. The renovation is slated to be completed by early 2026. Renderings of Charles IT's new Middletown headquarters, at 10 Main St., which will feature stadium seating around a central jumbotron screen. Contributed Images

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