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6 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 20, 2025 Deal Watch Sami Abunasra sits in an Ashley Outlet store he opened in the former Macy's anchor location at Waterbury's Brass Mill Center mall. Abunasra says he is having trouble filling the remaining space in the 161,744-square-foot portion of the mall. HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever Redevelopment Hurdles Plans to remake portions of Waterbury's Brass Mill Center mall stalled by easement restrictions, weak tenant demand 196,496-square-foot open-air shopping plaza at 235 Union St., for $26 million. Although smaller, the open-air plaza is far more vibrant, with almost no vacancies. Both properties were purchased by a partnership between New York investor Mehran Kohansieh and London-based Summit Properties, a multibillion-dollar real estate investment firm with roots in Israel. Summit later bought out Kohansieh's stake and now owns both properties outright. Summit officials say they were drawn to the Waterbury properties by their central location, relatively low purchase price and redevelopment potential — particularly given growing national interest in mixed-use proj- ects combining residential, retail and entertainment uses. "We believe these are properties that present a very good future and good opportunities for us and for shoppers," said Denis Nejaz, Summit's chief operating officer. Nejaz said the open-air Brass Mill Commons plaza is now largely full, and Summit is investing in new land- scaping, building repairs, and upgrades to sidewalks and parking areas. He did not disclose an exact figure for the work, but said the investment "could very well be in the millions." Next, the company plans to focus on improvements inside the enclosed mall, said Nejaz, who declined to discuss Summit's interactions with Abunasra. He also didn't disclose the mall's occupancy rate. On a recent Monday afternoon visit, at least half of the storefronts at the Brass Mill Center appeared shuttered — either vacant behind glass doors or closed off with metal security screens. Escalators at both ends of the mall were out of service, forcing shoppers to use them as stairs. Still, Nejaz said Summit sees poten- tial to fill those empty spaces with food, entertainment, coworking and lifestyle tenants that could help restore foot traffic. The company has hired a new marketing professional who will be based at the Waterbury mall to help attract new tenants. "We have some good plans in the works and will have that box filled up in the upcoming months," Nejaz said, adding that Summit is prepared to make investments and offer lease incentives to bring the property "back to better days." Nejaz said he could not comment on any specific plans to add housing to the site, though he called residential "an opportunity." Summit has incor- porated apartments into several of its mixed-use properties elsewhere. Retail uncertainty Nationally, retail real estate demand has softened in recent quarters. Retailers gave back about 6.5 million square feet of leased space in the second quarter of this year, following 7.1 million square feet returned in the first quarter — the worst two-quarter stretch since 2020, according to a market report from Cushman & Wakefield. The firm said shifting federal trade By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A little more than two years after buying the former Macy's building at Waterbury's Brass Mill Center mall, West Hartford entrepre- neurs Sami and Dr. Nazeeh Abunasra are still struggling to bring their redevel- opment plans to life. The brothers — owners of Ashley Home- stores in Newington and Manchester — acquired the 161,744-square-foot vacant anchor space on the mall's eastern edge for $3.3 million in July 2023. They don't own the rest of Brass Mill Center, which is controlled by a different investment group, Summit Properties. When the deal closed, the Abunasras had ambitious plans. They quickly opened an Ashley Outlet in about 30,000 square feet of the building, while marketing the remaining space to prospective tenants. They also envisioned adding about 10,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space across three free- standing buildings in the surrounding parking lot, aiming to attract national and regional brands. The goal, Abunasra said, was to transform the site's 11.45 acres into a more vibrant plaza with improved traffic flow and landscaping — something resembling the open-air Brass Mill Commons retail center just west of the struggling mall. But two years later, the concept remains largely on paper. Abunasra said he hasn't been able to find tenants for the remaining space, or move forward with new construction because of long-standing easement agreements tied to the property, which require consent from the mall's sepa- rate owner before any new structures can be built. "In the beginning, when we spoke to them before our purchase, they were very welcoming to having the property developed," Abunasra said of the invest- ment group that owns the majority of the mall. "But after we closed, it turned out to be silence." More recently, he said, a represen- tative of Summit Properties told him the company would not support his improvement plans. Changing hands The mall's ownership has changed several times in recent years. In 2022, Chicago-based Brookfield Properties sold the 907,612-square-foot Brass Mill Center at 475 and 525 Union St. — just off Interstate 84 near down- town Waterbury — for $18.9 million. At the same time, Brookfield sold the adjacent Brass Mill Commons, a RETAIL SPACE NET ABSORPTION IN HARTFORD AND NEW HAVEN REGIONS HARTFORD NEW HAVEN QUARTER NET ABSORPTION (SF) NET ABSORPTION (SF) Q2 2024 -107,934 -16,066 Q3 2024 181,118 21,046 Q4 2024 -80,781 -258,998 Q1 2025 41,724 -171,702 Q2 2025 -31,621 16,757 Total (Q2 2024–Q2 2025) 2,506 -408,963 Note: Net absorption reflects the net change in occupied space — positive when more space is leased than vacated, negative when the opposite occurs. | Source: Cushman & Wakefield, U.S. Retail MarketBeat Q2 2025