Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 20, 2025 9 DE AL WATCH luxury apartments, a swimming pool and shallow rooftop lounging pool. Three penthouse units and valet service are also planned, with total project costs estimated at about $25 million and construction expected to take 18 months. In Southington, MB Financial paid $1.35 million in late 2022 for a 14-acre former factory site downtown, pledging to revive a long-stalled 245-unit apart- ment project previously approved for another owner. Massimino expects to break ground before the end of the first quarter of 2026 on a 48-unit building and complete the roughly $20 million project in about 18 months. The first building will follow existing approvals, while Massimino said he plans to submit a new master plan for later phases that will incorporate more amenities and open space. "This (current plan) was approved 20 years ago, and trends have changed and demand has changed," Massimino said. In Branford, Massimino's group paid $1.6 million in 2021 for the nearly 44,000-square-foot former "Glorious Cross" monastery and its 6.4-acre prop- erty. A $12 million effort to transform the site into 59 luxury apartments for residents 55 and older is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2026, Massimino said. In Bridgeport, MB Financial has acquired three commercial buildings clustered near the mouth of the Pequonnock River. One, a former Mechanics and Farmers Bank building, had already been converted into a mixed-use property with 30 apartments when Massimino's firm acquired it in 2021. The developer has since turned vacant office space there into another 12 apartments. MB Financial also owns the neigh- boring former City Savings Bank building, which it plans to transform into 30 apartments above ground- floor retail in a project expected to launch in the first half of next year. The company also owns the nearby 1897- vintage McLevy Square building, which contains 32 apartments above three retail spaces. In New Haven, MB Financial converted three buildings of the former St. Michael's Catholic School into 23 apart- ments in a project completed in 2020. More than multifamily Though multifamily projects remain the company's core focus, MB Financial has a growing portfolio of retail and industrial properties. In 2021, the firm paid $825,000 for a 4.2-acre lot in a retail-heavy corridor in Orange, where it has installed utilities and drainage. The site is currently leased to a contractor working on railroad improvements. Massimino said his company is planning an industrial development of the site. In 2023, MB Financial paid $7 million for the 56,000-square-foot Hitch- cock Plaza on 6.25 acres in Orange. Massimino said his company plans to soon launch a multimillion-dollar project upgrading the façade and signage in the plaza, rebranding it as The Shops at Orange Marketplace. Another MB Financial affiliate paid $6 million on Oct. 1 for a 51,012-square- foot retail center on 10.3 acres in Mans- field Center. Massimino said he plans to improve the Staples-anchored plaza by adding two additional retail buildings of 2,000 to 4,000 square feet each. "Over the past several years following COVID, we have seen retail as a strong asset class in specific markets," Massimino said. "We think there's an opportunity to reposition older centers with excess space by adding pad sites for restaurants, banks and QSRs (quick-service restaurants)." MB Financial is also turning its atten- tion to the homebuyer market. The 157 townhomes planned at the former MassMutual site in Enfield will be for sale, Massimino said, as will at least some of the 17 luxury houses the company is completing in North Haven as part of its Farmview Estates development. "There's no inventory and there is a big demand out there," Massimino said. "There is a lot of need for housing. There is a lot of rental and there's not a lot for sale." An aerial photograph of MB Financial's progress on the 17-house Farmview Estates development in North Haven. Contributed Photo www.borghesibuilding.com 2155 East Main Street Torrington, Connecticut 06790 860.482.7613 Check out our new website! Creating Creating "Building Ideas "Building Ideas That Work" That Work" for you. for you. A new day, another A new day, another new project. new project. © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc.

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