Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com January12,2015•Hartford Business Journal 11 Subscribe You'll find it in print • Need to grow your busiNess? • research your competitioN? • FiNd hartFord's latest busiNess News aNd ecoNomic treNds? to subscribe call (845) 267-3008 or go to www.HartfordBusiness.com Subscribe today and get access to the information that Central Connecticut business people and decision makers use every day. it's in print G r e at e r H a r t f o r d ' s B u s i n e s s n e w s w w w. H a r t f o rd B u s i n e s s . c o m for more B2B news visit March 31, 2014 Volume 22, number 19 $3.00 subscribe online June 5, 2014 Only 10 weeks until C T B E x p o . c o m Index ■ Reporter's Notebook: PG. 5 ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ The List: PG. 10 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 11 ■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 19 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 Faces oF Business Main Street Mainstay Manchester's Bray Jewelers has survived for almost 100 years. Read about the family business' secrets to success and what makes customers keep coming back. PG. 3 Focus: economic DeveloPment Social Entrepreneurship Hartford business accelerator aims to nurture socially conscious businesses. PG. 8 Music copyright lawsuits cost restaurants unexpected thousands By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com A few years ago, nine songs were played inside Shelton's Vazzy's Cucina restaurant that ended up costing owners John Vazzano and Vincent L. Noce $18,000. That's because an agent of licensing giant Broadcast Music Inc., which represents the artists who owned the tracks, attested to being present when the tunes were played and sued Vazzano and Noce for copyright infringement, claiming the restaurant's music qualified as a public per- formance. Under federal copyright law, that meant the restaurant had to pay for the rights to play the songs, BMI said. Vazzano said he thinks a private party actually played the tunes. Broadcast Music Inc. • Founded in 1939 • Represents more than 600,000 songwriters and publishers with more than 8.5 million songs. • Distributed 85 cents of every dollar in licensing revenue in royalties — that amounted to $814 million in fiscal 2013. By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com B y late May, the Corporation For Independent Living (CIL) expects to have in its hands title to the derelict Capewell Horse- nails factory in Hartford's South End in a bid to convert the idle eyesore into 72 apartments and an adjacent parcel into 24 affordable townhomes. If it does, it will open another fruit- ful chapter for a South End nonprofit that has leveraged — and exported — its talent as a group-home developer to shelter a diverse swath of central Connecticut's population. It, too, will be one of the final swan songs before the yearend retirement of its first and only chief executive. Since its launch in 1979 to finance, build, lease out — then ultimately give away — supportive shelter for thou- sands of the state's physically and mentally disabled, CIL has invested $458 million to construct or convert 2,205 dwelling units into shelter for 7,200 residents in Connecticut and Massachusetts. For at least a dozen years, CIL has applied that same skill set to its expand- ing for-profit realty development opera- tions that include Capewell, and a neigh- boring nonprofit-office-space cluster. In February, CIL announced it bought and will resume work on the $3.34 mil- lion Depot Crossing mixed-use project John Vazzano, owner of Vazzy's Cucina in Shelton, was upset when his restaurant had to pay $18,000 to settle a music copyright lawsuit. P h o t o | P a b l o R o b l e s Continued on page 16 Continued on page 15 Martin "Marty'' Legault, president and CEO, Corporation For Independent Living (CIL) With Legault, developer CIL soars as landlord Sued for a ong G r e at e r H a rt f o r d' s B u s i n e s s n e w s D e c e m b e r 22, 2014 w w w. H a rt f o r d B u s i n e s s. c o m V o l u m e 23 n u m B e r 5 $49.95 ECONOMIC F o r ecas t Find out what's ahead for Connecticut's economy in 2015 Gain insights into the industries that will drive or drag next year's economy Take a look back at the events, deals, and newsmakers that made headlines in 2014 « « « Deal Watch AutoZone bids $1M for Newington parts-store site A utoZone Inc. has paid $1 million for a Newington commercial property on the Berlin Turnpike to expand its roster of more than 40 Connecticut auto- motive-parts and accessories stores come spring. AutoZone bought 3298-3300 Berlin Turnpike from R&B Realty Trust. The 8,000-square-foot building sits on an acre. A pair of commercial tenants who pre- viously occupied the building have since vacated it, according to O,R&L Commer- cial, R&B's broker in the deal. Sullivan- Hayes represented AutoZone. An AutoZone spokesman said the New- ington store will employ between 12 to 14 when it opens in mid- to late April, joining more than 5,400 stores nationwide. • • • Bear's BBQ expands Bear's Smokehouse Barbecue has relo- cated its original Windsor restaurant to larg- er quarters on Poquonock Avenue in town. Bear's owner Jamie "The Bear'' McDon- ald and wife, Cheryl, recently leased the former 5,300-square-foot Dale Drug build- ing at 2152 Poquonock Avenue in Windsor from landlord Jimmy D'Alessio. It seats 170 and has 39 employees. The original Bear's opened at 55 Pali- sado Drive in Windsor in 2013. Bear's also opened in July a 2,600-square- foot, 68-seat location in downtown Hartford at 89 Arch St., across from the Connecticut Convention Center. Plans eventually call for a rooftop expansion of the Arch Street site, a Bear's spokeswoman said. Both the Hartford and Windsor loca- tions have dedicated special/corporate event areas. • • • tower Fasteners' space Tower Fasteners Inc. has signed a multi- year lease on a 2,159-square-foot industrial condominium in Cheshire, brokers say. Tower and its broker-rep Press/Cuozzo Commercial Services negotiated the lease on Unit No. 1 at 125 Commerce Court with landlord Fazzone investments & Properties Inc. and its rep Suzanne Fazzone Robitaille. Tower recently relocated to the Cheshire facility from space at 41 Industrial Park Access Road in Middlefield. The family-owned maker of fasteners and related hardware is based in Holtsville, N.Y. • • • trinity wraps $2M play Hartford's Trinity College has complet- ed its $2.025 million purchase of a former Travelers insurance building anchoring downtown's Constitution Plaza. Trinity plans to convert five-story, 135,000-square-foot 200 Constitution Plaza into a downtown campus, joining UConn, University of St. Joseph, Capital Communi- ty College and Rensselaer at Hartford with classrooms and other facilities in or near downtown Hartford. CBRE/New England brokered the property via online auction before the holidays. • • • BBB's cromwell hQ The Connecticut Better Business Bureau recently paid $915,000 for its new headquar- ters building in Cromwell. Previously housed in Wallingford, BBB bought the 8,902-square-foot building on 1.14 acres at 29 Berlin Road to house its administrative offices. CBRE/New England represented BBB in the sale. O,R&L Commercial was the broker for seller LJS Cromwell LLC. • • • Gagnon's Newington buy Gagnon Electrical Contracting LLC purchased a 55,000-square-foot Newington building for $550,000 to house its operations. 240 Day Street LLC sold the industrial building at 240 Day St. Colliers International represented buyer and seller in the sale. n Greg Seay is the Hartford Business Journal News Editor. Greg Seay This Berlin Turnpike building is set to make way for a new AutoZone parts store. P H O T O | C O n T r i b u T e d P H O T O | C O n T r i b u T e d Bear's Smokehouse Barbecue's new Windsor eatery. P H O T O | K e v i n M a r s e l l a Unit 1, 125 Commerce Court, Cheshire.

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