🔒Buying multiple downtown Waterbury buildings, New York family sees chance for bargain prices on hidden gems

A Long Island-based family of investors recently paid $300,000 for the former Webster Bank executive offices in the heart of downtown Waterbury — less than half the original asking price for the 111-year-old office building.

The sale of the 15,984-square-foot property at 132 Grand St. in July is the second bargain purchase in downtown Waterbury in eight months for the Mariolis family. Two additional downtown Waterbury purchases are imminent for a family that expects to get in on the ground floor of the Brass City’s central business district.

“We are very attracted to downtown Waterbury,” said John “Gianni” Mariolis, principal of the limited liability company that made the 132 Grand St. purchase. “We feel it is a nice, historic center and it has a lot of potential.”

A lot of untapped potential, Mariolis noted.

Once a booming manufacturing metropolis, Waterbury has a downtown with a wealth of charming architecture dating to around the early 1900s. The retail heart of the city has languished for decades as the city’s prosperity waned and large shopping centers sucked away customers.

A relative bargain

Mariolis said he and his father and siblings have many years of experience building and running industrial and office properties — predominantly in Brooklyn, New York. Mariolis said the family began delving into Connecticut as it sought more affordable opportunities. Mariolis said he discovered Waterbury last October while searching for available properties on real estate listing site LoopNet.com.

The first properties he explored didn’t pan out, but he found a for-sale sign on a vacant four-story building at 111 Bank St., while driving around Waterbury’s downtown. In December, the Mariolis family paid $190,000 for the century-old, 11,040-square-foot property. The ground floor housed clothier Tony’s Men’s Shop for 25 years before it closed in late 2020. Mariolis plans to renovate the upper floors into apartments and keep the first floor as retail space.

There are still deals to be had in downtown Waterbury, especially for buyers with the knowledge and wherewithal to perform extensive renovations.

Mariolis said his family plans apartment conversions for an 18,630-square-foot office building at 95 North Main St. — just off the downtown Green — and the 23,797-square-foot “Broadcast Center” building at 115 South Main St. Mariolis said his family has purchase-and-sales agreements for both of the long-vacant buildings and anticipates closing before the end of September.

Mariolis said his family hopes to make “polished” apartments that draw college students or staff from Waterbury’s two hospitals.

Millions invested in downtown Waterbury revival

Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary said he’s happy for the interest.

“I’m really grateful to have a few new names come into the downtown with the (development) experience this family has,” O’Leary said.

The O’Leary administration has steered tens-of-millions of dollars in state and federal grants into downtown Waterbury revitalization over the past 11 years. It has overhauled two public parks, rebuilt roads, replaced underground utilities and beautified some downtown streetscapes. Millions of dollars in additional investment are in the pipeline.

Public investments in downtown Waterbury saw increasing confidence and some new developer interest before a massive downturn following the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. As in other downtowns, major employers allowed staff to work from home. In Waterbury, that meant an exodus of hundreds of staff from Post University and Webster Bank, who have still not returned in full strength.

“I’m really working to try and convince Post to bring their people back and Webster to bring their people back as well,” O’Leary said.

Other positive developments

O’Leary said there are other positive signs. Enrollment at the downtown UConn branch campus is up. A recently developed and privately run college dormitory close to the UConn branch is near its roughly 90-student capacity.

And other developers are advancing projects.

Local investors Michael Batista and Alexander Alicki expect to complete construction of 10 apartments at 77 Bank St. before September, and another 29 at the historic Farrington Building at the corner of West Main and Church streets by the end of the year. The partners are also working to build 25 apartments in a 16,980-square-foot building at 105 Bank St. by mid-2023, Batista said in a recent interview.

Batista and Alicki are partnered with Robert Annunziata in a renovation of the 95,668-square-foot Croft Commons building at 95 Scovill St. They are renovating the onetime high school in phases, expecting to eventually build about 100 units. Batista said he hopes to complete the first 31 apartments by the end of this year.

Supply chain problems have delayed projects and made them more expensive, Batista said, but it seems to be unclogging. Materials are still expensive, but at least they are available.

Batista is also eager to see big downtown employers return staff to their offices. That, along with an influx of new residents, will inject vitality into the downtown retail scene, he said. Batista is also encouraged by Waterbury’s recent announcement of a $1.5 million grant program to help outfit downtown spaces for new retail businesses. It’s a similar program being used by the city of Hartford.

“There was some really good momentum before COVID,” Batista said. “Once everybody gets fully staffed downtown, that will help a lot.”

Meantime, the former Grand Street Webster Bank executive offices purchased by the Mariolis family will remain as office space.

Brian Godin, a principal with Godin Property Brokers, said a nonprofit is close to signing a 5,200-square-foot lease in the building’s top floor. Godin said the property was well maintained by Webster, but after nearly a year on the market, the bank was simply ready to unload it.

Michael Grieder, an agent with Godin Property Brokers who was also involved in the Grand Street transaction, touted signs of increased activity in Waterbury’s downtown.

In January 2021, Godin Property Brokers helped sell a 20,160-square-foot office building at 228 Meadow St. The property is located on a corner of the downtown, right next to an Interstate 84 exit. Grieder said a Bridgeport restaurateur is strongly considering launching an eatery in the former Crossroads Cantina building, a shuttered property right next to 228 Meadow St.

Mariolis said he believes Waterbury is approaching a turning point, aided by broader trends such as the statewide housing shortage and increasing interest in urban living.

“I think Waterbury is definitely a hidden gem at the moment,” Mariolis said. “Personally, I think it’s a gem that’s ready to clean up big. I see it as an area that in the next five years will be unrecognizable.”