🔒Champion Container invests $2.8M in Suffield warehouse

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Champion Container is preparing to open an 80,000-square-foot distribution facility on a Suffield property acquired last summer for $1.8 million, town officials say.

Based in Avenel, N.J., Champion said the 38-year-old facility on 6.7 acres at 5 Firestone Drive will employ 15 and will be the fifth regional site for the 49-year-old company, according to town Economic Development Director Patrick McMahon.

Champion uses its own truck fleet to distribute “just in time” a range of containers, from steel, plastic and fiber drums, to pails, cans, bottles and jars, from its two New Jersey sites, and one each in Sutton, Mass., and Rosedale, Md.

Champion bought the previously vacant Suffield location last August from GHW Realty Associates L.P., McMahon said.

Champion is investing $1 million more to upgrade the facility's electrical and sprinkler system, and to refresh the office area, President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Miskewitz said.

In return, the town has provided Champion a three-year, 50 percent property-tax abatement as an incentive for its investment in the community, McMahon said.

Plainville land sale

A more than 5-acre industrial tract in Plainville has sold for $215,000 to a buyer that plans to develop the site for its own use, brokers say.

CS Cooperative LLC bought the property at 35 Robert Jackson Way from seller Barker Plainville LLC. CS Cooperative's specific plans for the property weren't disclosed.

According to listing broker O,R&L Commercial LLC, the parcel is the last to be developed on Robert Jackson Way.

Other businesses on the strip include Network Interiors, Northeast Produce, Plainville Oil Co., Allstate Fire Equipment, IEC Industrial Electric Construction, CAD CAM Machine Corp. and others.

Berlin tenants

Berlin's economic development department recently announced the arrival of two new commercial tenants to town.

Kensington Dental has relocated to town and expanded to 3,000 square feet of medical-office space at 140 Webster Square Road. Earl H. Wicklund Inc. is landlord.

Next door to the Berlin train station, Concentric Brewing Co. is converting 5,050 square feet of space for its brewery, featuring an industrial tap room and outdoor patio, at 817 Farmington Ave. OCHE LLC is landlord.

Southington flex listing

A vacant Southington flex-office building is for lease, brokers say.

Formerly home to the Carrington Co., the 10,694-square-foot building, opened in 1970, at 8 Metals Drive also is available for lease, with an option to purchase, said listing broker NAI Elite Commercial Real Estate Services Worldwide in West Hartford.

Its spaced is being offered at $15 per square foot annually, plus utilities.

The 1.57-acre property is located on the westbound side of I-84, which averages roughly 84,000 vehicles daily, NAI Elite said.

Trinity Solar’s Cheshire expansion

Cheshire's Trinity Solar Systems has signed a long-term lease, taking on an extra 16,000 square feet of office space.

Trinity had an installation-warehousing operation in a 25,000-square-foot flex-industrial facility at 7 McKee Place, but also took on office space to accommodate extra hires in its marketing and administrative divisions, tenant-broker O,R&L Commercial LLC said.

CB Richard Ellis-New England represented landlord SPCP Group III CNI 3 LLC. 

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E-mail realty deals, along with contact information to: gseay@HartfordBusiness.com. Gregory Seay is the Hartford Business Journal News Editor.