The City of Norwalk has bought a commercial property through eminent domain for $4.11 million to build a new sanitary sewage pump station, according to city records and the seller.
The city purchased the 31,605-square-foot, one-story building, at 493 Connecticut Ave., on Dec. 11, according to property records. the mayor’s office confirmed buying the property through WPCA funds.
The building, which sits on a 0.68-acre parcel and was built in 1948, was appraised at $4.21 million and assessed at $2.95 million, property records stated.
The city’s Common Council last year approved buying the property through eminent domain to build a new sanitary sewage pump station there, according to city documents.
The seller was Virginia Raymond Family LLC, controlled by Virginia Raymond, of Norwalk.
Raymond said her father, Tom Maisano, built the building in the 1940s as Chatham Oaks, a catering hall. She said she later remodeled the property in 2000 and renamed it Chatham Manor, which closed in 2017.
The building’s current tenants include Rincon Taqueria and F&M Electrical Supply.
Raymond said the city initially planned to build the pump station in the property’s parking lot, prompting her to put the site on the market. She said she received four offers.
But the city later changed course and instead acquired the property through eminent domain, she said.
“I’m crushed,” she told the Hartford Business Journal.
Raymond, who is in her 80s, also owns a 6,048-square-foot commercial property next door at 495 Connecticut Ave.
