New Jersey-based Hampshire Cos. continued to expand its Connecticut portfolio with the acquisition of an industrial warehouse building in Norwich.
The private real estate investment fund manager acquired the 76,657-square-foot building at 1 Winnenden Road from the Engine Services Division of General Electric. The Hampshire Generational Fund, one of the firm’s investment arms, made the deal.
The property is more than 13 acres and includes 15,000 square feet of office space in addition to the warehouse space. The space is fully leased to Gunther International Ltd., which designs, manufacturers and services high-speed production mailing systems.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It is the second significant deal for the Hampshire Cos. in the past month. Earlier, it paid $13 million for a 614,600-square-foot warehouse in Newington.
Norman Feinstein, executive managing director of Hampshire, said the latest deal was an excellent opportunity to expand its Connecticut portfolio, which includes an office building on Church Street in Hartford with roughly 400,000 square feet.
“Hampshire continues to be bullish on the long-term value in Connecticut’s commercial real estate market,” he said.
Daniel Barber of Northeast Property Group Inc. and Nick Morizio, president of Colliers, Dow & Condon, represented Hampshire in the transaction.
Blue Back Living
The condominiums at Blue Back Square in West Hartford have begun closing and the early returns indicate strong demand to live in the new development.
Of the 59 condominiums located at the Heritage complex within Blue Back, 46 have already been sold, said Caroline Craig with Ronus Properties.
When the condominiums were announced, development officials projected a price range between $400,000 and $800,000. Of the ten condominiums that closed during the first week of March, the lowest price was $340,900 while the highest was $656,299.
Craig said the closings began in late February, and one-bedroom and three-bedroom condominiums are sold out.
The next stage will be the apartments located within the Loft at Blue Back Square. The rental rates for those apartments will range between $1,560 and $1,810 per month for one-bedroom apartments and between $1,960 and $3,085 for the two-bedroom apartments.
Environmental Disclosure
A bill that would require home sellers to notify prospective buyers if the property is within 300 feet of an environmentally hazardous area is under consideration
Sponsored by House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, and Milford-based Environmental Data Resources Inc., the legislation would allow buyers to cancel their purchase when the disclosure is made.
Environmental Data Resources pushed for the bill because there is no effective way currently to provide homebuyers with all available information, according to EDR’s Pamela Memmott.
Meanwhile, state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy testified that the bill would target homeowners who are not the cause of environmental problems and could stigmatize properties where there is little to no health risk.
The environment committee approved the vote by a 25-to-2 vote and it remained on the House calendar last week, awaiting action.
Deals and Financing
A 107,158-square-foot industrial building in Rocky Hill has been sold for $4.5 million.
The buyer was Cold Spring LLC, whose principal is Reno DG LLC in Newington, which is owned by David Occhialini. The property on 920 Cromwell Avenue is home to several tenants, including garage door maker Wayne-Dalton.
GE Real Estate announced it has completed a $200 million refinancing of New Jersey-based Normandy Real Estate Fund’s 1.2 million square-foot portfolio in suburban Boston and Connecticut.
Sean O’Leary is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.
