Max Kothari, chair of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce board of directors, recently sold four properties in the city for $25.56 million, including two hosting his Star Hardware and Express Kitchens businesses.
Even so, Kothari said he has no plans to move the businesses or cut their roughly 120 staff. Quite the opposite, he said.
The deals – which were logged by the city on Jan. 25 – were initiated as part of a sales-leaseback agreement.
A portion of the proceeds was used to fund Express Kitchen’s recent purchase of New Jersey-based Direct Cabinet Sales. That deal also came with two other businesses: New Jersey-based Seifer Kitchens and Brooklyn-based Golden Reiss Kitchens.
The acquisition added five showrooms in New York and New Jersey to Express Kitchens’ existing network of 12 showrooms in Connecticut and Massachusetts. It also added a 165,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Dayton, New Jersey, Kothari said.
With facilities in Dayton, Hartford and India, Express Kitchens now has a total of 600,000 square feet of manufacturing and distribution space, according to the company.
As part of the recent Hartford property sales, Express Kitchens and Star Hardware signed 20-year leases for the same properties. The leases offer options for two, 10-year renewals.
The deal allows Express Kitchens to expand, which could mean extra jobs in Hartford, Kothari said.
“This is just a sale-leaseback because of our expansion,” Kothari said. “We have committed to Hartford for the long term. Otherwise, we wouldn’t sign a long-term lease. We believe in Hartford, and we strongly believe in the people of our community.”
Kothari’s properties were bought by New Jersey-based Essential Properties Realty Trust Inc., a publicly traded company.
Essential Properties has a portfolio of 1,653 properties across 48 states, according to its website. Attempts to reach a company representative were unsuccessful.
The sales logged on Jan. 25 include:
- 231 Weston St. – a 5.4-acre property hosting a 120,295-square-foot warehouse built in 1970. Headquarters to Express Kitchens, this property sold for $12.78 million.
- 2895 Main St. – a 7-acre property hosting a 32,366-square-foot brick warehouse built in 1940, a 1,575-square-foot office building built in 1940 and a 1,475-square-foot office built around 1985. This property sold for $5.7 million.
- 2995 Main St. – a 2.5-acre property hosting a 15,921-square-foot retail building built around 1950. This property contains Star Hardware and Star Chinese Restaurant. It sold for $1.69 million.
- 3080 Main St. – a 1.7-acre property hosting a 50,758-square-foot, brick office and warehouse building completed around 1950. This property sold for $5.39 million.
