A Texas-based private equity fund has sold two office properties located along I-91 in Wallingford and Meriden, according to officials.
Lone Star Funds sold 599 Research Parkway in Meriden for $800,000 to 599 Research LLC, which is operated by Brooklyn, New York-based office investor Cheskel Brach.
Just over the city border to the south, 35 Thorpe Road in Wallingford was acquired by New Haven-based developer Paul Denz, who is president and founder of Northside Development Co., for $3.8 million.
Cushman & Wakefield represented Lone Star in both of the deals, each of which closed in October, according to local assessor records.
Lone Star acquired the properties back in 2015 from Massachusetts-based HUB Properties Trust, spending more than $10 million combined, records show.
The nearly $4 million haircut Lone Star is taking on the three-story, 48,200-square-foot property in Meriden is mainly due to the fact that Verizon shuttered its call center there several years ago, and the building has been vacant since, Cushman & Wakefield director Bob Motley said Thursday morning.
“It’s a really great building, extremely well maintained, with great visibility from the highway and lots of surface parking,” Motley said. “This group out of Brooklyn got themselves a very good deal.”
“Wallingford and Meriden have traditionally been very good office markets, but there’s some vacancy in the markets now and it’s affected pricing,” he added.
Cushman is now seeking tenants for the property on the buyer’s behalf.
The real estate services firm is also seeking tenants for approximately 21,000 square feet of vacant space in the 78,000-square-foot Wallingford property.
The largest tenant there is the state Department of Developmental Services. Others include Sinclair Insurance Group, Comcast and Aware Recovery Care, according to Motley.
Motley said Connecticut’s business climate has suppressed office demand to an extent, but said the two properties “are now in a good position to go after tenants in the market.”
Joe Cooper contributed reporting to this story
