Now that he owns it, area realty investor David A. Richman and his investment partner have big plans for one of downtown Simsbury’s oldest office properties — The Landmark Building.
Richman, former owner of the Benefits Group insurance agency, and plastic surgeon Patrick Felice recently paid $1.1 million for the tri-level, 14,000-square-foot edifice at 760 Hopmeadow St. that was built in 1918.
He says he was moved to buy the property once it sat idle after former lead tenant, Simsbury Bank & Trust, left last summer to establish a larger headquarters in leased space down the road, at 86 Hopmeadow St.
A real estate investor for 20 years, Richman said he hadn’t added to his commercial holdings in Cheshire, Simsbury and out of state for five years because “the market was depressed and you couldn’t borrow money.”
Their HOP760 LLC bought the office building from 760 Partners LLC, which 15 years ago spent $1 million to thoroughly renovate the structure as headquarters for investment advisor Landmark Partners, Richman said.
“I bought the building,” Richman said, “because it sat empty for six months and it was driving me nuts. … This building is a diamond. This is the kind of thing that only comes around once in a lifetime.”
Richman owns a mixed retail-office building next door, at 730 Hopmeadow, where he also has offices.
His ambition now is to market the building’s fully furnished upper two floors as small, pint-sized suites with free Wi-Fi, starting at $500 a month for a 15-foot by 20-foot block.
Richman says that with his plans to relocate his office to Landmark, plus a handful of prospects who have voiced serious interest in taking space there, about 2,000 square feet of Landmark’s leasable space is spoken for. A fully renovated lower level will be dedicated to storage, he said.
He said the spaces are ideal as incubators for fledgling firms and startups. Richman says he’s reaching to the state Department of Economic and Community Development for funding and other support for that effort.
Hartford’s RM Bradley Brokerage Co. represented the seller and procured the buyer.
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Luxury homes tee off
The Massachusetts developer of The Residences at Fox Hopyard in East Haddam has devised a novel promotion to draw prospective buyers to the luxury golf-course subdivision’s latest phase.
The Sandri Cos. is offering visitors to The Residences’ custom model homes a free round of golf at its companion Fox Hopyward championship golf course, according to Jake Goodyear, Sandri’s marketing vice president.
The promotion will kick off the second phase of construction at the 50-lot community, Goodyear said.
The Residences is a 230-acre golf club community within the Fox Hopyard Golf Club. Each lot provides golf course or wooded views and easy access to the Fox Hopyard golf, tennis, dining and future pool facilities.
Uccello Development builds the homes priced from $499,000 to $1 million.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is The Residences sales agent.
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Barre 44’s Avon home
Fitness studio Barre 44 is opening this month in 829 square feet of leased space in Avon’s The Shops at 51 East.
Barre 44 owner-instructor Danielle Srb signed a three-year lease at the 51 E. Main St. plaza, brokers say.
Srb will offer barre- and other Pilates-based classes six days a week, starting in mid-June.
Hartford broker RM Bradley represented Srb. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England represented landlord Applewood LLC.
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Greg Seay is the Hartford Business Journal News Editor.
