A roughly 40,000-square-foot, four-story office building in a prominent location in downtown Middletown recently sold to New York investors for $3 million.
“It’s one of the nice, growing areas of Connecticut,” Jay Cusack, of Old Saybrook-based Executive Real Estate, said of downtown Middletown. “It has a lot to offer, and we want to make sure we get in at the early part of it.”
Cusack represented the buyer, Ruth E. Mirra, in a deed recorded March 31. Mirra is part of a family of investors with multifamily and shoreline vacation properties in Connecticut, as well as holdings in New York, Miami and Puerto Rico, Cusack said.
Mirra, of Pound Ridge, New York, secured a $2.5 million loan from California-based Velocity Commercial Capital LLC, backed by a mortgage on the Middletown property, according to a March 31 filing.
The 1944-vintage brick building mixes office space above retail in the center of Middletown’s downtown.
The building was about 80% occupied at sale, said Michael Doherty, a commercial investment specialist with eXp Realty of Connecticut who listed the property. Doherty is also a part owner of the building, having bought it in partnership with investor Ryan Deasy for $2.2 million in 2023.
The proceeds will be used to fund improvements at other investment properties, Doherty said, including an office complex the pair own in Farmington.
Doherty said he and Deasy made upgrades to the building, including a buildout for an escape room business on the third floor. He also secured a new first-floor tenant, MOTW Coffee and Pastries, around the time of the sale. Existing tenants include Fujiya Ramen on the ground floor and The Balaban Law Firm on the fourth floor.
Doherty said he and Deasy contemplated installing self-storage in a basement space that once served as a Bob’s Furniture showroom.
Cusack said the new owner will move forward with the self-storage plan, but otherwise intends to maintain the building’s current use.
