The owner of a road-marking company plans to purchase a large industrial building in Bridgeport for $2.3 million after Connecticut’s Transfer Act expires next year, according to the broker representing both parties.
Mark Kelly, founder of Safety Marking LLC, intends to buy the one-story, 29,395-square-foot building at 430 Bostwick Ave. once the decades-old environmental law sunsets in March, said Alan Fischer of Fischer Real Estate.
Since 1985, the Transfer Act has required sellers of certain commercial and industrial properties to investigate and remediate environmental contamination before a sale can close. The law is set to expire in March and be replaced by a release-based program that shifts responsibility to addressing known contamination issues rather than triggering cleanup requirements at the point of sale.
Kelly is purchasing the property through an entity called 350 Bostwick Avenue LLC. Safety Marking, which was acquired by private-equity firm Highview Capital Management in 2023, is headquartered in Bridgeport and also operates in New York and Rhode Island.
“He needs it for parking and storage,” Fischer said.
An email to Kelly seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The seller is Craig Sanden of Winsted, who owns printing company Markal Finishing. Fischer said Kelly has already paid Sanden $2 million toward the purchase price and will pay the remaining $300,000 once the sale closes after the Transfer Act expires.
In the meantime, Kelly is leasing the entire property from Sanden. As part of the arrangement, Kelly plans to lease back roughly 15,000 square feet of the building to Sanden so his printing business can continue operating at the site.
The building, which sits on a 1.86-acre parcel and was built in 1974, is appraised at $2.99 million and assessed at $2.1 million, according to property records.
Fischer said Sanden agreed to sell the property below its appraised value largely because the leaseback allows his business to remain in place without the need to relocate.
