New York-based real estate developer and investor Lightstone has paid $45 million for a 622,262-square-foot industrial building and two vacant parcels in Newington.
Shelbourne Newington LLC – an investment vehicle of New York-based real estate investment and development firm Shelbourne – sold its majority stake in the properties at 301, 311 and 353-407 Alumni Road to 475 Willard Associates LLC in a sale dated May 26 and recorded by the town on June 20.
Together, the three parcels have a combined 70.6 acres of industrially-zoned land. The industrial building was completed in 1956, according to town records.
Immediately prior to the sale, Shelbourne transferred a 6.2% stake in the properties to Avrohom Schlaff, of Brooklyn. Schlaff sold his percentage of the properties to 475 Willard Associates LLC in a joint transaction with Shelbourne.
The buying LLC shares a Lakewood, New Jersey address with one of Lightstone’s offices. The signatory on the Connecticut state documents forming the buying LLC is Joseph E. Teichman, executive vice president and general counsel for Lightstone.
Shelbourne bought the properties for $22.4 million in 2016, according to land records.
The buyer was represented by Abie M. Kassin and Lipa Lieberman, along with Ike and Morris Betesh of New York-based Meridian Capital Group.
Kassin said he could not disclose information about the buyer. He said the industrial building is about 80% leased at present and the buyer aims to get it fully leased. Kassin said the sale was off market and his firm solicited Shelbourne.
“I think the sale speaks to the robust nature of industrial across the country,” Kassin said.
Lightstone President Mitchell Hochberg confirmed the company’s involvement in an email to The Hartford Business Journal, describing it as one of the “most diversified privately held real estate companies” in the U.S.
The company is active in all real estate sectors across 25 states. The company’s portfolio is worth more than $7.5 billion and includes more than 7.5 million square feet of industrial, logistics, life sciences and commercial properties; more than 23,000 residential units and more than 4,100 hotel rooms, he said.
Hochberg said the company was attracted to the area due to its “strong economic growth, solid labor pool and overall quality of life.”
The site is centrally located, near the midpoint of New York City and Boston, and features functional space layouts, ample loading docks and truck parking, with easy access to Interstate 84 and Interstate 91, he said.
