Jeff Leone, CEO of Air Temp Mechanical Services, recently paid $2.4 million for a Berlin industrial building to house his growing HVAC business. The nearly 34,000-square-foot building at 51 Fuller Way more than triples the size of the Southington property Air Temp erected in 2008. The move is expected to be completed in October, giving […]
Jeff Leone, CEO of Air Temp Mechanical Services, recently paid $2.4 million for a Berlin industrial building to house his growing HVAC business.
The nearly 34,000-square-foot building at 51 Fuller Way more than triples the size of the Southington property Air Temp erected in 2008. The move is expected to be completed in October, giving Leone’s 120-person company room to grow.
Leone said the 35-year-old Berlin building’s prior tenant, a company that made sheet-metal hoppers, wasn’t big on maintenance. Entryway carpets are coming apart and floors were coated with a waxy-black buildup from metal shavings, Leone said. He has invested in a $19,000 floor-scrubbing machine, paid for removal of untended trees growing against the building exterior and expects to spend another $600,000 to overhaul and outfit the building.
About a third of the new Berlin property will be used for office space. There will be an apprentice training center as well as room for storage and manufacturing of custom ductwork, Leone said. He is financing the project through Liberty Bank.
“Our Southington facility is meticulous,” Leone said. “This will be just as nice when we are done, so we are looking forward to it.”
Leone bought the Berlin building from a limited liability company controlled by James S. Carter of West Hartford and Alan Lazowski of Hartford. Leone said the previous owners had a triple-net lease with the prior tenant. Leone plans to sell his Southington building, which sits on 1.6 acres.
Leone launched Air Temp in Hartford when he was 27. The Berlin building will be the company’s third in two decades. It had about 30 employees when the Southington building was completed 14 years ago. Air Temp has acquired three other companies since 2007, taking on their clients and technicians, Leone said.
It has long been hard to recruit highly-specialized HVAC talent, making acquisition one of the best ways to grow, Leone said. With high land and construction costs, buying an existing building was the best way to provide growing room, he added.
