Windsor Castle Buys Apartments In Bloomfield

In its second major acquisition of the summer, Windsor Castle LLC has acquired the 125-unit Manor House Apartments in Bloomfield for $15.8 million.

The complex, located at the intersection of Revere Drive and Park Avenue, consists of 11 buildings spread out over 15.33 acres. The buildings contain 24 one-bedroom apartments and 101 two-bedroom apartments.

Windsor Castle’s principal is Shawn Carlin of Hartford. In June, the group bought the 140-unit Williamsburg Apartments in Windsor for $19.2 million. Both deals were brokered by Rick Chozick with Chozick Realty in Hartford.

Chozick said the Bloomfield property, built in 1972, had been upgraded over the past several years with new windows, roofs and boilers as well as improvements to the individual units and common areas.

The complex has consistently maintained occupancy rates near 98 percent, thanks to its location near Bloomfield’s central business district and steady management by the previous owners, he said.

Windsor Castle acquired the property from an investment group led by J. Winkler, which had owned the property for nearly three decades, Chozick said.

Madison Law Office

The Hartford-based law firm Murtha Cullina, which has 131 attorneys at six offices in New England, is expanding its presence in southern Connecticut by opening an office in Madison.

The firm, which offers a broad range of legal services, will occupy 3,157 square feet of space at 71 Wall St. in Madison. It expects the move-in date to be around Oct. 15.

The building was designed by Duo Dickinson Architects of Madison and built this year by Waverly Builders of Branford. The space was leased by Davis Realty LLC of Madison, and the lease was brokered by Peter Brown of H. Pearce Co.

The Madison office, which consists of six to eight offices, is Murtha Cullina’s second move this year to extend its shoreline presence.

On May 1, the firm opened a temporary office at 2488 Boston Post Road in Guilford. That office has been home to estate planning attorneys Irving S. Schloss, Elizabeth Leamon and Shawn L. O’Sullivan.

Jones Lang LaSalle News

Jones Lang LaSalle has announced several recent moves in Stamford, including the leasing of a 310,000-square-foot building in the Long Ridge Corporate Center campus in Stamford and the hiring of a new executive vice president.

General Reinsurance Corp., which has been operating out of offices at 695 East Main St. in Stamford, signed a 20-year lease for the entire building at 120 Long Ridge Road.

General Re’s current lease at East Main expires in 2010. The insurer will move into its new quarters in late 2009, according to Brian Higgins of Jones Lang LaSalle.

The brokerage firm also announced that it is now the exclusive leasing agent for the property at 695 East Main St., which is known as the Financial Centre. The complex that includes four Class A office buildings has a total of 573,000 square feet of space.

Concluding a busy summer, Jones Lang LaSalle hired David Friedman as executive vice president for its Stamford office. He joins the firm from the Starwood Capital Group. He is set to lead the firm’s expansion in Fairfield and Westchester counties.

Sean O’Leary is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.