15 Commerce Drive, North Branford
Brook & Whittle, which owns a large facility for commercial printing related to consumer products in North Branford, is expanding.
Through the efforts of the company’s agent, Bob Dow, president of Dow Realty in New Haven, Brook & Whittle has leased 5,000 square feet of pure warehouse space at 15 Commerce Drive in North Branford in order to open up more production space in its nearby main facility. The listing agents in the deal were Barry Stratton and Kevin C. Geenty of The Geenty Group, Realtors, in Branford.
The landlord, William E. Hitchcock III, will be performing some tenant-specific fit-up for Brook & Whittle’s long-term occupancy. The tenant already has occupied a portion of the premises during the construction process.
The deal represents the second lease completed for Hitchcock in the past month. Space totaling 16,000 square feet, which can be divided, still remains to be leased.
Manchester Buildings Sold
H. Pearce Co.’s Commercial Department recently closed on the sales of 193 East Center St. and 55-63 East Center St., two properties in Manchester. Both properties involved H. Pearce’s client Ascella Mortgage.
H. Pearce had an exclusive listing and Neil Riley and Virginia Vinci were the listing agents for 193 East Center St. The seller was Edward A. Baroncini Jr. and the buyer was Walsh, Merrill & Brousseau, which was represented by Jeff Keith of Keith Real Estate. The sale price was $342,500. It is a 3,644-square-foot office building on 0.37 acres of land in a preferred business location in the center of town.
H. Pearce, Riley and Vinci also represented the buyer, Ascella Mortgage, for the property on 55-63 East Center St. The seller was BauMax LLC, which was represented by Colliers Dow and Condon. The sale price was $1.25 million. The property is a 24,600-square-foot, 3-story office/retail building on 1.13 acres of land in a prime location in the center of Manchester.
Ascella Mortgage, one of the largest mortgage companies in New England, will be relocating its main office to the 55-63 East Center St. property. The move, necessitated by its rapid growth, more than doubled its office space and includes additional expansion capability.
YWCA Hires Kaestle Boos
The YWCA New Britain has hired New Britain-based Kaestle Boos Assoc. to draw up a new master plan for its 22 Glen St. location. The firm also will create a conceptual design for the YWCA that will include possible additions and modifications that incorporate an adjacent property at 19 Franklin Square, which the YWCA recently purchased.
“We will be evaluating the site of the former Mormon church at 19 Franklin Square for conversion for use by the YWCA New Britain,” said David King, vice president of Kaestle Boos Assoc. “In addition, we will evaluate the YWCA’s current facilities and create a new integrated site plan, which will include possible changes to the YWCA and how best to incorporate the new property.”
“The purchase of the church gives us an unprecedented opportunity to expand our physical size, as well as increase our programming,” said Leslie Eza, co-executive director of the YWCA New Britain. “This new master plan and conceptual design will allow us to take full advantage of this new property.”
