The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Lambert Kay site has buyer
Shops, apartments proposed for old factory site
WINSTED >> Parker Benjamin Real Estate Services has submitted a proposal to acquire the Lambert Kay property at 32 Lake St.and turn the existing building there into shops and apartments, according to Town Manager Robert Geiger and the company’s managing broker, Brian Lyman.
The Unionville and Charleston, South Carolina-based organization was the sole respondent to a request for a proposals issued by the town, Geiger said Wednesday.
Geiger briefed the Board of Selectmen on the proposal in March, but did not disclose the name of the interested party at that time.
The group has not submitted a price for purchasing the property, Geiger said, but is interested in acquiring it.
Lyman said Wednesday that the company is seeking to construct a mix of shops, galleries, of-
fices and a restaurant on the property, which previously was a pet grooming supply factory.
“We’ve been looking to acquire an old vacant mill building in Winsted for a couple years now,” said Lyman.
Geiger said Wednesday that has met with representatives of the group, but, in a continuation of the process he discussed with the Board of Selectmen in March, remains in the process of vetting the proposal.
“We have to make sure they’re real, have the money, have integrity,” said Geiger.
The group previously restored two former mill buildings in Unionville, according to Lyman and documentation detailing the group’s interest in the Lambert Kay site.
Lyman said one of the former mill buildings had been turned into apartments, while another became a series of shops.
He said he visited Winsted to see the former pet grooming facility, and found it in typical shape for a former mill building.
The location of the building near the intersection of Route 8 and Route 44 — which provides access to Litchfield County and the Berkshires — the makeup of the community itself, including the growth of Northwestern Connecticut Community College; and the proximity to the Mad River was attractive as the group considered responding to the request, Lyman said.
“We’re high on Winsted,” said Lyman. “(We) think there’s a lot of upside in the city.”
If Parker Benjamin acquires the property, Lyman estimates it would take approximately three years for construction and the renting of spaces to businesses to occur.
Geiger said Wednesday that he expected the vetting process to continue for a few more weeks.
If that proves satisfactory, a purchase price and legal documents would be drawn up before the matter is brought to the Board of Selectmen for consideration.
He said the proposal is being considered with special care, based on the site’s history.
The town previously ran into difficulties with a bid on the Lambert Kay property in summer 2014, when a bid by XS4D Entertainment Holding Co.was sunk by the involvement of David Viens, who brokered the deal between the company and Winsted, but was found to have defrauded investors to the tune of $2.3 million in 2011.
“It’s had false starts in the past,” said Geiger. “We just want to make sure we don’t have another one.”
Any sale of town-owned property must be brought before town residents for a vote, Geiger said.
In documentation tied to Parker Benjamin’s interest in the site, the group estimates a May 1 purchase date for the property. The first space would be available to lease, if all goes according to plan, by May 2018, with the last space completed by the end of April 2020.
The Lambert Kay property has been fully remediated, Geiger said, beyond a small amount of lingering work in the roof.
Parker Benjamin Real Estate Services “specializes” in the repurposing and renovation/ restoration of unique and/or historical properties for our clients and ownership accounts,” according to documentation.
The former Lambert Kay property spans some 32,500 square feet. It was abandoned in 1993, then purchased by the town for $1 in 2002.