The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Town completes Lambert Kay buyer review
WINSTED » The former Lambert Kay pet grooming supply factory at 32 Lake St. may have a new owner in the near-future.
The town has completed its vetting of Parker Benjamin Real Estate Services, Town Manager Robert Geiger said Thursday, and is proceeding with further consideration of its offer to acquire the property.
Parker Benjamin is interested in re-purposing the former mill building, managing broker Brian Lyman said Friday.
Lyman has said previously that the company is seeking to construct a mix of shops, galleries, offices and a restaurant on the prop-
erty, and described a similar interest Friday.
The group specializes in re-purposing old mill buildings, he said, and was looking for a new endeavor after a successful project in Unionville.
The location of the former Lambert Kay facility on Lake Street, Lyman said, was one of the factors that attracted the group’s interest, as traffic flows through the area from Route 44 on the way to Highland Lake.
The “idyllic New England” quality of the downtown, the proximity to the Mad River and the presence of Northwestern Connecticut Community College were also attractive aspects of the idea, Lyman said.
Lyman said he was planning to make a presentation on the group’s plans to the Board of Selectmen on June 19.
In the recent past, Lyman said, they’ve been working with Geiger, Town Planner Steven Sadlowski and other staffers who he praised Friday.
“We like the working relationship with town staff,” said Lyman. “They’re valueadded.”
The Board of Selectmen voted June 5 to have the Planning and Zoning Commission “reaffirm (the) sale of Lambert Kay,” according to the minutes for that meeting.
Mayor Althea Candy Perez said Thursday that the commission would consider whether the property was appropriate to sell, as it did in 2014. 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.
Perez said she would be pleased to see the Lambert Kay property be sold, if an agreement can be reached that would benefit the community.
“Lambert Kay has been in the town’s possession for a very, very long time,” said Perez. “We all hope we can work out a contract that is to the benefit of the town.”
Geiger enumerated a similar thought Thursday, noting the developer’s past history with similar projects.
“I can’t imagine why anyone would be against it,” said Geiger.
Any potential sale of the 32,500 square-foot property, which the town bought in 2002 for $1, would be brought forward for a vote by residents.