Waterbury Mixed-Use Property Trades Hands

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Waterbury, Conn.—VBF LLC, a regional owner of multifamily and commercial property, has purchased a mixed-use property at 380 West Main St. in Waterbury, Conn., for $1.48 million. The property includes 49 apartment units and six retail units.

The property, originally built as the Waterbury Hotel in 1910, was renovated and converted to apartment use in the 1980s and upgraded in more recent years. A new roof, windows, elevator, sprinkler system and apartment remodeling with new kitchens and bathrooms were some of the renovations completed after the property’s conversion.

Waterbury is formerly a major industrial town in New Haven County (brassware in particular). Despite economic difficulties that have seen some former industrial cities shrink in size, Waterbury nevertheless managed to see an increase in population during the last decade, with the U.S. Census reporting that the city managed to eke out growth between 2000 and 2010, from about 107,000 residents to 110,000.

The property had undergone a foreclosure and during the process experienced a high level of vacancy and deferred maintenance, according to Steve Pappas of the Hartford office of Chozick Realty Inc., who brokered the sale along with Rick Chozick, also of Chozick Realty. Under the management of CR Realty Management, a division of Chozick Realty, the property was stabilized at over 95 percent occupancy for the residential units and 100 percent for the 13,300 square feet of retail space by the time of sale.

Chozick Realty marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Rational Real Estate LLC, as well as procuring the purchaser. Hartford-based Chozick is no stranger to the region’s multifamily market. In another recent deal, the company brokered the sale of the Bally Realty Portfolio, which consisted of 870 apartment units in 24 buildings located in Hartford, West Hartford and New Britain, Conn., along with nine commercial properties, for $64 million.