The Canadian commercial real estate investment firm Avison Young has brokered the $9.2 million sale of an office and warehouse building at 100 Trap Falls Extension in Shelton.
The deal for the 82,000-square-foot flex building represents the largest sale price per square foot in eastern Fairfield County since 2008, according to a press release by Avison Young.
The property was purchased in 2013 by Cambridge Hanover, a New Canaan private real estate investment firm, for $3.32 million.
The buyer in the recent deal was Haug 2002 Associates LLC, a New York family real estate firm that invests primarily in properties in the five boroughs and wanted to diversify its portfolio into Connecticut, said Sean Cahill, principal and managing director of Avison Young’s Fairfield/Westchester office. Haug purchased the property with 1031 Exchange funds, also known as a tax-deferred exchange.
The industrial space was the former site of operations for W.E. Bassett Co., a maker of personal care products, before the business was bought out by Pacific World Corp. in 2012, resulting in the shuttering of the 65-year-old company and loss of approximately 200 jobs.
Avison Young was brought on by Hanover to fill the vacant industrial space, bringing it to 94 percent occupancy at the time of the recent sale. Tenants include Red Bull, Microphase, Comet North America and Option Care.
Cahill said the sale is indicative of the strong demand for mixed industrial, commercial and research and development-capable office space.
“There has been no new supply since the late ’90s; 2001 was the last flex park built and it was in Shelton,” said Cahill. “There has been demand for smaller spaces. Companies that want to be in the more affluent areas cannot find space and it is driving the prices up, keeping prices high. Investors want those buildings because there is less risk of replacing and losing tenants. Where office space is soft, the flex market seems to be stable and that stability is what is attracting investors.”
Cahill and an Avison Young team from its Fairfield/Westchester and New York City offices represented Hanover in the sale, including principal Jon Epstein, capital markets associate Alison Luisi and financial analyst Erik Edeen.
