Kristin Geenty & Arnold Grant Broker Sale of East Haven Bilco Building

Arnold J. Grant, CRE, MAI of Arnold J. Grant Associates, Inc. and Kristin Geenty, SIOR, President of The Geenty Group, Realtors, are pleased to announce the sale of 5 Water Street, West Haven, CT, which long served as the headquarters of The Bilco Company.
In January, 2011, The Bilco Company decided to sell its five-acre home with the proviso that subsequent development and use of the site would be of benefit to West Haven. Dean Amadon, of Amadon Associates in West Hartford, assisted with the selection of the initial professional team. Patrick L. Pinnell, AIA, CNU, APA of Architecture & Town Planning, LLC undertook land capacity studies. Arnold Grant, the listing broker, organized the marketing effort.
The property is the key parcel of a development project that was conceived when Kristin Geenty was approached by developers Sheldon Gordon and Matt Armstrong of The Haven, LLC. with an eye toward building in New Haven near IKEA. The focus shifted to West Haven over a lunch at the former Sage American Grill (now Shell & Bones) where the view carried the development team’s gaze across the underutilized, industry-locked New Haven Harbor to the low-slung roofline of the Bilco Company property sitting on the Harbor’s edge and led the three to discuss the possibilities there. During subsequent meetings with former West Haven Mayor John Picard and City Attorney Peter Barrett, the vision of a mall featuring a public esplanade, restaurants and harbor access crystalized. True to the Bilco Company’s mandate, the project would bring revenue, new opportunity and waterfront access to the people of West Haven.
Given its location in the West River Crossing Design Area, a 15-Acre waterfront neighborhood, it was clear that maximum benefits would require the combination of The Bilco Company property with neighboring properties. Sustained government efforts were critically important. U.S. Representative Rosa L. DeLauro helped secure funding for a $2 million bulkhead reconstruction project completed in 2012. It improved abutting city-owned property which is incorporated into the development project. West Haven Mayor Ed O’Brien and City Planning and Development Commissioner Joseph A. Riccio, Jr. made the project the city’s top economic development priority.
It takes sustained effort and patience to undertake a successful real estate assemblage and development. While The Bilco Company property was the first property committed to a contract, it required three years of negotiations, planning and due diligence efforts before the transaction closed in January 2016 at a price of $3,100,000. During the process, The Bilco Company’s legal team was headed by Nancy K. Mendel, Esq, of Winnick, Ruben, Hoffnung, Peabody & Mendel, LLC. The Haven Group’s primary attorney was Coleen Hurlie-Dunn, Esq of Zeisler & Zeisler, P.C.
Five years of effort accomplished The Bilco Company’s primary goal: to ensure that future development of their former headquarters will benefit the City of West Haven and its residents.