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August 2, 2021

Express Kitchens buys Hartford’s former Veeder-Root property for $2.45M

HBJ Photos | Joe Cooper Express Kitchens Founder Max Kothari.
By Greg Bordonaro

About a year-and-a-half after winning approval to acquire the 183,000-square-foot former Veeder-Root property in Hartford’s Asylum Hill neighborhood, cabinet and countertop retailer Express Kitchens has completed the purchase.

Max Kothari, founder and CEO of the Hartford-based company, said Monday the deal was recently finalized. The purchase, which was originally announced in 2019, faced delays due to outstanding tax liens on the property and complications from the pandemic.

The official city property record lists James Lusa as the buyer of the property at 20-28 Sargeant St., but Kothari said Express Kitchens is the building's true owner. 

He said his goal is to stabilize the property, which currently has a 30% vacancy rate. Express Kitchens currently occupies between 20% and 30% of the building and uses it as storage, he said. The rest of the property is occupied by nonprofits, including Our Piece of the Pie.

CoStar
Veeder-Root property in Hartford, at 20-28 Sargeant St.

Express Kitchens does have plans to produce its own line of cabinets and could use the recently purchased property to house that business. 

The seller was Bristol-based M J B CORP.

The property housed manufacturer Veeder-Root until the 1980s. Its previous owner had several tax liens on the property, city land records show, which complicated the sales process. 

The Hartford Business Journal reported in 2019 that the city council approved a resolution that would have allowed Express Kitchens to buy the property’s tax liens worth $1.6 million.

The property, which was built in 1900 and renovated in 1999, sits on 5 acres and has 110 covered parking spaces and 75 surface level parking spaces.

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