Small Business Resources, Business Advice and Forms from AllBusiness.com
 

Milling About

Jeffrey Sagalyn says that when he and partner Dan Burack bought the sprawling Cabotville mill complex in Chicopee 20 years ago, there was considerable demand for 5,000- to 20,000-square-foot chunks of manufacturing and R&D space in such buildings.

"But over the years, the market changed,"

said Sagalyn. "Today, those kinds of businesses don't want to be on the fourth floor of a mill building; they want the ground floor or their own building."

This phenomenon led to a changing tenant base, featuring businesses desiring much smaller spaces. Providing them is a difficult, expensive proposition, he said, adding that this reality was one of the reasons why the partners sold the 600,000square-foot complex to a New York developer this past spring for $4 million.

The new owner, Joshua Guttman, doing business as 200 Tillay, LLC, has a strong track record for converting buildings into loftstyle apartments and condominiums, and has similar plans in the works for portions of Cabotville.

In addition, make sure to read these articles: