THOMASTON — The Drawn Metal Tube factory at 219 Elm St. is closed and the property is for sale.According to a posting on the Crexi commercial real estate web site, the sale price for the 125-year-old brick structure is $2,250,000.Drawn Metal Tube had operated in the 48,000-square-foot, three-story building in the center of town since 1937. The company made a variety of products using drawn metal, primarily from copper, brass and bronze alloys. The metal tubes are used in plumbing, electrical systems, and heat exchangers, ...
THOMASTON — The Drawn Metal Tube factory at 219 Elm St. is closed and the property is for sale.
According to a posting on the Crexi commercial real estate web site, the sale price for the 125-year-old brick structure is $2,250,000.
Drawn Metal Tube had operated in the 48,000-square-foot, three-story building in the center of town since 1937. The company made a variety of products using drawn metal, primarily from copper, brass and bronze alloys. The metal tubes are used in plumbing, electrical systems, and heat exchangers, as well as components for industries like automotive, energy, and construction.
Lewis Brass & Copper Co., based in Middle Village, N.Y., is the property owner and lists it as a warehouse on its website. Company President and Chief Executive Officer Luke Anderson declined to comment for this story.
Economic Development Commission Chairman Lissa Jennings said the building has many advantages as it is right off the highway, is in the center town, and walkable to other destinations.
In addition, construction is set to being on the town’s portion of the Naugatuck River Greenway on Elm Street. The entire 44-mile trail will extend from Derby to Torrington.
“It’s got a lot going for it,” she said.
Jennings said the commission is open to different possibilities for the building, like a mixed use of commercial and residential tenants. But she also acknowledged that any redevelopment of the site will require “a significant amount of money.”
She also noted that there might be a environmental issue at the site.
James Fowler, spokesman for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the agency does have “a history of environmental oversight” at this property, dating back to 1996.
Lewis Brass & Copper Co. is “responsible for site investigation and remediation” at the site, which is being conducted under the oversight of a licensed environmental professional, he said.
Lewis Brass recently submitted a technical report and request to permanently release the Environmental Land Use Restriction that has been recorded on the property’s land records, Fowler said. The “request is based on recent soil testing that shows historical petroleum contamination had degraded to levels below the residential direct exposure criteria of the Connecticut Remediation Standard regulations.”
If the release is granted, that would remove the restriction that limits the site to just industrial or commercial uses, “allowing a broader range of development options,” Fowler said.
But he added that the “anticipated LEP verification, which attests that the site now meets the RSRs, may still be subject to a DEEP audit before it is finalized.”