(Caption ) From left, READO officials Mary Woomer, senior property manager; Lea Engels, vice president of asset management; Michael Lech, president, andLex Pellecchia, property manager, pose Aug. 28, 2023, in the real estate investment firm’s executive offices in Old Lyme. (Lee Howard/The Day)
August 28, 2023 5:09 pm • Last Updated: August 28, 2023 7:34 pm
Old Lyme ― In what it is calling a “new chapter of growth,” real estate investment firm READCO has announced plans over the next two years for projects totaling $154 million in southeastern Connecticut.
The investment would double the firm’s current local portfolio. READCO President Michael Lech, who grew up in Old Lyme and lives in Stonington, said Monday in an interview at his offices off Four MileRiver Road that he is bullish on the region. In fact, the 20-person company, which has holdings along the East Coast, currently invests about a third of its portfolio in the region.
Among the more than 600,000 square feet of space READCO now owns locally are the East Lyme and Pawcatuck Stop & Shops, Regal Cinema inWaterford, McDonald’s in Pawcatuck and the vacant Citizens Bank building in New London; it also manages Hartford Health Care sites in Mystic and Waterford. Lech said READCO’s pipeline projects include an office building for General Dynamics in Groton, a retail space in Groton and a not-yet-officially-proposed multi-family project in Pawcatuck at the vacant Regal Cinema building.
“This is a market that’s growing exponentially, and no one is seeing it,” he said. “Right now I have 700,000 square feet (of rental space). If I had 1.2 million it would be filled.”…….