Fairfield County Business Journal 091018

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GENIE ON CALL

SUITE TALK

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2018 | VOL. 54, No. 37

YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS

westfaironline.com

Long-vacant United Healthcare building in Trumbull (finally) sold BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

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John Bilski, franchise owner of Sea Tow Southern Connecticut. Photo by Phil Hall.

Trading in the office for the water

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

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ohn Bilski spent the first quarter-century of his professional life in the insurance industry, working within the confines of an office setting. But, over time, the appeal of laboring in an environment illuminated with fluorescent overhead lights and subdivided by cubicles had hopelessly frayed. “I was tired of being a number in corporate America,” he recalled, unhappily. “Twenty-five years in corporate America and it hadn’t gotten any better, in my opinion.” However, Bilski did have an outdoors outlet as an active sportsman on the Long Island Sound. When an opportunity arose earlier this year to take over the Southern Connecticut franchise for Sea Tow, Bilski did

not pause to consider the opportunity. “I was pretty much on the water from day one of my life,” he added. “I used to fish with my dad and my parents, sisters and I always vacationed on the water. I’ve been a boater and scuba diver and fished in these waters my entire life.” On June 29, Bilski — now formally Capt. John Bilski — took over the Sea Tow franchise covering the Connecticut territory from Greenwich to Milford, trading an insurance industry workplace for a snug office in a tiny cottage along the waterfront promenade at Bridgeport’s Captain’s Cove, where his distinctive yellow and black Sea Tow vessel is moored at the marina. For those unfamiliar with the company, Sea Tow is a 24/7 marine assistance provider — think of » SEA TOW

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he long-vacant 250,000square-foot office building and parking garage at 48 Monroe Turnpike in Trumbull — which represented more than half of the empty space in the town — has been purchased for approximately $3.4 million. Senior Living Development LLC (SLD) and Silver Heights Development LLC, which have developed a number of age-restricted residential projects throughout Fairfield County, 55 acquired the property and expect to submit applications to Trumbull’s Planning and Zoning Department to develop a senior housing community for individuals age 55 and over, probably in October, according to SLD Managing Member Mark De Pecol. “It’s a great town,” said De Pecol, whose Fairfield-based company operates Sunrise of Wilton, Sunrise of Fairfield, and The Residence at Summer Street in Stamford, with The Residence at Selleck’s Woods in Darien and The Residence at Westport both scheduled to open next year. The company also operates a number of similar facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont. De Pecol cited Trumbull’s “strategic location” in upper Fairfield County as a paramount consideration. With easy access to the Route 25 connector to the Merritt Parkway, I-95 and Route 8 — plus the 17.6-acre site’s adjacency to the Pequonnock River Trail on Route 111 and its location directly across from restaurants, fitness, massage and other retail outlets as well as being close to numerous health » UNITED HEALTHCARE

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