Portfolio

Jasko Development leases office space in former
Post Office building to Siena Learning Center, LLC

ESL educational outreach nonprofit commits to convenient downtown location

July 24, 2024, NEW BRITAIN, CT – Jasko Development LLC, announced today that the nonprofit Dominican Sisters of Peace, INC., DBA Siena Learning Center has signed a 5-year lease for 1,780 sq ft of space in the Jasko Development office building at 114 West Main Street, New Britain. The historic building has been commonly known as New Britain’s Old Post Office.

The Siena Learning Center is a non-profit, non-denominational educational outreach ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. Offering English as a Second Language to Adult Learners in the Greater New Britain area of Connecticut, assisting in career opportunities and earning American citizenship. The Siena Learning Center announced on its website that they will be moving to the West Main St. address from their previous offices at 29 Edson St., New Britain.

114 West Main St., New Britain home is convenient to 16 bus routes, within walking distance from the New Britain CTfastrak station terminus, and is easily accessible to CT routes 84, 72 and 9.

Built in 1905, 114 West Main Street served as downtown New Britain’s post office from 1910 to 1979, Jasko Development purchased the historic 36,000 square foot building in 2022 and updated the interior, exterior, infrastructure and landscaping, making the 19 office spaces attractive for lease as insurance, non-profit, business or law offices.

Jasko Development LLC, founded in 2007 is a commercial real estate investment, development, and management company specializing on working closely with city officials and community leaders to provide a robust mix of live-work-play elements within the community. Jasko has several downtown New Britain projects in their portfolio, including the Brit, the Highrailer and the Strand. Jasko is currently delivering a total of more than 1,100 multifamily residential units to urban and suburban markets.

For leasing information, contact [email protected] Phone # 845-746-6422.

Press Contact: Avner S. Krohn, 860.223.3434, [email protected]

Jasko signs Safe Passages, LLC to 5-year
lease in historic New Britain office building

July 24, 2024, NEW BRITAIN, CT – July 24, 2024, NEW BRITAIN, CT – Jasko Development LLC, has announced that Safe Passages, LLC has signed a 5 year lease for 1,300 sq ft of office space in the Jasko Development office building at 114 West Main Street, New Britain. The historic building that was previously known as New Britain’s Old Post Office.

Licensed Therapists and Certified Reiki Master Teachers, Safe Passages, LLC offers a diverse, therapeutic, and uniquely integrated approach to meeting the clinical, emotional and spiritual needs of Adults, Children, Adolescents, and their Families.

Built in 1905, The historically significant building at 114 West Main Street, served memorably as downtown New Britain’s post office from 1910 to 1979 before being converted to office use. Jasko Development purchased this landmark in 2022. The property is now newly renovated with updated interior, exterior, infrastructure, landscaping and parking areas. It offers 19 unique business office suites that range from 500 square feet to 4,000 square feet. Each of which is attractive for lease as law offices, insurance, non-profit or business use. Conveniently located in thriving downtown New Britain, nearby to the CT Fastrak terminus, highway routes 9 & 72 and local bus routes,

Jasko Development LLC, founded in 2007, is a commercial real estate investment, development, and management company specializing on working closely with city officials and community leaders to provide a robust mix of live-work-play elements within the community. Jasko has several downtown New Britain projects in their portfolio, including the Brit, the Highrailer and the Strand. Jasko is currently delivering a total of more than 1,100 multifamily residential units to urban and suburban markets. For leasing information, contact [email protected] Phone # 845-746-6422. Press Contact: Avner S. Krohn, 860.223.3434, [email protected]

For leasing information, contact [email protected] Phone # 845-746-6422.

Press Contact: Avner S. Krohn, 860.223.3434, [email protected]

For: Jasko Development, New Britain, Connecticut

Jasko leases 5,414 sq. ft to Nonprofit 50CAN
in the Old Post Office building, 114 West Main St.,  New Britain, CT

June 1, 2024, NEW BRITAIN, CT –  Jasko Development LLC, announced today that the nonprofit education advocacy group, 50CAN (The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now) has signed an office lease for 5,414 sq. ft. of office space in the Jasko Development office building at 114 West Main Street, New Britain.

50CAN is a nonprofit education advocacy and tutoring organization that offers programs that engage local leaders in the education advocacy movement. 50CAN currently operates policy campaigns in nine states.

Avner Krohn, CEO of Jasko Development is enthusiastic for the new tenant, saying, “We welcome 50Can to our building and to the growing downtown of New Britain. The increased demand for office, retail and apartments in downtown New Britain shows the growing vibrancy of the NEW New Britain.”

Having served as downtown New Britain’s post office from 1910 to 1979, 114 West Main Street is a handsome neoclassical building featuring marble public spaces, decorative plaster and terrazzo floors. Jasko purchased the historic 36,000 square foot building in 2022 and made extensive updates to the interior and exterior. Krohn has said “With parts of the original building dating to 1905, the Old Post Office is a gorgeous structure and a true piece of downtown New Britain history”.

Jasko Development LLC, founded in 2007 is a commercial real estate investment, development, and management company specializing on working closely with city officials and community leaders to provide a robust mix of live-work-play elements within the community. Jasko has several downtown New Britain projects in their portfolio, including the Brit, the Highrailer and the Strand. Jasko is currently delivering a total of more than 1,100 multifamily residential units to urban and suburban markets.

For leasing information, contact [email protected] Phone # 845-746-6422.

Press Contact: Avner S. Krohn, 860.223.3434, [email protected]

For: Jasko Development, New Britain, Connecticut

Avner S. Krohn Acquires the Old Post Office
in Downtown New Britain

--Plans for decades-old neoclassical building include historically appropriate interior and
exterior upgrades, with a focus on leasing to law offices, tech startups, designs firms and other tenants seeking experiential office space downtown

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (6/8/22)—The Old Post Office at 114 W. Main St. has a new caretaker.

Avner S. Krohn—Chairman and CEO of New Britain-based Jasko Development—closed on the neoclassical landmark on June 1 via a registered LLC. The seller was an entity stewarded by Peter R. Knaus, whose family acquired the building in 1985 and completed an award-winning, $1.8 million renovation a year later, leasing office space at the property ever since. The purchase price was undisclosed.

“With parts of the original building dating to 1905, the Old Post Office is a gorgeous structure and a true piece of downtown New Britain history,” Krohn said. “Thankfully, Peter and his family had the wherewithal and dedication to preserve it, in accordance with stringent U.S. Department of the Interior regulations. We’re committed to following the Knaus family’s lead as we market leasing opportunities in the building to tech startups, law offices, design firms and other companies looking for downtown office space with character and authenticity.”

The acquisition is in keeping with Krohn’s focus on working closely with city officials and the community to provide a robust mix of live-work-play elements downtown. Jasko has built five New Britain retail and residential projects and is moving forward with mixed-use developments including 107-unit The Brit at 267 Main Street and its adjacent “sister project” at Main and Columbus.

“Housing demand in downtown New Britain is robust, and we need to complement that by providing more experiential retail and office in the years ahead,” Krohn explained. “So this building, with its engaging aesthetics and tremendous historic significance, is essential to our big-picture strategy in New Britain.”

Over the next few weeks, Krohn’s team will begin making improvements that include:

• repaving the parking lot
• installing new landscaping
• improving sightlines to the façade
• scrubbing and cleaning the exterior limestone and masonry
• building new retaining walls
• adding accent lighting
• repairing parts of the front stairs
• planning historically appropriate interior upgrades

Now totaling approximately 36,000 square feet, the building served as downtown New Britain’s post office from 1910 to 1979. Like many neoclassical government buildings in the early 20th century, it offered marble public spaces, decorative plaster work, terrazzo floors, wood wainscoting, mahogany door frames and soaring windows.

But the post office was in sorry shape when Robert W. Knaus and his son Peter—now President of New Britain-based Knaus Builders—bought it in February 1986. Vandals had defaced parts of the building with graffiti; original windows were crumbling; marble had been stripped, and prior owners had sold off original doors with their locally made Corbin locksets. “I remember going up on the third floor during the winter and seeing that there were roof leaks onto the terrazzo flooring,” the younger Knaus recalled. “You could have gone ice skating in there.”

But the Knaus family went to extraordinary lengths to renovate the post office. They had the windows remanufactured; preserved and reused original fixtures, detailing and hardware; and even found and bought back the paneled doors that had been sold off. “When you stripped off the blue-green, government-issued paint, those wood-grained doors were just beautiful,” Peter Knaus said. “We took old locksets to Corbin Russwin here in New Britain and they got them functioning for us as well. It was a very satisfying renovation.”

In recognition, the Knaus family received a historic preservation award from the Hartford Architecture Conservancy.

Over the years, prominent tenants at the Old Post Office have included the Quinn Associates architecture firm; an investment office of the former Connecticut Bank & Trust; and a legal office for longtime federal appeals court judge Thomas Joseph Meskill, Jr., whose career also included serving as mayor of New Britain, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and as Connecticut’s 82nd governor.

In passing the property to Krohn, Peter Knaus credits the developer’s commitment to New Britain over more than a decade, as well as his collaborative, high-energy approach to downtown revitalization. “Avner has a strong drive for success in his projects and a solid team at Jasko,” Knaus said. “I am confident that Avner will do an excellent job in his new role as caretaker of this historic property. He and his team have what it takes to see this building thrive for generations to come.”

For leasing information, contact [email protected] Phone # 845-746-6422.

Press Contact: Avner S. Krohn, 860.223.3434, [email protected]