An official groundbreaking was held at 127 Park Ave. to commemorate the construction of the future 111,443 s/f headquarters and expanded food processing facility for Bakery on Main, a leader in the gluten-free bakery industry.
With new equipment, upgraded utilities to the site, and significant renovations to the facility, the East Hartford plant will be the largest gluten-free, non-GMO production facility in the U.S. Michael Smulders, Bakery on Main's founder and president, said this has been a dream of his for over 10 years, when he first started in the business as a small bakery in a natural food store on Main St. in Glastonbury. The expanding operations in East Hartford will increase the company's number of employees to as high as 75.

The Hart Group International team of Art Ross, SIOR and Mark Duclos, SIOR represented the landlord, Winstanley Enterprises in this transaction and worked closely with Bakery on Main's team to complete the long-term lease. Also instrumental in getting the lease, construction design and financing completed were The Dennis Group and Winstanley Construction Management; East Hartford's Mayor, Marcia Leclerc and her staff; Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development; State Senator Gary Le Beau and State Representative Tim Larson.

Financing for the $10 million project is being provided by TD Bank, along with the State of Connecticut, who provided a Railroad Depot Zone Economic Development financing and incentive package.

Hart Group International is a collaborative effort of Hartford, Conn.-based Sentry Commercial and Southampton, Penn.-headquartered Hart Corporation. Hart Corporation's northeast regional office is in Avon, Conn.

Together, they combine the industrial real estate expertise of local, regional and national coverage to provide unparalleled brokerage service.