New Haven, CT Barbara Pearce, chair and CEO of Pearce Real Estate said that senior commercial broker, Carl Russell, sold a sought-after building at 280 Blake St.

Russell fielded hundreds of inquiries for the 4,806 s/f, free-standing building in the Westville neighborhood, during the normal months-long course of the sales transaction.

Russell represented the seller, Woodbridge-based Gen Mike Realty, LLC. The retail and light industrial building is on 0.15 of an acre and was purchased by Ian Alderman, artistic director of the award-winning A Broken Umbrella Theatre. The buyer was represented by Renee Stevens of Press/Cuozzo Realtors.

A Broken Umbrella Theatre got its start in Allentown, Penn. but has been rooted in New Haven for almost two decades with Westville and Edgewood Park as its backdrop. The Blake St. building will give the theatrical group a physical presence in the community, to further its mission and commitment to “enhancing the vitality of our community, supporting the creative growth of our ensemble, and presenting compelling theatrical events with a commitment to aesthetic rigor, that are inspired by the unique history of New Haven.”

Russell is a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). He is an instructor in the CCIM program. In addition, Russell was an adjunct professor of Real Estate at New York University and past president of the Greater New Haven Association of Realtors.