People and Property: Real Estate and Construction News From Around NH

Pictured left to right: Thermal Solutions Segment Manufacturing Engineers Ross Douglas, Matt Van Zile, President Robert Kennedy, with Jeff Luter and Bill Jean, Fulcrum.

C/A Design, part of the Thermal Solutions Segment (TSS) of The Heico Companies, an innovator and leader in aluminum brazing for the Aerospace & Defense industry, has announced the groundbreaking of their new headquarters in Exeter, NH. The new state-of-the-art, 115,000-square-foot operations center aims to bring as many as 200 new jobs to the Seacoast over the next several years. Robert Kennedy, president of C/A Design and Heico’s Thermal Solutions Segment, said, “As part of this $35 million investment, C/A Design will be adding significant new equipment including larger brazing ovens, dip brazing tanks and automated chemical conversion lines. Our investment in technology and automation helps to ensure on-time delivery of precision mission critical parts to C/A Design’s growing customer needs.”

Torrington Properties has acquired the Fort Eddy Shopping Center in Concord for $30 million. The 175,000-square-foot shopping center is fully leased and is the current home of Shaw’s, Books-A-Million, Staples, Eastern Mountain Sports, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, GameStop, H&R Block, Moritomo Japanese Restaurant and more. Eastern Retail Properties was the sole broker involved in this transaction. The shopping center was sold by Eddy Plaza Associates LLC, a family company that has owned the property since it was built in 1979.

Don Carter, safety specialist at North Branch Construction, has earned the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) Certified Safety Professional (CSP) credential — which means he has met the gold standard of safety, health, and environmental (SH&E) credentials and has achieved the industry’s most-recognized SH&E certification. Candidates for the CSP credential must have a bachelor’s degree and have achieved the organization’s work experience requirements before completing their studies for the certification and passing the CSP examination. The CSP credential is maintained by meeting ongoing recertification requirements.

The New Hampshire Liquor Commission (NHLC) is building a new NH Liquor & Wine Outlet in Derry, located off Manchester Road in Pinkerton Place shopping center. The new location will span 8,000 square feet, serving the Derry and greater Londonderry communities, as well as the traveling public. Since 2012, NHLC has renovated, relocated or constructed 40 new NH Liquor & Wine Outlet locations in 35 communities, including Manchester, Concord, Rindge, Claremont, New London, Littleton and is building a new outlet in Nashua.

Absolute Title donated more than $4,500 worth of toys and other items to Marine Toys for Tots in a van resembling Santa’s sleigh from collection sites in Manchester, Concord and Newington. Absolute Title’s employees shopped for all of the donated items, which included toys, board games, bicycles, make-up kits and sporting equipment.

Vertimass, a company developing breakthrough technologies to expand the use of sustainable fuels, has opened a new laboratory in  Enfield, NH, thanks to their inclusion in a consortium that was awarded $1.35 million by Denmark to produce fuels from carbon dioxide. This facility will accelerate advancing its technology for conversion of ethanol, methanol, butanol, and other alcohols into sustainable aviation fuel. Vertimass is outfitting the 64 Main Street site with laboratory and bench-scale reaction systems for catalyst and product optimization and analytical tools to characterize the range of products made by CADO technology. Additionally, Vertimass’ president and chief executive officer, Dr. Charles Wyman, was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors available to an engineer.

Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston awarded the state of New Hampshire nearly $1.2 million to construct 18 affordable units of rental housing in Epping and Laconia. The funds — to be used to pay for construction, acquisition or rehabilitation costs — were awarded to Franklin Savings Bank for the creation of six affordable rental units on a 21-acre farm in Epping and Meredith Village Savings Bank for the development of 12 affordable apartments for low-income individuals in Laconia.

Chris Mosby has been hired as the chief operating officer of Keller Companies, the holding group for New Hampshire-based manufacturers Kalwall Corporation and Structures Unlimited, Inc. Mosby brings decades of experience in industrial manufacturing, most recently serving as the GM of Sargent Manufacturing under the Assa Abloy Group. He also held multiple operations roles for more than a decade at Ingersoll Rand.

Sanborn, Head & Associates, Inc. has welcomed four new shareholders in the firm: Heather Little,  a leader in the firm’s Solid Waste market group; Rich Mechaber, leader of the the firm’s data management and visualization team; Tim Snay, project lead in the firm’s development practice; and Matt Van Rensler, a geotechnical engineer who specializes in construction-related engineering services for the firm’s development practice.

Housing Action NH, a coalition of 80 organizations united around affordable housing policy, presented its “Home Matters in NH Awards” at the 5th Annual Housing We Need Forum hosted by the Center for Ethics in Society at Saint Anselm College. The organization recognized the following policymakers and advocates for their efforts to advance and inform policy solutions to New Hampshire’s housing crisis: Senator Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, co-chair of  the legislative Housing Caucus, was recognized for her leadership in the state Senate; Representative Joe Alexander, co-chair of the legislative Housing Caucus, was recognized for his leadership in the NH House; Donnalee Lozeau, CEO of Southern NH Services, was honored for her leadership on housing stability during the pandemic; Elliott Berry, from New Hampshire Legal Assistance, was awarded for his decades of advocacy for affordable housing and tenant rights; and Deborah Schachter, from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, was also awarded for her leadership in addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness during the Covid-19 pandemic. Awards were also given to the following members of the media who demonstrated excellence in covering housing issues: Granite State News Collaborative was recognized for their work illuminating the housing crisis in New Hampshire through the “Invisible Walls” series; and Ethan DeWitt was also honored for his work at New Hampshire Bulletin covering New Hampshire’s housing crisis. “We need excellent leadership, advocacy and good reporting in order to recover from the housing crisis,” said Elissa Margolin, director of Housing Action NH. “The Home Matters in New Hampshire awards provide us an opportunity to showcase the excellent work happening.”