A new lease on life

Thursday, March 11, 2010

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MILFORD – A real estate transaction involving a small commercial building does not usually get much attention.

But the recent sale of 1 Nashua St., to Richard LaBonte of Milford, has many people excited.

The building, on the southeast corner of Nashua and South streets, on the Oval, includes the former home of the Boston Shoe Store, which has been empty for a long time.

There are three storefronts in the building, and LaBonte is renovating two of them, the old shoe store and the space last occupied by the Sign Mine, and before that, Milford Travel. The third storefront houses the Gentlemen’s Weekly barber shop, which will remain the same.

“It’s great news,” said Tracy Bardsley, executive director of the Downtown Ongoing Improvement Team. “DO-IT has been waiting for something to happen for a long time. It’s a very busy corner.”

The building’s exterior has not been maintained, and last fall, DO-IT asked town officials to do something about it and about the building directly across South Street.

LaBonte, who bought 1 Nashua St. for $175,000, is renovating the interior now with the help of his teenage sons, Nicholas and Nathan. He would like to see a cafe or a wine and cheese shop in one of the spaces but is open to other ideas. He would like to add a second floor with perhaps a dining room overlooking the Oval.

The building had a second story until 1969, when it was removed by owner Salvatore Crisafulli, who operated the Boston Shoe Store on the corner for many years and also ran a shoe store in Wilton. (See the editorial page for an old photo of the building before the second story was taken off.)

LaBonte grew up in Hudson and has developed two subdivisions in Milford, on Mile Slip Road and on Largo Knoll, but suffered along with many other local contractors when the real estate market collapsed.

“I needed something to do,” he said. “I love to fix up old buildings. This is a win-win situation for everyone – the town, the seller, and the buyer.”

He intends to rent out one of the storefront spaces and use the other for his company, R. LaBonte Construction. He also hopes to build some starter homes in the spring and put some contractors to work.

“The majority of them are hurting,” he said.

Theresa Grella, the real estate agent who represented the seller, is related to the family that owned the building.

“Everybody’s so happy someone is finally going to do something with the building,” she said.

Penelope Seaver, the real estate agent who brokered the sale, is on the town’s Economic Development Committee.

“It was in the seller’s family for a long, long, time and it had deteriorated,” said Seaver, who is pleased, “as a small business person with a genuine interest in businesses staying in town and coming into town and seeing properties maintained. It’s an awesome building, and (LaBonte) has good solid plans for the future.”

Seaver is also LaBonte’s rental agent and she said they are “looking for good quality tenants who would like to be in a conspicuous building.”

There has been a building on that corner since 1797. In 1897 Tony Scagliarini, “a short, rosy-cheeked Italian, loved by everyone,” sold fruits and vegetables from a stand attached to the building and had a peanut roasting machine “very enticing to passersby,” according to the town history.

After Scagliarini moved, Thomas Ryan operated a newsstand there and would go to the railroad station “and pick up 2,000 pounds of Sunday papers,” according to “The Granite Town.”

There has been a shoe store in the corner storefront for at least 100 years.

Kathy Cleveland can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 21, or kcleveland@cabinet.com.