Cape Cod 5 Purchases Former Baskin’s Building Property To Provide Additional Space During Bank Renovation

ORLEANS – The former home of Baskin’s ACE Hardware has a new owner.

 Cape Cod 5 purchased the building at 28 South Orleans Rd. in September for $1 million, according to records on file with the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds. The Baskin family relocated out of the space in April when it moved around the corner to the site of the former Christmas Tree Shops. 

 The building is located behind Cape Cod 5’s Route 6A branch, which will soon undergo a renovation and expansion. The bank’s president, Bert Talerman, said the additional space will allow the bank to continue operations with less disruption while work is ongoing on the building. 

 “We had an unbelievable luck of timing that a direct abutting property was available,” he said. “It kind of made sense for us to make that investment.”

 Bill Baskin built the former hardware store in 1977. The store became the first of five owned and operated by the family on the Cape. 

 But the need for more space prompted the family to enter into a longterm lease with the Bilezikian family to occupy the former Christmas Tree Shops building at 10 South Orleans Rd. Lynn Colangione, co-owner of Baskin’s ACE Hardware, said she and partner Lauren Baskin had conversations about what to do with the original location before deciding to sell the property.

 “In the end, we just decided it was right for our business not to open a new type of complimentary business there,” she said. “We just really wanted to focus on making the new store as successful as it could be and not be tied down by extra rent down the street.”

 Lauren’s mother, the late Marilyn Baskin, owned the property and reached out to Cape Cod 5 directly to work out a private sale, Colangione said.

 “She herself wanted the bank to have it, or to have a crack at it if they wanted it,” she said. “We’ve done business with them forever, 40-something years, and they own the land directly behind the building. We figured they might be interested, and we’ve always had a good relationship with them.”

 Talerman said the bank plans to use the building temporarily as “overflow” space while work is ongoing on the Route 6A building. The building will accommodate office space for clients and staff and is also expected to assume some transaction services from the main branch, he said. 

 Cape Cod 5 plans to expand the Route 6A building and redesign the inside with a new lobby. The bank is currently going through the process of securing local permits for the renovation, and Talerman said he anticipates that ground will be broken on the project early next year. But there is no timeline as of now for when the former Baskin’s building will be up and running, he said.

 “That’s going to be a little bit of a function of everything else (involving the renovation),” he said. Talerman added that the bank will reevaluate its longterm plans for the Baskin’s building after the renovation is complete.

 Baskin’s, meanwhile, will continue to occupy some space in its former building. Colangione said that the business has a short-term lease of attic space in the building through the end of the year. 

 Colangione said the decision to sell the business’ longtime home carried mixed emotions, even if she said it was the right time.

 “Lauren’s dad built it,” she said. “And I think in particular for Lauren’s mom, it was probably bittersweet. She totally encouraged us to move down the street and she was an incredibly smart business woman. She knew that we needed to do that, but it was also sad. It was a chapter coming to an end for one part of the business, but an exciting new future at the same time.”

 Colangione also voiced confidence that Cape Cod 5 will be good stewards of the property moving forward, citing the bank’s deep ties to the Cape and Orleans.

 “There’s not a lot of good commercial real estate available in town,” she said. “We trust Cape Cod 5. We know they’re very community-based…and our sense is that they will be very thoughtful about who they put in there. Because they know the community, they know the town and they know what the town wants.”

 For Talerman, the additional space is just another means of continuing to support the local community.

 “We are a local business,” he said. “That is who we are. Our business is serving this community where we have locations. That means investing in those locations, investing in people. It means taking care of our clients and again making an economic investment in the community where we’re located and where we serve people. And that’s exactly what we’re doing here.”