Granite State Glass acquires Molex building

Granite State Glass is acquiring the building on Aviation Drive formerly occupied by Molex Industrial Ventures, Inc.

Originally erected in 1988, the building includes 66,250 square feet of floor space and an office mezzanine of 7,500 square feet on a 9.16-acre lot at the corner of Aviation Drive and Lily Pond Road (Route 11C). The building has an assessed value of $1,839,000 and the land, which is leased from the Laconia Airport Authority, of $274,500.

Granite State Glass is headquartered at 201 Daniel Webster Highway in Belmont, which also houses the company's commercial fabrication facility, and operates at eight locations in New Hampshire and one in Vermont. Company owner Bill Marcotte, a Laconia resident, could not be reached for comment.

Molex announced the closure of its manufacturing facility in April 2005, explaining that the company was consolidating its manufacturing operations in Tampa, Florida. The firm, the world's second largest maker of electronic, electrical and fiber-optic interconnection products and systems, had employed 187 people in Gilford.

On Monday night, City Council will be asked to approve Granite State Glass's assumption of the existing lease of the Airport Authority land.