Bertelli Realty Group, a real estate entity created by the owner of Langone’s Florist in Springfield, will purchase 935 Main St. in the city’s South End neighborhood, where last year’s tornado wreaked havoc.

Springfield Hampden Bank has provided a mortgage loan, enhanced by a $157,500 MassDevelopment mortgage insurance guaranty, to Brent Bertelli to purchase the 20,000-square-foot mixed-use building in the south end of Springfield’s Main Street. Bertelli will move his flower shop into renovated retail space on the first floor and will rehabilitate the upper floors as office space, along with seeking another first-floor retailer, according to a statement.

King & Newton commercial real estate owned the building where the company was housed alongside law firms when the tornado knocked it out of commission.

The property was so badly damaged by the storm that it was condemned, as Banker & Tradesman has reported. The insurance policy for the property was worth $2.1 million, said Thomas King, a broker with the firm.

But to bring the building up to code before re-opening, a buyer would need to put at least $1 million into the property, King told Banker & Tradesman. Instead, the company decided to sell the building. In late May, King said the building was under contract with a buyer for a price "in the ballpark" of the $300,000 asking price.  

"Despite the effects of the tornado that tore through the South End of Springfield in 2011, we have been fortunate to see a 40 percent growth in business sales over the past 24 months," Bertelli said in a statement. "This growth forced us to seek out a larger facility that could accommodate our increased business."