The Hood Plant is managed by Metropark, LLC.
info@thehoodplant.com
phone 802-860-7068
fax 802-860-1414
We do not have a physical office open to the public.
Please contact us regarding an appointment. Thank you…
Principals
Louis Angelo Natale III, President
Anne Gregg Rothwell, Vice-President
Louis Natale and Anne Rothwell have been business partners since 1997, when Lou became Anne’s partner at Club Metronome, the nightclub she opened April 2, 1992 (Above Nectar’s at 188 Main St. Burlington, VT)
In 1998, The HP Hood Plant came on the market. Commercial Realtor Steve Donohue facilitated the deal between HP Hood and the business duo. Metropark, LLC. was formed and the new company took ownership in June 1998. The partners later sold Club Metronome to the owners of Red Square on July 3, 1999.
Lou and Anne went on to buy and rehabilitate blighted properties in Winooski, at one point had a hat-trick, 3 building portofolio on the historic side of Main Street.
With original partner Troy Pudvah, (“Krispy Konstruction”) 8 and 28 Main Streets were gut rehabbed. 8 Main Street, a former Pawn Shop, was converted into residential units in 2001 and is still owned by Lou and Anne. 28 Main was renovated in 2004 and was rented to a Hemp operation and later Matte Sutte’s Blue Star Coffee. In partnership with Troy Pudvah, Stacey Steinmetz (“first employee of Magic Hat”) and her husband Glenn “3 Needs” Walter, they revitalized 30 Main Street, opened The Monkey House and created housing on the second floor.
28 and 30 Main Street were deliberately sold to the operators of the businesses —The Monkey House and Sneakers Restaurant – that continue to operate in owner/occupied buildings.
In 2004, a single story warehouse was torn down at The Hood Plant and in its place, The Hood Residences Condominium was constructed to create 191 South Winooski Avenue. The Freezer Building, an expansion of the former BCMP & HP Hood storage freezers, was completed in 2015. The Freezer is four residential apartments above one commercial space at 193 South Winooski Avenue.
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Louis Natale grew up between the worlds of Trenton and Princeton, NJ in the township of Ewing. He graduated from Kents Hill in Maine (high school), studied ceramics at Alfred University and graduated from Old Dominion University in Virginia. In Maine, he thrived in the rural setting, studying everything from ceramics to ski jumping. Lou moved to Vermont in the 1980’s after receiving an MBA from University of Colorado, Boulder, a 3-year stint with Ford Motor Company in New Zealand and a year-long trip in Asia . He rose the ranks to Vice-President at Merrill Lynch in Burlington, working as a mentor for young recruits and building his own financial advising group. In 2008, Lou retired from Merrill Lynch to pursue Real Estate full-time. To this day, he is still up before dawn to research and trade stocks, but values his role as handyman equally. His hobbies and business overlap with his hands-on approach to interesting properties, including a former Mill in Winooski and a beachfront acreage cooperative with a group of friends in Bocas Del Toro, Panama. Lou formed a partnership with siblings, Natale Partners, and purchased The Shelburne Field House. A life-long gym rat, Lou now oversees The Shelburne Athletic Club, Wellness Center and the indoor soccer fields. Lou resides in Shelburne with his wife Catherine and two children.
Anne Rothwell was born in Lawrence, Kansas and moved to Burlington, Vermont at the age of 6. She attended local Burlington Schools, graduating from Burlington High School in 1982. As a child, she played ‘pretend business’ ranging from a hair salon to a school. From 1984-85, after a gap-year of waitressing (Nectar’s, Rasputin’s & Ken’s Pizza) and a 3-month trip to Europe, Anne attended Castleton State College majoring in Communications, Radio & TV, under Dr. Bob Gershon. She was heavily involved in WIUV-FM as Program Director and then Station Manager. After working on a project examining the value of a Liberal Arts Degree, Anne took heed and transferred to The University of Vermont to major in History. With apologies to her parents, she took a break fall semester of 1987 to become a Street Vendor- “Street Smart Accessories“- on the Church Street Marketplace, in Burlington. She finally graduated in 1988 with a degree in History and continued to operate her accessories cart for 5 seasons.
After selling the cart business to her #1 employee, Stephanie Douglas,in 1991, Anne enrolled in pre-requisites to obtain an MBA. That plan was put aside with the opportunity to open Club Metronome, above Nectar’s. The thrill of renovating the space, booking the bands, learning the details of contracts, publicity, bar operations, graphic design and, yes, bookkeeping, were challenges that have remained invaluable tools to this day. She ran the club until 1999, partnering with Lou Natale the final two years, before selling to the owners of Red Square on July 3, 1999, the annual date of the Burlington fireworks. Their ownership went out in a bang. She has pursued Real Estate ever since. Although always a Vermonter, Anne also spends half of her time in New York City where her boyfriend John Kwaku Miller practices Acupuncture.