Hartford-based Laufer Trucking Inc. recently purchased the 186,000-square-foot former Midas muffler plant, located on a 16-acre site at 343 Grant St., Hartford, from Itasca, Ill.-based Midas Inc. for $1.1 million. NAI MLG Commercial brokers Bob Gintoft and Stephen Provancher represented both the buyer and the seller in brokering the deal. The facility has been vacant since Midas ended operations there in August of 2005. "It’s tremendous good news for Hartford," said Werner X. Wolpert, executive director for the Hartford Area Development Corp. "For marketing the city, having an empty building for a long time has an adverse affect."