A New York-based developer has purchased two office buildings in Norwalk and secured $75.5 million in construction financing to convert them into a 286-unit apartment complex, according to brokerage firm CBRE, which handled the sale.
Saber-Hightower — a Briarcliff Manor, New York-based developer active in Fairfield and Westchester counties — bought the buildings at 101 and 201 Merritt 7 through a joint venture with Greenwich-based Granoff Real Estate and Pennsylvania-based Wind River Holdings. The two Class A buildings total 511,318 square feet on 6.48 acres near the intersection of Merritt Parkway and Route 7.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. Bank OZK provided the senior construction loan, according to CBRE.
The seller was Merritt 7 Venture LLC.
Saber-Hightower plans to convert the buildings — built in 1980 and 1982 — into a rental community called M7 Lofts, with more than 55,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space. The unit count is down from the 300 apartments the developer proposed in plans filed with the city last fall.
The site was approved for residential development under Norwalk’s 2023 zoning overhaul and could accommodate as many as 564 units, CBRE said.
“While the redevelopment could have supported nearly twice the number of units, we felt the smaller, more ‘boutique’ approach within a heavily amenitized and landscaped community was appropriate for the market,” said Martin Berger, a managing member of Saber-Hightower.
The deal follows the sale earlier this year of four neighboring Merritt 7 office buildings totaling about 945,000 square feet to New York-based Argent Ventures.
