A joint venture between Saber-Hightower and Granoff Real Estate has secured USD 75.5 million in construction financing for an office-to-residential conversion project in Connecticut's Fairfield County, according to information from Commercial Observer. Bank OZK provided the loan for the 286-unit M7 Lofts project in Norwalk, Connecticut, where two eight-storey office buildings are currently located within the Merritt 7 Corporate Park.
The development team also secured USD 32 million in joint venture equity from an unnamed family office. Greystone Capital Advisors negotiated the transaction; the team comprised Drew Fletcher, Paul Fried, Bryan Grover, and Jesse Kopecky.
Strategic Repositioning of the Property
Drew Fletcher, President of Greystone Capital Advisors, stated that this was a compelling adaptive reuse opportunity that required a financing strategy tailored to the sponsor's long-term business plan.
The two buildings slated for conversion, located at 101 and 201 Merritt 7, are part of the six-building Merritt 7 Corporate Park complex. This is situated 10 miles northeast of Downtown Stamford, Connecticut, and less than a five-minute walk from the Merritt 7 Metro-North train station.
The two buildings will be combined into a single apartment complex that will include amenities such as a fitness centre, co-working spaces, and an outdoor pool terrace. Marty Berger, Managing Partner of Saber-Hightower, explained that these well-located buildings could better serve Fairfield County as residential accommodation than as office space. He emphasised that by utilising the existing infrastructure at Merritt 7 and the property's proximity to transport links, a differentiated residential experience could be created while giving the buildings a new purpose.
