Category Archives: Real estate

New Senior Housing Proposed For Post Road West

Posted on February 19, 2021 | 12 comments

The Residence at Westport — our first assisted living community — opened last summer, opposite Greens Farms Elementary School.

A second one is planned for the opposite side of town.

Maplewood Senior Living has proposed a 3-story facility for the former Dragone Classic Motorworks site, diagonally across from Kings Highway Elementary.

Site plan for the proposed assisted living facility. Post Road East is on the right; Kings Highway North and Ludlow Street are on the left.

The property has a long history with automobiles. It was for many years the home of the Small Car Company — for a while, the most successful Volkswagen dealer in the US. In 2018 it was rezoned to allow an electric car dealership (rumored to be Tesla).

The current tenant is Carvana, a used car dealer that sells entirely online. Nearby buildings include retail and residences, with 8 apartments.

The former Dragone property, and its neighbor, on Post Road West.

Maplewood’s corporate headquarters are on Gorham Island, off Parker Harding Plaza. They operate 15 senior living communities in 5 states. Other Connecticut locations include Southport, East Norwalk, Newtown, Darien, Bethel, Danbury and Orange.

Plans call 95 units: 49 for assisted living, 46 for memory and full care. Two of the assisted living units will be designated as affordable. The facility will be called Maplewood at Westport.

Artists’ rendering of Maplewood at Westport.

Because part of the property lies within the Kings Highway North Local Historic District, Maplewood and Landtech — the Saugatuck-based engineering and environmental firm — have worked with neighbors, and Westport’s Historic District Commission, since June.

Two “historic residences” — over 50 years old — will be preserved.

One house at 174 Post Road West will be relocated to 38 Kings Highway North.

The existing home at 38 Kings Highway North, with a rendering of the home that will be relocated from 174 Post Road West.

Another, at #172, will be moved slightly, and designated as affordable.

The new location of the house at 172 Post Road West.

Maplewood’s building will be tucked into the hill. Only the roof will be visible from Kings Highway. Landscaping and vegetation will be added to the site, and on some private property.

All contaminated soil — the legacy of decades as a car dealership — will be removed.

The proposal goes before the Flood & Erosion Control Board in March, with the Conservation Commission to follow. The target date for opening is late summer or early fall of 2022.

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Posted in Environment, Local business, Real estate

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The Big Screen, Hidden In Plain Sight

Posted on February 8, 2021 | 5 comments

Size matters.

But when you’re not watching your 110-inch in-home theater screen, it looks a little — well, big.

You love that screen for your on-demand movies. If only you had an on-demand screen.

Vivid-Tek is a brilliant, elegant solution. It’s an immersive theater whose components hide in a credenza or bench — which the buyer helps customize.

Just pop the lid, press a button and a 110-inch screen rises up.

Vivd-Tek’s credenza opens up into a wide-screen TV.

This is not some Hollywood mogul’s fantasy. It was created here in Westport, by Westporter Mark Motyl and his partners. You can see it right here too, in a striking new showroom.

Motyl knows big screens, and houses. A former bond trader, he pivoted to home building.

Mark Motyl

The pandemic helped inspire Vivid-Tek. With plenty of time to watch TV shows and movies, Motyl wondered how people’s entertainment needs had changed.

From his home building, he knew that basement theaters are not perfect. They are downstairs, out of the way. The equipment can be complex. Theater seating is inflexible.

Motyl realized that people wanted something accessible. It had to fit in with existing decor. And it could not ruin a wall.

Motyl partnered with well-known Bridgeport cabinet maker Christopoulos Designs and leading tech firms to meld form and function.

Each Vivid-Tek houses a motorized retractable screen, and a top-of-the-line short throw projector. The 4K picture is crisp and clear. Great sound comes from Dolby Atmos speakers.

Vivid-Tek’s screen and controls can also be hidden in a bench.

An Apple 4K TV controls the system. Anything on your phone (or other devices) can be projected onto the screen.

Vivid-Tek turns out to be great for Zoom and other calls too. Families don’t have to crowd around a laptop to talk to Grandma; kids can relax and see everyone on the big screen during distance learning. Motyl’s neighbors’ daughter even had her first piano lesson via Vivid-Tek.

Big-screen TVs are not just for movies. One of the Motyls’ neighbors takes piano lessons via Vivid-Tek technology and design.

Yet the idea would never have happened if Motyl’s bond desk hadn’t moved from midtown Manhattan to Stamford in 2002. That led him to Westport — and eventually, building spec homes.

Just before the transfer, he and his wife Sarah Green — a former professional ballerina who was attending Columbia University — had built a weekend home on Long Island. The project solidified his love for real estate, architecture and design.

The couple, with a young son, looked for a new-build home here, but they all seemed identical. Then they found a teardown on Woody Lane, with a great lot.

Mark continued trading bonds. They had 2 more children. The couple designed their new home to be unique and fun. Mark contracted the work himself.

He enjoyed the work so much, he followed with new construction on Cross Highway and Beachside Avenue.

Mark’s homes are different and handsome. And now — thanks to Vivid-Tek — their owners can enjoy big-screen home entertainment centers on the main floor, hidden in plain sight.

The flagship showroom is at 1252 Post Road East (the former Splatterbox, near Fortuna’s). Customers can reserve a time slot. Virtual presentations are also available. For an appointment or more information, click here, call 203-800-9951 or email info@vivid-tek.com.

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Posted in Local business, Media, People, Real estate

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Roundup: Christopher Plummer, Staples Players, Avi Kaner, More

Posted on February 7, 2021 | 6 comments

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In 1987 — its bicentennial — Weston produced a history of the town.

Lots of communities do something similar.

But not many get to have theirs produced and narrated by one the most famous actors in the world.

This video — courtesy of Cristina Negrin — says all you need to know about the deep feeling Christopher Plummer had for his adopted hometown.

And Weston loved him right back.

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Due to snow, Staples Players’ 1st radio play of 2nd semester — the thriller “Sorry, Wrong Number,” broadcast live from the Black Box Theater — has been postponed. The new date is Wednesday, February 10 (7 p.m.).

The production will be streamed live (and free) at wwwptfm.org.

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Westporters know Avi Kaner as our former 2nd selectman and Board of Finance chair.

But he also co-owns Morton Williams, the noted New York City supermarket chain. It’s a 75-year-old family company, but it’s never faced a challenge like today’s pandemic and its many side effects.

The other day, Kaner spoke to NTD Business about the state of his business, and New York — including the flight to the suburbs. Click below for the fascinating interview.

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“06880 readers” can’t get enough of the “new” view of I-95 and the Beachside Avenue overpass, now that it’s been removed for reconstruction. Here’s one more shot:

(Photo/John Richers)

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This guy hung out at the Lansdowne condos yesterday. No telling what he’ll look like today.

(Photo/Lauri Weiser)

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Westport Town Clerk Patty Strauss retired in December. Last month, she and her husband Ed moved to North Carolina.

Yesterday, their Juniper Road was torn down. Real estate moves fast around here.

(Photo/Mark Mathias)

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Numerous fire trucks raced to Bayberry Lane this morning, to put out a fire at Belta’s farm.

The blaze was confined to an outbuilding, rented to tenants.

Belta’s farm, with fire apparatus on hand.

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And finally … Jim Weatherly died Wednesday near Nashville, of natural causes. He was 77.

He wrote hit songs for Ray Price, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers and many others. His biggest was originally called “Midnight Plane to Houston.” Gladys Knight and the Pips turned it into the much more memorable “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

 

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Posted in Arts, Economy, Media, Real estate, Staples HS, Transportation

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Eversource: Source Of Taxes

Posted on February 7, 2021 | 2 comments

The other day, “06880” listed our town’s top 10 taxpayers.

At the top of the list — by a wide margin — was Connecticut Light & Power (now called Eversource).

The utility’s personal property assessment is $140,509,070. That’s nearly double the #2 taxpayer, 60 Nyala Farms Road LLC (the office complex owner near I-95 Exit 18 owns real estate assessed at $83,338,970).

So what exactly does Eversource own?

A longtime Westport resident and retired utility director explains that it all starts with substations.

Eversource substation on South Compo Road between I-95 and the Metro-North tracks, as seen from Narrow Rocks Road.

The Sherwood substation, for example, sits on about 1.5 acres of land, bought in 2004. There’s also a transmission line that runs under state (Route 1) or town roads (Imperial Avenue from the old State Cleaners to the Westport Woman’s Club overflow parking lot, then under the Saugatuck River to the Assumption Church parking lot, under Lincoln Street and back to the Post Road).

So Eversource either had rights to locate within state and town roadways as a public utility, or when splice vaults had to locate off the roadway, they bought easement rights or “ownership” of the eased area on private property (for example, Assumption Church’s parking lot, the parking lot of the former Saab dealership on Post Road West, the parking lot between Balducci’s and Ulta, and Vautrin Auto’s parking lot).

Those easements were bought for an average of $250,000 each from the property owners.

Other substations include the one behind Coffee An’, built in the 1930’s; Compo Road South, between I-95 and the Metro-North train tracks — plus all overhead and underground wires, poles, transformer vaults, etc.

The Main Street substation, behind Coffee An’.

Big ticket items also include the existing double 115 kV overhead transmission lines on either side of the railroad right-of-way, from Fairfield to Norwalk.

Eversource has been taxpayer #1, ever since the transmission underground project went into service around 2008. They’ll be way ahead of Nyala for years to come.

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Posted in Economy, Real estate

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Grand List: Grand Facts

Posted on February 4, 2021 | 1 comment

Town assessor Paul Friia has released some facts about the Grand List. That’s the sum of the net assessed value of all taxable property – real estate, motor vehicles, and personal property.

The net 2020 Grand List of $10,830,370,714 represents a decrease of approximately 5.4 percent from the net 2019 Grand List of $11,445,273,580. The primary reason is the revaluation of October 1, 2020.

Despite the overall real estate grand list decline from the 2015 assessments, the actual change without the revaluation influence was an increase of just under 1.0 percent.

This is a result of continued new residential and commercial construction, plus renovation activity within the last assessment year.

The new Residence at Westport is a new addition to Westport’s Grand List.

For example, work was completed on The Residence assisted living facility at 1141 Post Road East, and the Mercury gas station at 1830 Post Road East. Work continues on the Daybreak condominium development, and residential units at 41 Richmondville Avenue.

While real estate is updated based on the market values determined every 5 years, motor vehicles and personal property is valued annually.

The increase in the motor vehicle Grand List was approximately 3.9%. The personal property Grand List remained largely unchanged from last year, due to both the closure of businesses and a slowdown of new business openings during the pandemic.

The current 2020 Grand List totals are:

Assessment 2020 % of List
Real Estate $10,148,497,205 93.70
Motor Vehicle 364,441,700 3.37
Personal Property 317,431,809 2.93
TOTAL 10,830,370,714 100%

New Maseratis help raise the Grand List.

The Grand List will be used for fiscal year 2021-2022 town budget calculations. The figures above are subject to change based on Board of Assessment appeal hearings in March, and further changes due to corrections or pending lawsuits.

Friia also announced the the top 10 taxpayers in Westport, with their 2020 Grand List assessments:

Connecticut Light & Power Inc          Pers. Property                         $140,509,070

60 Nyala Farms Road LLC                Real Estate                                83,338,970

Bedford Square Assoc LLC               Real Estate                                53,321,200

Equity One Westport Vill. Center      Real Estate                                33,126,100

Byelas LLC                                        Real Estate                                24,856,700

Aquarion                                             Real/Pers. Prop.                        24,148,760

LCB Westport LLC                            Real/Pers. Prop.                        22,302,600

1735 Ashley LLC                               Real Estate                                20,310,860

285 & 325 Riverside LLC                  Real Estate                                19,470,500

Ronnie F Heyman Trustee                 Real Estate                                18,214,400

The Nyala Farms office complex: Westport’s 2nd highest taxpayer.

 

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Posted in Economy, Local politics, Real estate

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Roundup: Vaccines, Liquor Stores, Real Estate, More

Posted on February 4, 2021 | 6 comments

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How many Westporters have been vaccinated?

As of February 1, 2,289 Westport. That’s 8% of our total population.

According to Westport Patch, we have 2,094 residents over the age of 75 — the first group in line for the vaccine (along with medical personnel and first responders). Nearly 54 percent — a total of 1,095 — have received their first dose.

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Westport has plenty of small, independently owned liquor stores. Nearly every Westporter has a favorite.

Now a “superstore” has entered the mix.

Yesterday, trucks delivered supplies to BevMax’s new outlet in the former Pier 1 store — the Julien’s Pizza shopping center on Post Road East. In other words: directly opposite Castle Wine & Spirits.

BevMax has 8 locations in Fairfield and New Haven Counties, plus a nationwide shipping office in Stamford. There’s a BevMax in Norwalk, near Stew Leonard’s.

They bought the license of Saugatuck Grain + Grape, which had relocated from Railroad Place to Post Road West. The owner of a liquor store can move anywhere in Westport that zoning allows.

Last year, plans were underway to convert the entire Julien’s shopping center — except for the Bluepoint Wellness medical marijuana dispensary — into medical offices. The plaza has since reverted to retail use.

(Photo/Jack Krayson)

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The other day, “06880” posted a few “sizzling real estate” statistics. Here are a few more:

January saw a continued swift pace, despite the decrease in months of supply in inventory. Here is a quick snapshot of this past month:

  • $70,956,000 total sales, vs. $33,796,846 total January 2020 sales — a more than 100% increase.
  • 40 single-family and condo units sold in January; 25 single-family and Condo units sold in January 2020 — up 60%.
  • $1,318,000 was the median home sales price; in January 2020 it was $1,012,500. That’s more than a 30% rise.
  • The home inventory supply was 2.4 months; a year ago it was 9.3 months. That’s a 74% decrease.

The highest sale in January was a 5-bedroom, 8-bathroom home listed with Brett and Jean Lieberman at 4 Bluewater Lane: $5,125,000. (Hat tip: Jody Peters, the Riverside Realty Group)

4 Bluewater Lane

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Seven Staples High School athletes signed letters of intent yesterday to play sports at NCAA Division I universities.

Congratulations to (from left in photo below): Kevin Lynch, University of Massachusetts lacrosse; Julia DiConza, Lehigh University lacrosse; Carter Kelsey, Seton Hall University baseball; Autumn Smith, Marist College soccer; Laine Ambrose, Boston College field hockey; Shira Parower, James Madison University lacrosse; Sam Milberg, College of the Holy Cross football.

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Speaking of Staples: Composting has come to the high school cafeteria. It’s an initiative of the school’s Zero Waste Committee. Students will serve as monitors.

Composting is already underway at several Westport schools.

Greens Farms Elementary School offers 3 choices for waste. The same options are now available at Staples High.

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MoCA Westport and Up|Next Teens are partnering to present a Winter Lights Festival at MoCA. It’s set for Saturday, February 27 (noon to 6 p.m.).

The Festival features a maker and crafts space in a large outdoor tent, with supplies and step-by-step instructions for families to work together to create winter-themed decorations. The decorations will be incorporated into a walk-through Light Path, to be lit at sun down. The public can view the experience through the following weekend.

Also planned: live performances by high school musicians, food from The Melt truck, and hot cocoa.

The Festival includes free entry to MoCA ’s exhibition “Hindsight is 2020,” showcasing nearly 200 high school student artists from across the region.

Click here for tickets.

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And finally … happy birthday to Alice Cooper. He was born on this day in 1948. In other words, he’s no longer 18.

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Posted in Arts, Environment, Local business, Organizations, Real estate, Sports, Staples HS

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Roundup: Real Estate, Eggs, Floods, More

Posted on January 31, 2021 | Comments Off on Roundup: Real Estate, Eggs, Floods, More

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Just how hot was last year’s real estate market?

  • 2020 sales were up 76%, compared to 2019.
  • Average sales price versus list price is up 10%.
  • Average days on market is down 30%.
  • And the January 2021 inventory is down 45%, compared to January 2020.

That’s as crazy as GameStop. (Hat tip: Judy Michaelis)

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Ally Lipton McArthur grew up here. For the past 15 years she has owned and operated Herb-n-Peach, a catering/event planning company in New York.

She and her husband moved back to the area in June. She’s expanding her business locally.

Ally’s mother (Marilynn Blotner) and sister (Stacey Lipton Schumer) own Soleil Toile, the popular lingerie/swimwear stores in Westport and New Canaan.

All 3 have pivoted their businesses during COVID. While brainstorming ways to incorporate something delicious (“the best chocolate chip cookies ever”) and wearable (lingerie), they hit upon a Valentine’s Day idea.

“Treat yourself — and share with a loved one!” they say.

Their “Valentines Share the Love Box” of sweets, love and undies includes 2 Hanky Panky (regular rise) one-sized thongs in curated Valentine colors, plus 6 scrumptious herb-n-peach chocolate chip cookies (milk chocolate, white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chip).

Click here to order online ($55) by Wednesday, February 10. Boxes will be available for pickup at Soleil Toile’s 2 locations. They can also be shipped ($12). For free local delivery, email ally@herbnpeach.com.

You can also buy at Soleil Toile on the weekend of February 13-14 (until the treats run out).

As for “sharing the love”: 10% of all sales go to Pink Aid.

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For decades, the Belta family has taken care of Westporters. Their Bayberry Lane farm is a treasured, wonderful (and under-rated) source for fresh produce.

The Beltas take care of more than just humans. Yesterday — when the temperature barely nudged 20 — John Karrel saw this sign:

(Photo/John Karrel)

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Saugatuck Island is a glorious place to live.

But nowhere is perfect. Residents put up with regular flooding.

The canal overflows when it rains. Occasionally it takes only a sprinkle.

Sometimes — as islanders saw yesterday, when the weather was perfectly fine all over town — all it takes is a full moon and high tide.

(Photo/Les Dinkin)

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And finally … on this day in 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. It was ratified less than a year later, on December 6.

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Posted in Environment, Local business, People, Real estate

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Drive To Save White Barn Property Fails

Posted on January 28, 2021 | 3 comments

A 6-year battle to prevent the construction of 15 luxury homes on the White Barn property — once the site of Lucille Lortel’s theater — has ended.

The 15.4 acre site in Norwalk’s Cranbury neighborhood, on Westport’s border, has been sold to Able Construction. Norwalk Land Trust had tried to raise funds to purchase the site, and add it to a 5-acre easement it holds.

Westporters, including the Partrick Wetlands Preservation Fund, were part of a long-running drama involving the property — and Lortel’s stage (which, though actually in Norwalk, used a Westport address from 1947 to 2002).

Lucille Lortel, outside her White Barn Theatre.

Some hoped to save a legendary structure. For more than 50 summers, the White Barn Theater produced works by avant-garde playwrights like Sean O’Casey, Eugene Ionesco, Archibald MacLeish and Edard Albee.

The barn and an adjacent house had deteriorated extensively, and were eventually torn down.

Others were concerned about the environmental and aesthetic impacts of a new housing development on the wooded site.

As part of the Saugatuck River Watershed drainage basin, the property impacts the quality and quantity of drinking water for the area.

Norwalk Land Trust said that donors to the campaign will be reimbursed “with profound gratitude for supporting our initiative to protect this acreage with its abundant plant life, as a wildlife refuge and for the sheer scenic beauty.” (Hat tip: Matthew Mandell)

Proposed development on the White Barn property. (Courtesy of “Nancy on Norwalk”)

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Posted in Arts, Environment, Real estate

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Julie And Chris Trade Old Hill For New Adventure

Posted on January 27, 2021 | 35 comments

Seven years ago, Julie Tran and her husband Chris Ziccardi built a home in Old Hill.

She loves her “Mr. Rogers neighborhood,” and the rest of town. When their 2 foster sons were ready to be reunified with their biological parents in November, Julie and Chris were overwhelmed by support from friends, the YMCA youth program, and Kings Highway Elementary School teachers like Roseann Caruso.

But in a couple of weeks — the day their house sale closes — the couple will leave Westport.

With a 27-foot Airstream Globetrotter hitched to their Ford F-350, they’ll head to … well, they’re not exactly sure.

But Julie and Chris are ready for the next chapter in their lives.

Julie Tran and Chris Ziccardi.

The seeds for their decision took root in the pandemic. Julie is a life coach. Chris is a property technology executive.

As they realized the ease of working remotely, they reassessed their values.

“We thought about our lifestyle, our environment — everything,” Julie recalls.

“We had no idea how long COVID would last. But we knew we wanted sun, warmth, and a lot of land. We want to adopt or foster again in a place conducive to that. We envision a ranch with lots of room, sustainable, a place with solar or geothermal, where we can grow our own food.”

Those places exist. But the only way to find them is to hit the road.

“We’ve been cooped up for a year. We’ve got the travel bug,” Julie says.

Julie and Chris started by examining the “why.” They talked about their core values, and came up with 4: freedom, courage, adventure and love.

Julie and Chris are leaving the Old Hill home they built …

Then came the “what.” What does that look like? How would they do it? The safest way to travel now, they realized, is by RV.

There were a few snags. The couple did not own an RV. Julie had not been camping since she was 10. They’d never camped together.

“It’s a crazy idea,” she admits.

Then again, these are crazy times.

“We don’t know how to do what we’re doing,” admits Julie. “But we know we can figure it out.”

… for the RV they bought.

They spent months watching YouTube videos and joining Facebook groups. They researched and crowdsourced things like what kind of trailer they’d need — and how to back it up.

They learned the difference between campgrounds with electric and water hookups, and “boondocking” in more remote areas.

They’ll “start out strong,” with a bit of luxury and sense of community, Julie says. But they look forward to being alone, under the stars, too.

The adventure starts in earnest this week. They’re driving to Georgia in their truck. They’ll hitch the Airstream to it, and head north again for a couple of weeks.

When they leave Westport for good, it’s on a route with few anchors. Julie and Chris will stop in New Jersey, Florida and Texas to see family. Their only set time and destination is April 1: They must be in California then, for her sister’s wedding.

After that? They have no idea.

They hope to find a place to call home. It may be in Austin. Or Tennessee, Florida or Arizona.

Julie and Chris’ Airstream.

As Julie prepares to leave the town she loves — where their foster children thrived, and she found friends and activities — she has one message for those she’s leaving.

“So many people say they’ll live vicariously through us. But I hope it won’t be just vicarious.

“If you’re inspired by our story but think you can’t do it, imagine yourself on your deathbed. Ask yourself, if you had a do-over for your life, would you do anything differently?”

35 Comments

Posted in Children, People, Real estate, Westport life

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Restoring Historic Homes, One By One

Posted on January 14, 2021 | 5 comments

Teardowns gets tons of publicity. The loss of familiar streetscapes — and their replacement by (often) bigger, more modern homes — is hard to miss.

Renovations are harder to see. Much of that work goes on inside. But they’re an important part of Westport life too.

Tracey Ialeggio Kelly was born and raised in Westport. Her father Tony Ialeggio — an architect for over 40 years — instilled in her a love for historic houses.

She graduated from Staples High School in 1991. Nineteen years later, she purchased a 1927 home on Colonial Road that was a prime candidate for demolition.

She restored it beautifully. In 2012 the Historic District Commission honored her with a Westport Preservation Award. It noted her sensitivity to the mass and scale of the historic Greens Farms Congregational Church neighborhood.

Tracey Ialeggio Kelly’s Colonial Road home … (Photo/Bob Weingarten)

“It is an example of how a small, modest house can be successfully preserved, expanded and adapted to the needs of a modern family on a small parcel of land,” the award said.

But Tracey was not through. Last July, she bought another historic house, on Sylvan Road North.

She asked Westport Museum of History & Culture house historian Bob Weingarten to research it. He found that the property was purchased by Charles and Frederick Fable — brothers who created Fable Funeral Home — in 1939, from Edward Nash.

… and her house on North Sylvan. (Photo/Megan Kelly)

Frederick died a few months later. His son — also named Frederick — continued to build the house, with his uncle Charles. It remained in the family until 1985.

Tracey’s friend Andy Dehler surprised her on Christmas with a historic house plaque. It’s one of many that remind everyone who passes that history continues to live in town.

We just have to know where to look.

Tracey Ialeggio Kelly, with her historic home plaque. (Photo/Megan Kelly)

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Posted in Looking back, Organizations, People, Real estate, religion

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