Antares Pays $223M for Two Greenwich Properties

GREENWICH, CT-Antares Investment Partners has purchased two rental apartment properties here in what is believed to be the largest single real estate transaction in Connecticut history. The locally based firm plans to convert a majority of the units into condominiums.

Antares acquired the Putnam Green I-III development and the Weaver's Hill community here for $223 million from an affiliate of locally based Mill Management Group. The seller had owned both properties for more than 30 years.

Antares plans to invest more than $125 million on a capital improvement program at both properties and convert 396 of the 462 rental units into luxury condominiums priced from $500,000 to $2.4 million. A total of 266 units at Putnam Green and 130 units at Weaver's Hill will be converted. The capital improvement program has already begun, says Antares vice president Erik Dowling.

"As a Greenwich-based company, we have been told for years that many of the current tenants wish to acquire their homes, and we will do all that we can to ensure that they will have an opportunity to do so at an insider's price," says Antares managing partner Joseph Beninati. Part of the capital improvement program will include the addition of health clubs, swimming pools and tennis courts. Renovations will be made to the building exteriors with new roofs, windows, patios and facades, along with new landscaping. Improvements will be made to the interiors as well.

"We see physicians from nearby Greenwich Hospital or professionals from the burgeoning hedge fund and financial services sector of the Greenwich and Stamford communities as likely homeowners," Beninati adds. "We also expect to attract Westchester residents, who are increasingly realizing that Greenwich offers significantly lower property taxes than New York."

Daniel McNulty, president, and Mark DeLillo, managing director, of Rockwood Realty Associates LLC, represented the seller. John O'Rourke, managing director, and vice president Andre Dobrowsky of Rockwood represented Antares in the acquisition financing.

In addition to the debt financing, a source familiar with the deal reports that Lehman Brothers also provided $25 million of bridge equity. Antares is looking to source approximately $48 million of senior preferred and preferred equity in two tranches within the next few months.

Antares manages a real estate portfolio valued before this deal at approximately $4.5 billion, which includes waterfront property in the South End of Stamford that is slated for retail/residential use in the future that could accommodate about 2,000 new housing units. Among Antares' office holdings in the area is the Pickwick Plaza.