Westrock Development Purchases Second Danbury Property

DANBURY, CT-In its second purchase in Danbury in the last few months, Westrock Development of Yonkers, N.Y., reports it has acquired 82 Mill Plain Road for $1.75 million.

Westrock Development purchased the building from Mgt. Realty. The 50,000-sf property is leased to Bradco Supply, a construction supplies distributor, Papertown, a paper supply company and Sun-Guard, a window-tinting firm. Recently Capital Wood Floors and Supplies signed a lease, which brings the building to full occupancy.

“We’re very bullish on the Danbury area,” said Michael Friedland, a Westrock Development partner. “Many of the properties we are seeing meet our criteria for buying under-valued assets and then adding value through improvements and aggressive leasing.”

Officials with the real estate investment firm say that since its recent acquisition of the one-story industrial property, it has undertaken some capital improvements to the building, such as the installation of new overhead doors and ramps.

In June, Westrock Development purchased four buildings on Commerce Drive off Route 133 in Danbury. The nine-acre site contains 95,000 square feet of space. The buildings, constructed in the mid-1980s, are fully leased, according to Westrock Development officials.

A few weeks ago, the firm reported it had acquired the Patriot Square Mall, a 45,000-sf shopping center in Stony Point, NY. Westrock stated it paid $4.1 million for the Rockland County-based retail center.

Friedland notes that the firm is actively looking for additional properties in the tri-state area. “As value-added investors we typically buy properties that have some sort of problem or that are not realizing their intrinsic value. Our goal is to bring the property up to its real value through improvements, effective management and aggressive lending.”

He adds that Westrock is currently engaged in discussions for additional acquisitions. The firm, since its founding in 2001, has invested more than $15 million to acquire 300,000 square feet of commercial, retail and industrial space in New York and Connecticut. In addition to its holdings in Rockland County, NY and Danbury, CT, it also owns five properties in Westchester County, NY.