Malkin Partnership Buys Westport Retail Building for $18M

WESTPORT, CT-Wien & Malkin Co-Investor Capital, LP has purchased the 66-99 Main St. retail building here for $18.1 million. The LLP is a limited partnership led by Peter L. Malkin and Anthony E. Malkin, co-investing with the Malkin family. Prudential Mortgage Capital provided the financing for the deal. The limited partnership also owns interests in two major office towers–the Fred F. French Building on Fifth Ave. in New York City and 10 S. LaSalle St. in Chicago’s Loop District.

The Westport property comprises three stores occupied by the Gap, Ann Taylor and J. McLaughlin, under long-term triple-net leases. The complex was purchased from a Boston-based investment group, First Westport Properties.

“The Westport acquisition provides another solid opportunity to achieve all the goals we traditionally set for our direct-ownership, long-term real estate investments, and it adds to our growing portfolio of downtown retail properties,” says Anthony Malkin, president of W&M Properties. W&M is the Malkin family’s acquisition, management and marketing arm. Malkin also cites dependable cash flow, potential capital appreciation, important estate planning and modest tax shelter advantages as the primary objectives behind the deal.

Other keys to the deal were Westport’s significant barriers to entry for new retail development, including restrictive zoning laws and a lack of suitable development sites. In addition, competition for space is intense among national retailers because of Westport’s favorable demographics, Malkin adds. Average estimated household income within a one-mile radius of the Main Street retail center is $183,000, and the median house value is $675,000, he notes.