Marcus Partners Sells Connecticut Offices for $30M

July 9, 2019

The Boston-based private equity firm acquired the Westport, Conn., complex in 2014 and invested $5 million in a capital improvement program.

8-10 Wright St. Image courtesy of Marcus Partner

Marcus Partners has sold its Westport, Conn., offices at 8 and 10 Wright St. to Waterway Capital for $30 million, following a $5 million interior and exterior overhaul of the complex.

The company purchased the two-building property that totals 84,000 square feet in 2014. The office complex then underwent capital improvements that included renovating and upgrading the buildings’ lobbies, common areas, facade and also replacing the windows for energy-efficient alternatives.

The Connecticut offices saw a jump from 58 percent leased to 94 percent leased as a result of Marcus Partners’ efforts, according to David Fiore, the company’s Metro New York regional director. The offices are currently home to a mix of companies, including financial services such as UBS and Ameriprise Financial, legal services such as Berkowitz, Trager & Trager and the flexible workspace provider Regus.

CBRE brokered the deal, by procuring the buyer and representing Marcus Partners with their institutional properties group of Jeffrey Dunne, Steven Bardsley and Stuart MacKenzie. Dunne said that the recent sale will benefit Westport’s office market and its ability to attract financial institutions and wealth management offices. Earlier this year, Dunne also represented Lone Star Funds in the disposition of a seven-property multifamily portfolio in Long Island, N.Y.

Office market off to good start

Connecticut’s office market started the year strong with high leasing statistics, according to CBRE’s most recent Fairfield County report.

The county, which includes Westport, Conn., already saw 725,000 square feet of leasing activity in the first quarter, its strongest start since 2015, according to CBRE. The report noted that most of the attention has been focused on Fairfield’s CBD zones, which accounted for more than 73 percent of the leasing activity, while only making up 30 percent of the inventory. Both the county’s vacancy rate and average asking rents remained flat quarter-over-quarter, the report added.