Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: Norwalk firm partners with Nest Seekers, MacQuesten faces pushback over its tax incentives in Mount Vernon … & more

Clockwise from top left: New Canaan's First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, MacQuesten's proposed transit-oriented development in Mount Vernon, Gloria Dillard of Norwalk's Dillard Realty, and the Post Road Iron Works in Greenwich.
Clockwise from top left: New Canaan's First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, MacQuesten's proposed transit-oriented development in Mount Vernon, Gloria Dillard of Norwalk's Dillard Realty, and the Post Road Iron Works in Greenwich.

New platform aims to market $1M-plus homes in Fairfield County to city buyers
Norwalk-based broker Gloria Dillard of Dillard Realty at Keller Williams Prestige Properties, and Nest Seekers International are partnering on a new platform to market luxury properties in Fairfield County to buyers in New York City and beyond, according to an announcement by Dillard. The goal, said the co-founder of the firm, is to give better exposure to million dollar homes in Connecticut than the traditional method of advertising in city-based publications. “It’s about marketing and utilizing technology effectively by partnering with global brokerages who serve local markets,” Dillard said in a press release. Fairfield County homes will be listed by both Nest Seekers and Keller Williams. Leads will be referred to Dillard agents with local expertise, she said. [Dillard Realty]

Macquesten faces pushback on its proposed tax incentive in Mount Vernon
At a third public hearing in Mount Vernon, residents voiced objections to what they see as exorbitant tax incentives given to developers by the Mount Vernon Industrial Development Agency, the Westchester County Business Journal reported. The topic of the hearing was MacQuesten Takeover Partners’ $71.1 million mixed-use development next to the old Mount Vernon West train station — a project for which the developer is asking $1.6 million in sales tax exemptions and a 30-year property tax abatement. Thomas Scapoli, an attorney who represents the Mount Vernon school district, argued that schools need the additional tax revenue for the additional students who will live in the new buildings. The development agency said it would “take their feedback into account” before making any decisions. [WBJ]

Judge sides with Greenwich in denying permit for 355-apartment development on former industrial lot
In 2016, Greenwich’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency denied a proposal to build a 355-unit apartment complex on West Putnam Avenue due to the 5-acre property’s industrial history, and this week a judge in Hartford dismissed an appeal from the developer Post Road Iron Works, Inc. Although the developer’s application did include provisions to clean contaminated soil, District Superior Court Judge Marshall Berger Jr. ruled that the developer’s application was incomplete and sided with the town. The wetlands agency chairman Brian Harris said his group “fully supports cleanup of the contaminated soil and even redevelopment” but that plans to protect nearby wetlands needed to be included. The Iron Works project has also been rejected by the Greenwich Planning and Zoning Commission. [FBJ]

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Fairfield developer’s death ruled a suicide
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Fairfield developer Alfred Lenoci Jr.’s death was a suicide. Lenoci, who was 55, was hit by a Metro-North train at the Fairfield Metro Station early in the morning of February 21. He was the son of Alfred Lenoci. Sr., who founded privately held commercial developer United Properties nearly 40 years ago. United Properties has a portfolio of over five million square feet of holdings and has developed properties for national retailers such as Home Depot, Verison and UPS. [CT Post]

New Canaan first selectman worries poor train and cell services hurt property values
Kevin Moynihan, New Canaan’s new first selectman, is concerned that a range of issues facing his town — from poor cell network coverage to a lack of natural gas lines to cutbacks in weekend Metro-North service — could impact the local real estate market, the New Canaan Advertiser reported. There are plans in place to start construction on a natural gas line in March, but the lack of adequate cell phone service is a public safety problem and “is impacting our real estate values,” he said. As for the state’s cost-cutting plan to limit evening and weekend trains on New Canaan’s spur line, Moynihan said, “You’re talking about destroying the economy of the town.” [New Canaan Advertiser]