Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: Westport medical center sold for $19M, Putnam County private island hits market for $13M… & more

Arizona-based REIT pays $18.75M for Westport Center for Health
A 38,000-square-foot medical complex in Westport has been sold to Healthcare Trust of America, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based real estate investment trust, the Fairfield County Business Journal reported. The Westport Center for Health at 323-329 Riverside Avenue, home to Yale New Haven Health’s Northeast Medical Group, fetched $18.85 million in a sale arranged by Newmark Knight Frank’s Boston-based capital markets team. The complex, which had been owned by the Davis Companies, also houses the Westport Dermatology & Laser Center, Westport Dental Associates and other medical offices. Michael Greeley, senior managing director of NKF’s medical-academic practice group and an adviser to the seller, said in a statement that the property is “one of Fairfield County’s premiere medical office campuses,” noting that it overlooks the Saugatuck River. [FBJ]

Putnam County private island with a pair of ‘Frank Lloyd Wright-designed’ homes seeks $12.9M
Petra Island, an 11-acre private isle on Lake Mahopac in Putnam County, has hit the market for $12.9 million, Curbed reported. Petra, also known as Petre Island, was bought by engineer Ahmed Chahroudi back in 1949. He reportedly asked the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home on the heart-shaped property located in Carmel about 55 miles north of New York City. But Chahroudi realized he didn’t have enough money to build the home that Wright envisioned and built a smaller one instead, according to Curbed. A subsequent owner hired another architect to build a second home based on Wright’s original designs around 2007. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, however, wouldn’t give that home its stamp of approval, according to news reports. Nevertheless, Douglas Elliman’s listing for the property, which is held by Margaret Harrington, describes both homes as “Frank Lloyd Wright-designed.” The island also has a dock and a helipad. [Curbed]

Cable giant files permits for second building in Stamford
Stamford-based Charter Communications, the second-largest cable company in the country after market leader Comcast, is still in the process of building a new headquarters in the city’s Harbor Point redevelopment district, but it’s already planning for a second building at the site, the Fairfield County Business Journal reported. The company recently filed for permits to construct a second, 9-story, 300,000-square-foot building at 406 Washington Boulevard, it said in a statement provided to the outlet. “Charter is pleased to be growing in Stamford, bringing more jobs and investment to the city,” the company said. It remains unclear how many jobs a second building would bring to Stamford, although the first is expected to create around 1,100 positions, the outlet reported. [FBJ]

Toll Brothers touts virtual reality tours of Sleepy Hollow homes
Prospective home buyers interested in Toll Brothers’ new townhomes and condominiums in Sleepy Hollow can take a virtual reality tour to decide if they like them. Toll Brothers, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, is offering virtual tours of two different home models at Edge-on-Hudson, the Westchester County Business Journal reported. “Through virtual reality, we are able to provide something tangible to show the community we are building,” Toll Brothers division president James Fitzpatrick told the outlet. The 1,177-unit development includes 46 “flats-style condos” and 72 “brownstone-style townhomes,” the outlet reported. Edge-on-Hudson, where Toll started sales last year, was once the site of a former General Motors plant. [WBJ]

Proposal could keep Westchester property taxes flat for 2 years
Westchester County Executive George Latimer wants New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to put a 1 percent local sales tax hike in the state budget, but said he’ll keep the county’s property tax flat for two years in return, LoHud reported. “Westchester cannot raise property taxes at any significant level — we have reached a saturation point, given school and local taxes as well,” Latimer wrote on Facebook, according to local news reports. “We need non-property tax revenue to deliver our services.” Westchester has the highest property taxes in the country, LoHud reported. Raising the sales tax in the county would help “stabilize Westchester’s shaky finances after several years of deficits and budgets that have been balanced using borrowing and one-shot revenues such as land sales,” according to the outlet. [LoHud]

Social services nonprofit moving to new Stamford location
A Stamford-based social services agency is moving — but plans to stay in the neighborhood. Elayne and James Schoke Jewish Family Services of Fairfield County has purchased a 7,500-square-foot office condominium at the Classic on Forest Street in Stamford for $925,000 and plans to relocate there, the Fairfield County Business Journal reported. The nonprofit’s current headquarters at 733 Summer Street will be razed to make way for apartments, according to the outlet. Avison Young said agents Christopher Grundy and James Searl secured the sale. “The unit is the only commercial space in the building and offers more square footage for the Jewish Family Service than its prior location,” Avison Young said in a statement announcing the sale. Cushman & Wakefield’s Trip Hoffman and Brian Scruton served as the agency broker. [FBJ]

Fairfield County city lands on ‘50 Worst Cities’ ranking
A city in Fairfield County has landed on a less-than-ideal “top 50” ranking. Financial news website 24/7 Wall St. placed Bridgeport 49th on its list of the “50 Worst Cities to Live in America,” according to the Fairfield County Business Journal. “Bridgeport was faulted for its economic struggles — a 20.8 percent poverty rate and average household earnings of $44,841 a year — that is exacerbated by goods and services being priced 30.8 percent higher than the national average,” the outlet reported. The city’s unemployment and crime rates also played a part in its ranking. Newburgh in Orange County also landed on the list compiled by 24/7 Wall St., in 37th place. Mendota, California, outside Fresno, took the “top” spot on the website’s list, which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey and other government statistics. [FBJ]