Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: Astorino “vindicated” by HUD in housing dispute, Greenwich office building sells for $34M … & more

HUD rules that Westchester does not use exclusionary zoning laws

After the Department of Housing and Urban Development rejected 10 submissions of analysis from Westchester County that aimed to prove it hadn’t employed discriminatory zoning laws, the 11th attempt was successful. “This is vindication for Westchester and our local municipalities that it is a victory won on facts, on principle and on persistence,” County Executive Rob Astorino said of the ruling. Opponents like Catherine Borgia, the county legislature’s Democratic majority leader, hinted that the reversal was due to the recent appointment of Trump party planner Lynne Patton as New York and New Jersey HUD administrator, LoHud reported. [LoHud]

A drop in Westchester’s single family home sales could be misleading

A second quarter report from Westchester Real Estate Inc., shows that sales of co-ops and multifamily buildings in the region are on the rise while single-family sales have declined by 10.9 percent and condos by 5.6 percent, the Chappaqua Daily Voice reported. However, the numbers may be misleading, as inventory is down by 15 percent, which indicates that the drop in sales is not due to the lack of demand but the lack of availability, the report found. [Chappaqua Daily Voice]

Forty-year old Greenwich office building sells for $34 million

A three-story, 100,000-square-foot Greenwich office building constructed in 1979 sold for $33.8 million last week, according to documents filed at Greenwich Town Hall. There are plans to convert over a third of the structure into medical use for Stamford Medical Group, which is currently a tenant in the building, the Stamford Advocate reported. In 2012, the property was purchased out of foreclosure for $19.3 million by ClearRock Properties who sold it Benedict Realty Group last week. [Stamford Advocate]

Charity claims it was tricked by NJ developer in North Castle apartment development deal

A charity organization has taken a developer to federal court to stop it from building 200 luxury apartments next to its campus on Old Orchard Street in North Castle. St. Christopher’s Inc., which provides services for autistic teens, originally agreed to sell 22 acres of land to JMF Properties LLC of Whippany, New Jersey with the understanding, it claims, that the developer would build 35 apartments for the development called the Vue. That number has substantially increased, with St. Christopher claiming the original contract was amended without their attorney first looking at it, Westchester Business Journal reported. [WBJ]

Stamford high-rise misses loan repayment deadline

If there’s ever an argument against making interest-only payments on a mortgage, the 15-story property at 400 Atlantic Street in downtown Stamford bears testament to it. The entire principle for the $265 million loan came due on June 6 but because the owners, The Landis Group, had only been paying the interest. Uncertainty now swirls over the building’s future. A loan modification proposal was submitted and denied on June 2, according to the Stamford Advocate. [Stamford Advocate]

Greenwich property billed as site for two 10-bedroom mansions hits market for $49 million

A beatific 19.2-acre site with 878 feet of private beach was listed this week for $49 million. The Greenwich peninsula in the gated community of Mead Point can be developed into two 10-bedroom mansions, says Lyn Stevens, of Douglas Elliman, who is listing it along with Robin Kencel. The property is not far from Copper Beach Farm, a Victorian mansion on a 50-acre waterfront parcel that sold for $120 million in 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported. [WSJ]