Toll Brothers building 393-unit apartment complex in South Norwalk

Toll Brothers are turning to SONO for its next big multifamily play in Connecticut.

The publicly traded homebuilder’s apartment division and Harris Realty Company have entered into a joint venture to develop a six-story, 393-unit multifamily complex in the Fairfield County city, according to a press release.

The project, named Piper, is being financed with a $136 million construction loan from Wells Fargo and TD Bank, according to the release. Located about one mile from the South Norwalk Metro Station, the project is in an Opportunity Zone. 

The community will have 356 market-rate and 37 affordable units, with a parking garage with nearly 600 spaces.

Amenities at the complex — which will be at the corner of West Avenue and Orchard Street — will include a fitness center and pool, rooftop deck, coworking spaces, library and wine room, demo kitchen and dining room, a clubroom, and an indoor pet run and spa. 

Piper will also have about 24,000 square feet of retail space that can house a single tenant or be divided up into boutiques, restaurants or cafes, the release says. The complex will also be near a park, tennis courts, playgrounds, two museums and an upscale mall called The SoNo Collection.  

Piper is the second large project in southeastern Connecticut. The first, Julius, is a 356-unit luxury complex at 777 Summer Street in downtown Stamford. The development has 334 market-rate apartments, plus 22 set aside as affordable.

In addition to taking advantage of the growing rental market, Toll Brothers has been extremely active in homebuilding, having recently purchased 100 acres in Scottsdale, Arizona, for nearly $25 million to build 81 homes in the Storyrock community. 

The company also recently announced that it’s building Riverbend by Toll Brothers in the James Island area of Charleston, South Carolina. 

That community will feature just 21 single family homes of about 2,200 to 3,400 square feet, according to a press release. 

In October, a Los Angeles-area finance firm paid $95 million for a pair of properties totaling about 12 acres  in Sunnyvale, California, so Toll Brothers can build 329 homes — 140 townhomes and 189 condominiums.