Image courtesy of CBRE

A joint venture completed its acquisition of two Norwalk office buildings for a 268-unit apartment conversion and received $75.5 million in construction financing.

The existing office buildings, known as 101 and 201 Merritt 7, total 511,318 square feet and are located on a 6-acre parcel.

CBRE Vice Chairman Jeffrey Dunne, First Vice President Eric Apfel, investment sales head Travis Langer and senior financial analyst Eric Greenberg represented the seller and procured the purchaser.

Bank OZK provided a $75.5 million senior construction loan.

The development team of Briarcliff Manor, New York-based Saber-Hightower LLC, Greenwich-based Granoff Real Estate & Wind River Holdings are branding the conversion as M7 Lofts. The apartments will include open floor plans, 11-foot ceilings and wall-to-wall glass, according to CBRE.

The two buildings were completed in 1980 and 1982.

Under the first comprehensive update to Norwalk’s zoning code in 40 years, approved in 2023, developers have as-of-right approval for up to 564 units. However, developers opted to preserve the existing parking garage and allocate 55,000 square feet for tenant amenities including a lounge, demonstration kitchen, sports bar-style game room and outdoor pool deck.

Greenwich-based Granoff Architects designed the residential conversion.

“While the redevelopment could have supported nearly twice the number of units, we felt the smaller, more ‘boutique’ approach within a heavily amenitized and landscaped community was appropriate for the market,” Saber-Hightower Managing Member Martin Berger said in a statement.