In Norwalk”™s northeast neighborhood a Fairfield County builder and Westchester County developer have teamed to weave a new housing element into the surrounding area.

Summerview Square is a condominium-style rental community project consisting of 63 residences that began construction last year and is expected to be complete in 2012.

Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia said the north side of Norwalk and the Main Street corridor are essential supportive elements to the whole of Norwalk and the retail district of South Norwalk, which typically gets the spotlight in the city. He said Summerview is a “huge step toward taking development seriously” in the city”™s north urban residential district.

“We have a lot of development going throughout the city and this is great because it”™s a neighborhood that is being invested in privately,” said Michael Greene, director of planning and zoning in the City of Norwalk. “This shot in the arm will translate into an incentive to see a lot of restoration and buys to redeveloped homes in the area. This is an area that had been a question mark for years and now you have the answer with these great homes going in.”

Greene said having homes that are moderately priced and market-rate affordable like the Summerview project and its surrounding neighborhood is vital to bringing and retaining businesses in the area.

Moccia said the West Main Street Neighborhood Association, which represents the immediate neighborhood community, was often consulted in planning through construction.
The apartment home community is managed by Summerview Development Group L.L.C., a Wilton-based real estate development and building company representing the property owners, Summerview Square L.L.C. of White Plains, N.Y.

First stage”™s units being rented
Andrew LaSala Jr., partner at Summerview Development Group, and third generation director of construction and manager of Cannondale Building and Design, said the project has recently finished its first stage, with the completion of 13 units of one- and two-bedroom apartments, since the first shovel hit the ground in November. Neal Berko, co-owner of Four Square Builders in Sandy Hook, is the other partner of Summerview Development Group. The finished apartments have begun to be leased.

The community is being built in four phases in the neighborhood surrounding West Main, Summer and Jefferson streets; there will be 63 units in all with 20 separate buildings and four property locations. LaSala said there will be a total of eight apartments for people with disabilities, including one from the first phase. They will have elevators as well as wider bath and living areas. LaSala said there will be a small affordable housing component but none have been built yet.

“It is based on the size of the lots,” LaSala said. “There was no entitlement zone, tax incentives or redevelopment zone.”

LaSala said the second phase of the project has already begun and is expected to be finished in early 2011, with the third phase starting immediately after in the first months of 2011. The fourth phase is expected to start at this time next year and be complete in 2012.

The cost was not disclosed.

Company investing in area”™s rejuvenation
“There”™s definitely a future for us here, we”™re already starting to look at other opportunities,” LaSala said. Continuing to invest in the area”™s rejuvenation is simply “the good business practice of bolstering an initial investment,” he added.

“That”™s what a project like ours does,” LaSala said. “It starts to stimulate the surrounding area.” He has offered zoning, permit and material advice to surrounding homeowners.

Richard Segal, partner at Summerview Square L.L.C. and CEO of Seavest Inc., a real estate development company in White Plains, said the project had been four years in the making. He said doing your homework by understanding the history and needs of an area and having confidence in growth is important for a developer in the current economic climate.

“This is a great place to live and a great area, it was just in need of a facelift and a bit of revitalization,” Segal said. “The biggest challenge has been confidence and financing.”
Ray Sullivan, principal at Norwalk-based Sullivan Architectural Group, designed the development.

“The design was accomplished in a way that makes Norwalk proud,” Moccia said. “The Summerview Square project has been an opportunity to build beautiful homes for people and to improve the value of the homes in the area.”

Sullivan said he designed the community to, “preserve its historic look and feel.” Each apartment home has a front porch and a sidewalk that links the neighborhood together with the existing streetscape.

“We hope to be doing bigger and bigger things in Norwalk,” Segal said.

Summerview Square

Who: Developer ”“ Richard Segal of Summerview Square L.L.C.
Builders ”“ Summerview Square Development Group partners Andrew LaSala Jr. of Cannondale Building, Wilton, and Neal Berko of Four Square Builders, Sandy Hook
What: 63 one- and two-bedroom apartment units with 13 finished
When: Four phases of construction through 2012 with the first completed this month
Where: In neighborhood surrounding West Main Street, Summer Street, and Jefferson Street