RiverOak Invests $2.5M in $37.5M Groton Apartment Complex

STAMFORD, CT-For $2.5 million in investment capital, RiverOak Investment Corp., a privately held real estate investment fund here, has acquired a preferred equity position in the development of a $37.5-million residential project in Groton, CT.

RiverOak completed the transaction with its development partner Groton Community LLC of Stamford, CT. The partners will develop The Ledges,” a new 339-unit luxury apartment complex.

The apartment complex will comprise 14 buildings on Drozdyk Drive in Groton, and will be divided among single-level and townhouse-style apartments with one to three bedrooms. RiverOak officials note that monthly rents are expected to range between $1,500 for a one-bedroom, single-level, to $2,100 for a large three-bedroom unit. Occupancy of the first finished apartments is scheduled for late spring 2003, according to marketing agent Trammell Crow. The project will be built in phases over the next two-and-a-half years, according to a spokesman for RiverOak Investment.

George Yerrall, managing director of RiverOak, says of his firm’s Ledges investment, “The housing market in the Groton/New London area is significantly under served in light of the tremendous pace of regional economic development. Pfizer Inc. has recently opened its new research and development facility in New London, and the on-going expansions of the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun gaming and entertainment venues are drawing many working families into the region.” Pfizer and the gaming facilities are located within 15 minutes of The Ledges development site.

The Ledges’ will feature a gazebo perched atop the highest point of the site offering sweeping views of Long Island Sound. A clubhouse will contain a fitness center and swimming pool. The 27-acre property will also have a walking trail, a three-deck parking garage and 24-hour security.

RiverOak Investment has ownership interest in a number of commercial office properties in the northern suburbs of New York including: 400 Atlantic St., in downtown Stamford, a 15-story, 500,000-sf building; Saxon Woods Corporate Park, 236,000-sf complex in Harrison, NY, 200 Central Park Ave., a 48,000-sf office property in Hartsdale, NY, and the Allaire Corporate Campus in Wall Township, NJ, which consists of 108,000-sf of existing space. That 13-acre property is also zoned for future development. The firm also has an equity ownership position in the Sheffield Office Park, a 517,000-sf property in Troy, MI.