Greenwich residents David H. and Reba Williams purchased the 14,770-sf building at 258 Atlantic St., for $2.7 million. Meredith Siburn of Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut, Inc., represented the seller--DataWorld Service Inc., a local printing company. Alfred Mirin, first vice president of CB Richard Ellis represented the buyers in the transaction.
The Williams plan to relocate their private art collection, which includes 5,000 works dating from the 1800s, from the offices of Alliance Capital Management in Manhattan.
According to Cushman & Wakefield officials, once the works are relocated to the Old Advocate Building the collection will be made available to scholars through the Print Research Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by the Williams to encourage the appreciation of American artists.
"This is quite possibly the most unique building in the entire city of Stamford and it just seems appropriate that this unusual building will now have such a special use," says Siburn. "Watching this building transform from office space to a one-of-a-kind art gallery is exciting to me as well as the entire city of Stamford."
CB Richard Ellis' Mirin noted that the deal "fills a void in the arts community in Stamford" since the Whitney Museum closed its doors earlier this year.
The facility, which features a carved limestone facade fashioned after a 19th Century villa, was a perfect fit for the use the new owners have in mind, Mirin notes. "Once it came on the market, it was the only building we really focused on," he adds.
The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was on the market for about three months, ever since z-University, an on-line marketing firm to colleges and universities, relocated to Norwalk. The property, built in 1928, had for years served as the home of the local daily newspaper the Stamford Advocate. After the publication moved its operations to Washington Blvd., the property was acquired by G.R.R. Associates in 1981. The building was purchased by DataWorld in November 1997 for $1.45 million, according to C&W's Siburn, who brokered that deal as well.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
