Today was the final day of business for Kibberia Restaurant and Café, 361 Post Road West, and Westport resident Wendy Levy showed up for a final order, served by employee Alia Metke, a 2015 Staples High School graduate. Nick Iskandar. an owner of the eat-in and takeout restaurant specializing in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, said Thursday it was closing because its lease expired and “we cannot continue with the current costs of doing business in Westport.” Levy said she was one of its first customers three years ago and had frequented the Kibberia restaurant in Danbury. “When i read on WestportNow about the planned closing, I wanted to come here just one last time,” she said. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
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Westport Property Transfers Aug. 1 – 5, 2016
Westport property transfers as reported by the Town Clerk’s office for the period Aug. 1 - 5, 2016:
Michael Bodetti and Sabrina Fontanili to Rose Giulietta Lucia Balestrino, 11 Ludlow Road, $630,000
Paul Quinn and Tara Davenport to Alex and Sarah Chapman, 3 Sterling Drive, $1,100,000
Vincent and Kathryn C. Nichols to Jonathan S. Franco and Poliana Toledo, 304 Greens Farms Road, $696,500
Carl V. and Yvonne L. Serbell III to SIR-11 Ambler LLC, 11 Ambler Road West, $600,000
Comings & Goings: Le Penguin Opens Monday
Le Penguin French bistro will open at Sconset Square on Monday according to a staff member. He said a friends and family reeption was held this week. The space was previously occupied by Blue Lemon which closed in April after 13 years. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Comings & Goings: Kibberia Closing
By Dave Matlow
Kibberia, an eat-in and takeout restaurant specializing in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine at 361 Post Road West, will close at the end of the business day Friday, according to owner Nick Iskandar.
Kibberia owner Nick Iskandar said: “Were very sorry to leave.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Iskandar, with brother Sam and sister-in-law Carole as chef, opened the restaurant in July 2013 in the space previously occupied by John’s Best Pizza. They also own a restaurant by the same name in Danbury.
“Our lease expired and we cannot continue with the current costs of doing business in Westport,” Nick Iskander said.
“Our business volume is good. if we were doing this amount of business in Danbury, for instance, we could continue because our costs are much lower there, but doing business in the Westport area is very expensive. We just cannot continue.”
Letter: Developer’s Letter Re Center St. ‘Inaccurate’
Editor’s note: this letter is in response to one by Robert Haroun published on Aug. 15. (See WestportNow Aug. 15, 2016)
To the Editor:
The Historic District Commission (HDC) has worked successfully with Rob Haroun of SIR Development on a number of successful preservation efforts and he has been the recipient of Historic Preservation awards from our annual program.
This house at 21[-25] Center St. is scheduled for demolition. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
The HDC worked diligently with Mr. Haroun and his architect, Mr. William Achilles, to refine and encourage the adoption of their amendment No. 711 to Supplementary Use Regulation 32-18 intended to encourage the preservation of historic residential structures, to permit them to subdivide a non-conforming property to establish a third lot and to save one historic house.
Mr. Haroun has written a letter to the editor published in WestportNow that inaccurately describes the outcome of the latest review of his plan to redevelop the property at 21 Center St.
That review was conducted by the Joint Committee of the HDC and the Architectural Review Board (ARB) as required by the Zoning Ordinance, not the ARB alone. That Joint Committee is made up of three representatives of the ARB and three of the HDC.
Real Estate Report: A Look at Under $1M Market
By Judy Szablak
Special to WestportNowThe average price of homes in Westport has been holding fairly steady at over $2.2 million, and the median price is around $1.8 million.
Featured Home This home at 2 Brookside Park is listed at $959,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of William Raveis Westport
That being said, exactly what kind of home can your money buy for under $1 million?
As of this writing, there are 77 single-family homes available under $1 million. Fifty-one of them were built between 1940-1969, and just three are less than 20 years old.
Their average price is $780,792 and they have been on the market 101 days. You can also reasonably expect a home in this range to have seven rooms, three baths and 2,233-square feet on average.
Letter: Developer Says Nothing to Show for ‘Good Intentions’
To the Editor:
I have lived in Westport for 25 years and am president of SIR Development, LLC a new construction luxury home builder. I have noted that historic structures and their place in this town have been a constant debate.
This house at 25 Center St. was the subject of lengthy negotiations with developer Rob Haroun and the town. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
During this time, hundreds of older homes have been demolished to make room for larger ones leaving a small inventory of older structures that retain the character of yesteryear. Some efforts have been made to create incentive programs for saving these structures through the existing 32–18 zoning regulations, but clearly the existing regulations fall short.
After seeing that 32-18 was deficient, we embarked on an effort to amend Section 32-18. With a specific property in mind, 25 Center St., we saw an opportunity to save an historic structure and provide a win-win for both the town and preservationists.
Knowing that the process was quite protracted, we proceeded in good faith with the town and the community to accomplish this goal.
Comings & Goings: Healthy Choice Organic Mattresses Closing
Healthy Choice Organic Mattresses, 141 Post Road East, will close at the end of the week according to owner Dave Spittal. “We may open another store in the Westport area, maybe New Canaan, Stamford or Greenwich,” he said. He said the Westport store, which opened in September 2012 “is the worst of all our stores—it may be the parking, the model just did not work for us in Westport.” Healthy Choice Organic Mattresses stores are located in New York, Mt. Kisco, and Beacon, N.Y., Ridgewood and Summit, N.J., as well as Boston. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Westport Property Transfers July 25 – 29, 2016
Westport property transfers as reported by the Town Clerk’s office for the period July 25 - 29, 2016:
Michael and Mary Vogt to Calef C. and Raelyn Davis, 12 Rocky Ridge Road, $725,000
Alexander P. and Kimberly V. Perry to Coastal Construction Group LLC, 6 Hillandale Lane, $890,000
Janet T. Wilson to Justin and Alana Racioppa, 21 Lees Lane, $906,500
Thomas M. and Carolyn L. Lynch to Albert M. and Maureen B. Valdes, 6 Wakeman Place, $900,000
Real Estate Report: Fewer Demo Permits Impacting Market
By Judy Szablak
Special to WestportNowApplications for demolition permits are down substantially in Westport since January.
Featured Home: This home at 4 Sprucewood Lane is listed at $3,975,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of Westport Residential.
In fact, they have steadily decreased over the past few years, according to the Westport Building Department.
For example, there were 124 such permits issued in 2014; that decreased to 104 in 2015, and just 41 so far this year.
This is important to the real estate market because these applications are the first step to new construction homes being built, as there are very few unimproved parcels in town.
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