Stamford Town Center finds buyer
New owners pledge to continue operating Stamford Town Center Mall
STAMFORD — Stamford Town Center has been sold for an undisclosed price to a subsidiary of home-furnishings company Safavieh, which has a longstanding store in the downtown and whose owners want to revitalize the embattled mall.
Safavieh’s acquisition encompasses about 520,000 square feet of the downtown shopping center, which opened in 1982 and today houses nearly 100 retail tenants, including anchor stores Macy’s, Saks Off 5th and Barnes & Noble, as well as a restaurant plaza on Tresser Boulevard. Macy’s owns its approximately 240,000square-foot store at the mall, and the new owners say it will be a key partner in their plans to revive a property struggling with many vacancies.
“We’re focusing on the next steps, which are the improvements to the mall, the changes that we want to bring with new tenants, a new look and new promotions. It’s going to be very exciting for us — and I think also for downtown Stamford,” Safavieh President Arash Yaraghi said in an interview Thursday.
When Stamford Town Center went on the market about a year ago, it was marketed as a potential redevelopment opportunity. It stands next to the Landmark Square office complex and Landmark 9 movie theater and is served by an approximately 3,500-space garage.
Safavieh owners, however, are intent on maintaining it in the long term as a Class A mall despite its recent difficulties.
“We want to bring to the mall what the community is asking for — which is a younger, more upbeat and hipper environment in tenants, products and restaurants and everything that is going on today in downtown Stamford,” Arash Yaraghi said. “It’s happening with the apartments and the offices. It’s not happening yet with retail. This is going to be the answer to all the other developments that are going on around the mall.”
Owned and operated by five brothers including Arash Yaraghi, the Port Washington, N.Y.based Safavieh runs several stores of the same name in the Tri-State area. Its approximately 100,000square-foot Stamford establishment has operated since 1988, at 230 Atlantic St., yards from the mall.
Founded in 1914 in Isfahan, Iran, Safavieh now owns or has under development nearly 15
million square feet of commercial and industrial properties throughout the U.S.
The Yaraghis’ plans for Stamford Town Center include opening a Safavieh showroom there to complement the Atlantic Street store.
“Design has always been a cornerstone for Safavieh,” said Jonathan Yaraghi, Safavieh’s director of acquisition and development and nephew of Arash Yaraghi. “Our team will be working throughout the mall to bring the same design that we bring day in, day out to our customers.”
Christian Bangert, a Stamfordbased managing director with commercial real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank, was the sole representative in the sale negotiations for Yaraghi Realty LLC, the Safavieh subsidiary. A team led by Christopher Hoffmann and Steven Livaditis, of Eastdil Secured, represented the selling entity, Rich-Taubman Associates, which is an affiliate of former owners Taubman Center and UBS Realty Investors.
“Knowing the changing of retail that we’ve seen on a regional and national basis in the past couple of years, having someone like Safavieh take the reins of something of this size, there’s unlimited potential,” Bangert said. “We’re trying to make the mall more like it was many years ago and get it ‘shiny and new’ again.”
In a statement, Taubman Centers said, “We are pleased to have sold the center to a company with many years of retail experience.”
While the coronavirus crisis has necessitated social-distancing guidelines and increased cleaning measures, the new owners are planning to celebrate the holiday season at the mall with attractions such as a virtual Santa Claus experience and seasonal decorations.
Safavieh also plans to spruce up the property with new furniture and plantings.
Meanwhile, the new owners have retained the mall’s existing management team, including General Manager Dan Stolzenbach, who formerly worked for Taubman Centers.
More than 20 vacant storefronts and restaurant spaces now pockmark the property. In the past year, the vacancies have grown as Apple, H&M and several other retailers have closed their stores in favor of new ones at the SoNo Collection mall, which opened last year in Norwalk.
But Stolzenbach said he is “extremely optimistic” about the Stamford property’s future.
“This mall is the heart of the community, and the community has been wanting a better mall,” Stolzenbach said. “Now we’re able to provide it.”