“What’s the Draw?” Realtor Shares Surprising Insights with EDC on Wilton’s Commercial Real Estate Market

In its efforts to maintain close ties with Wilton’s businesses and understand their needs, Wilton’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) recently resolved to invite guest speakers from the business community to EDC meetings on a more regular basis.

At the March 9 EDC meeting, the featured speaker was Mike Spremulli, who heads the commercial real estate division of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in Fairfield and Westchester counties. According to his webpage, Spremulli is originally from Norwalk, currently lives in Weston, and specializes in Norwalk, New Canaan, Wilton, Weston and Westport real estate markets.

An Overview

Spremulli began his remarks with some general observations about Wilton’s commercial market.

“In Wilton right now, there are 39 spaces for lease, and only four buildings for sale.”

Those four properties are 331 Danbury Rd., 27 Cannon Rd., 40 Danbury Rd., and 12 Godfrey Place — the only property in Wilton Center.

Spremulli also noted that only one of the four properties for sale has a price listed.

“No one wants to talk about price up front,” Spremulii said.

That is unusual, Spremulii says, and could be owners “fishing” to see what price they could get. He felt the absence of clear prices could be a deterrent to prospective businesses.

Spremulli clarified that different segments of the commercial market are stronger than others.

“The residential market is hot, but I can’t really say the same of the commercial market,” Spremulli said. “The industrial market is hot. Small warehouse space is highly sought after. And retail space is coming back. We’re starting to see a resurgence there.”

Misperceptions

Spremulli discussed issues like Wilton’s retail vacancies, cost for commercial space, and business-friendly climate — with comments that may surprise some readers.

First, he countered the perception some residents have that Wilton has higher vacancies in retail spaces than other towns. In fact, he characterized Wilton as being “on par” with surrounding towns.

“Retail space is abundant in every town,” he said. “Downtown Westport [has] so many vacancies, it’s scary.”

He also refuted the perception that Wilton’s commercial spaces are prohibitively expensive.

“At $28 [per] square foot, Wilton is fairly inexpensive,” Spremulli said. “The going rates in surrounding towns are significantly higher. For someone that is interested in opening up a business, I think [Wilton] looks quite attractive. [Greenwich and Darien] are three times that. Even Norwalk, we’re looking at $35 to $40 [per sq.ft.] now.”

He also dispelled the notion that Wilton town government is particularly difficult for businesses to deal with in the process of opening a business.

Spremulli said Wilton is “no worse” than other towns in terms of the complexities or barriers businesses may experience in dealing with various town departments like P&Z, the Health Department or Building Department.

“Rarely is anyone excited about having to go downtown and pull permits, regardless of the town,” Spremulli told the EDC. “I don’t think that’s been a deterrent [for Wilton].”

Role of Commercial Realtors

Selectman Ross Tartell, who serves as the Board of Selectmen liaison to the EDC, attended the meeting and made the observation that small business owners could find the search for a location especially challenging.

“If you don’t have a commercial realtor, you can’t figure out where to buy or rent retail space,” Tartell observed. “But that’s not something the Town can actually solve.”

Spremulli agreed, adding that dealing with a large property owner like Kimco Realty could be challenging for an individual business owner working on their own behalf.

“That would be like representing yourself in a murder trial,” Spremulli said.

He also noted that smaller, independent commercial property owners can be easier for individual merchants to deal with than larger, corporate entities such as Kimco, with “several layers you have to go through.”

“What’s The Draw?”

Spremulli and the commissioners focused much of their discussion on what differentiates Wilton and how the Town can best appeal to prospective businesses. It’s a question Wilton town officials are asking too as part of the Master Planning process currently underway.

“Almost everything you need is right here in town,” Spremulli said. “But an outsider who’s not from Wilton who wants to start a business will look at how isolated is the town, are people from neighboring towns going to come into Wilton to shop, and what’s the draw?”

“You have to drive here to get here,” Spremulli continued. “What’s the draw for someone in Westport to come to Wilton? Westport has those things. There’s nothing specific that differentiates Wilton per se from some of the surrounding towns.”

In contrast, he said, towns like Ridgefield and New Canaan have walkable downtowns; Norwalk has a large mall.

Commissioner Matt Raimondi asked whether the mill rate impacts businesses considering locating in Wilton. (Raimondi also serves on the Board of Finance, which is about to undertake its FY2023 budget and mill rate deliberations.)

Spremulli did not feel it was a factor on the commercial side as much as the residential market.

Want to Hear More?

If you missed the meeting and want to hear all of the EDC’s discussion with Mike Spremulli, you can watch the entire Zoom meeting video recording on the Town website.

EDC meetings are always open to the public. They are typically held on the second Wednesday of each month. To watch a meeting live, find the Zoom link on the meeting agenda, which is posted on the Town website. Members of the public may comment at designated times, or email comments in advance using the contacts on the EDC’s webpage.