Seligson Properties traces its roots from 1979 when Stanley Seligson created the company that has become one of the preeminent real estate developers, owners and managers in Connecticut.
Stanley M. Seligson (1933–2024)
Founder and Chairman
Stanley M. Seligson founded Seligson Properties and served as its Chairman and CEO for more than five decades.
Mr. Seligson began his career by growing his late father’s cigar shop into one of the largest tobacco and candy wholesale and distribution businesses in the Northeast. He was a substantial wholesale buyer routinely dealing with executives at Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds and others. Equally, he was a significant distributor to large and small retail outlets. He later expanded the business by creating a vending division that eventually operated hundreds of machines throughout Connecticut. After decades of success, he elected to sell these businesses at their high-point to Pepsi. With his knowledge and expertise in wholesale and retail, he later opened and operated several full-service catalog showrooms throughout Connecticut.
Throughout these ventures, Mr. Seligson maintained an affinity for real estate investing, architecture, construction and deal-making. He recognized the value of owning the real estate that supported his businesses and then continued to operate them as investments. In 1979, Mr. Seligson decided to focus exclusively on the investment, development, management and construction of commercial real estate. Utilizing his considerable talents to identify opportunity, build relationships and create best-in-class professional teams, Mr. Seligson led the company in many successful projects and built a highly regarded reputation within the real estate industry.
He was the driving force behind numerous key developments in Norwalk, CT, including two projects the CT Post said helped “transform Norwalk into a destination”: the 50,000 square feet of commercial space at 145 Main St. and the Waypointe, a mixed-use development, including 774 apartments and 90,000 square feet of commercial space. Seligson fostered relationships throughout the real estate industry, and amassed an impressive retail tenant roster. Committed to quality, the company’s award-winning projects included new construction, renovations, adaptive reuse, repositioning, and redevelopments.
Mr. Seligson was long involved in a wide range of philanthropic and community organizations and served on the Boards of the YMCA, Maritime Aquarium and Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk. He was actively involved in the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce for over 50 years and served on the Chamber’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee, as its Vice President of Economic Development. He received numerous industry awards throughout his career, including Industry Man of the Year from the Anti-Defamation League/B’nai B’rith, Distributor of the Year from Philip Morris, Voluntary Action Committee Corporate Leadership Award, and numerous awards and accolades for his many successful real estate projects.
From 1953 until his passing, Stanley M. Seligson led many successful business ventures and built a proud legacy through hard work, inspiration and entrepreneurism.
Seligson Properties has played a pivotal role in shaping Norwalk, Connecticut by completing numerous successful developments, adaptive reuse projects and large-scale redevelopment initiatives.
Early projects involved retail shopping center developments for the likes of Toys’ R Us, Loehmann’s, Huffman Koos, and others. Seligson Properties went on to create a regional distribution center for Airborne Express (now DHL) and a transportation hub in South Norwalk. The firm developed a series of corporate headquarters, professional office and medical office projects for national banking institutions and regional hospitals. Utilizing its creative and progressive approach, the firm has also been involved with a multitude of adaptive reuse projects and urban renewal initiatives and in core downtown areas. Seligson Properties helped to transform Connecticut Avenue (US-1) by adding several large-scale retail shopping centers, including build-to-suits for Costco, Circuit City (now P.C. Richard’s), The Sports Authority (now Dick’s Sporting Goods), and others. One of the firm’s greatest contributions has been in the redevelopment of Norwalk’s downtown West Avenue corridor, which involved a decades’ long effort of acquiring property and working in a public-private partnership with City and State administrations and Community partners to develop a tailored vision for a thriving downtown Norwalk.