[Connecticut Post Online Edition, January 10, 2005]

BRIDGEPORT - Jason Epstein said he learned something very valuable from his internship with a New York City development firm more than eight years ago: that he never wanted to work for anyone but himself.

In 1997, Epstein, now 33, got a chance to do just that when Victor Naar, a friend from high school, returned to the United States after fulfilling a family obligation to serve in the Israeli army. They started E/N Properties in Westchester County, N.Y., when they "flipped a home that year.

Flipping typically involves buying a house, making repairs and upgrades to it, then selling it within a few months for a profit.

"We did one or two, Naar said. "We said this is great for the short term, but we don't own anything.

They said they realized that flipping was a good way to make quick money, but it wasn't a real business. So they decided they wanted to restore and manage multihome apartment buildings. E/N still flips homes, but it uses that money to fund larger projects, such as remodeling apartments. It expects to flip 100 single-family homes in the Bridgeport area this year.

Since 1997, E/N has grown into a real estate development company that includes 15 workers and construction and property management divisions. It has also changed addresses from Westchester to Stamford, where Epstein lives.

The reason for the move is simple, according to Epstein: E/N no longer owns or works in Westchester because it has been concentrating on Bridgeport for three years. In that time, the company has put 150 apartments back in circulation by renovating mostly abandoned buildings - most of them on the East Side.

"People thought we were crazy, Epstein said, standing in a newly renovated apartment at Arctic and Pembroke streets in Bridgeport.

It seems a little unusual for guys who grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., to forsake Westchester County for Bridgeport's East Side. The building E/N Properties is renovating on Pembroke is next to a burned-out building with trash strewn on what should be a yard; razor wire adorns fences throughout the neighborhood.

But the two said the East Side is full of possibilities and opportunities.

Naar said they did a lot of research before making the jump to Bridgeport.

He said Bridgeport has a lot of things going for it - including that "everything downstate has gotten so expensive.

The crime rate has also dropped dramatically from the days when Bridgeport and violence were practically synonymous, they said, noting that they both feel safer walking around Bridgeport than they do walking around parts of New York City. The biggest attraction, however, is that Bridgeport's harbor hasn't been developed.

The city has been planning to develop the harbor for decades, and the latest plan calls for the construction of housing, offices and stores on the property known as Steel Point.

Naar and Epstein, however, said they're not going to wait for the harbor to be developed; they want to build now, so that's what they're doing.

One of the bigger projects they will start this year is renovating the building at 588 East Main St. into 40 apartments.

They've owned the building for more than two years, but it took that long to get some tax credits to do the project, Epstein said.

The company will also be creating its first project from scratch, because Epstein and Naar plan to build condominiums on the Bridgeport-Stratford border.

E/N also owns the Professional Building at 881 Lafayette Blvd., which will be transforming into condominiums during the next year. Epstein said it will be the only condominium complex that people can actually buy into in the downtown area.

He added that the popular Lafayette Deli will remain on the ground floor, as will another commercial shop, but said the rest of the building will be used for housing. E/N will have an office in the building, he said.

Rob Varnon, who covers business, can be reached at 330-6216.