Tepid leasing in first half ommercial real estate leasing was down significantly in the first half compared to the same period in 2011, according to Cushman & Wakefield, but the vacancy rate still declined. Fairfield County’s overall leasing activity totaled just over 850,000 square feet, a 24 percent decrease from the 1.1 million square feet leased in the first half of 2011. It was the second lowest half-year leasing total in the past decade, with Fairfield County averaging 1.4 million square feet leased at midyear during that stretch. New York City similarly saw muted action compared to previous years, according to Cushman & Wakefield. In Fairfield County, deals for upper echelon, class-A office space was off more than 40 percent to under 400,000 square feet of space. Large new deals during the second quarter included: • Freepoint Commodities, which took 59,000 square feet at 58 Commerce Road in Stamford; • Millward Brown, which leased 51,000
square feet at 401 Merritt 7 in Norwalk; • GE Capital Real Estate, which expanded into 50,000 square feet at 901 Main Ave. in Norwalk; and • Tronox Ltd., which moved its headquarters from Oklahoma City to a 27,000-square-foot office at 263 Tresser Blvd. in Stamford. At nearly 21 percent, Fairfield County’s overall, class-A vacancy rate was consistent with both the first quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of a year ago. If still a historically high vacancy rate, a significant portion of the vacancy rate is pegged to a few large buildings, whose owners are hoping to land big tenants – most notably Building and Land Technology (BLT), whose 695 E. Main St. adds more than a half-million square feet of space to the market as it undergoes renovations. In the second half of last year, UBS AG put more than 150,000 square feet of space up for sublease at 400 Atlantic St. and 201 Tresser Blvd., while Legg Mason shopped around some 50,000 square feet it leases at 100 Stamford Place. “In theory, quite a few 10-year transactions that were signed in 2003 should
GOLD COASTAL PROPERTY
The Mill churns out new leases
BY ALEXANDER SOULE casoule@westfairinc.com
C
Five plus one … and counting Connecticut added a sixth company under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s First Five program of economic incentives: Sustainable Building Systems L.L.C., which will be based in North Haven and employ more than 400 people there. The new company, a joint venture between the Australia-based Weeks Group and Diverse Services Group (DSG) in Arizona, will make sustainable building panels for homes, hotels, the military and other applications. Under the First Five program, Connecticut is providing a 10-year, $19 million loan at 2 percent interest, assuming the company hits its hiring target within five years. “Across the country, we are grappling with the fundamental question of how we can reinvent the American economy,” Malloy said, in a prepared statement. “In the last century, the steel industry was the backbone of our nation, providing jobs and helping to build the middle class. Companies like Sustainable Building Systems represent the next evolution of that industry. By embracing 21st-century technology, what’s old is becoming new again.”
MCC Capital Partners L.L.C. and Milton Capital separately took leases at The Mill at 10 Glenville St. in the Glenville section of Greenwich, with Colliers International representing the landlord. Milton Capital is an independent international investment banking firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, growth and venture capital financing, and project and acquisition financing. The company relocated from downtown Greenwich. MCC Capital is a private equity firm that previously was located at 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook, N.Y.
Mortgage firm relocates from N.Y. A mortgage broker is establishing its main office in Stamford, taking 10,000 square feet of space at 1010 Washington Blvd. National Asset Direct subsidiary iServe Residential Lending previously had its main local office in Rye Brook, N.Y., and is licensed to do business in 19 states. The company’s chairman Ralph DellaCamera is a Stamford resident.
have been up for renewal this year,” said Jim Fagan, senior managing director and market leader of Cushman & Wakefield’s Fairfield County and Westchester County regions, in a prepared statement. “With the difficult economy over the last few years, however, a number of early renewals and blend-and-extend transactions have taken some of the vitality out of leasing activity this year.” The overall picture is one of vitality, however, as BLT continues filling out its Harbor Point development in Stamford’s South End; as Chelsea Piers, NBC Sports Group and the NHL Network create a bustling sports hub at 1 Blachley Road in Stamford; and as Stamford Hospital accelerates construction plans on a new facility on the city’s West End. Greenwich could see its own action, after the onetime General Reinsurance Corp. headquarters at 600 Steamboat Road went back onto the leasing market after extensive renovations to the 180,000-square-foot, harbor-side building. The landlord wants more than $100 a square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield, helping to push Greenwich’s
average asking rent to approaching $69 a square foot, up from under $56 a year ago. Greenwich’s vacancy rate was more than 21 percent, up nearly 2 percent from the first quarter this year. A significant amount of renewal activity was another indication of a down market, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Major renewals included: • GE Capital’s 66,000-square-foot renewal at 83 Wooster Heights Road in Danbury; • Bridgewater Associates’ 32,000square-foot lease at 355 Riverside Ave. in Westport; • Verition Fund Management’s 27,000square-foot renewal at 1 American Lane in Greenwich; and • McGladrey’s 26,000-square-foot deal at 850 Canal St. in Stamford. Three major sales occurred in the second quarter, after Torchlight Investors took control of the former UST headquarters building from Antares Investment Partners; ClearRock Properties spent $19 million for Holly Hill Lane in Greenwich; and Marcus Partners bought 6 Armstrong Road in Shelton for about $8 million.
Desai bids Stamford goodbye
has come to mean to us directly, we are looking forward to a new beginning in another one of Fairfield County’s creative hubs,” said Sandra Ruiz-Desai, managing partner of Desai Communications, in a written statement. The company’s new location is 25 Van Zant St. in Norwalk.
Marketing and promotions agency Desai Communications relocated to Norwalk from Stamford, where it had been located at 143 Myrtle Ave., which is being razed to clear room for Stamford’s Urban Transitway under construction. “As much as we are saddened by the reality of eminent domain and what that
By Jennifer Bissell and Alexander Soule
A note from the publisher White Plains-based Westfair Communications Inc., publisher of the Fairfield County Business Journal, Westchester County Business Journal, HV Biz and WAG magazine, eliminated its sales department July 23 to partner with James G. Elliott Co., a major, national sales and marketing company with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and Atlanta. “We’re growing rapidly with daily digital business news, circulation membership, events and new publications that we needed to increase our sales resources, capabilities and account managers. With the Elliott company we get all of that and more. We now have a sales arm with decades of national and local experience in advertising print and digital sales and marketing. After a great deal of discussion and strategic planning we felt that joining with the Elliott company is the best way to avail ourselves of expertise and increase the range of services we provide our readers and advertisers, especially as we fast track in our growth mode,” said Dee DelBello, publisher, adding that the former sales team has an opportunity to join Elliott company. The Elliott company will represent all of Westfair’s print and digital publications. The new Westfair sales team will open offices in Westchester and Fairfield counties and New York City to better serve its customers.
2 Week of July 30, 2012 • Fairfield County Business Journal a division of Westfair Communications, Inc. • www.westfaironline.com