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| Stamford, Connecticut: An Assessment for Developers Rapid Growth & Change Ahead - SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAILY (1,200 housing units already added since 1998, 1,400 more to go in the next five years) Some of Stamford's Pending Construction [call to see or for an appointment, some of these units have "developer financing" (low, low!) and pre-construction pricing (low, low, low!)]:
ADDITIONAL DETAILS BELOW Some Pending Projects:
Some Planned Projects:
Overview statement: A City Welcoming Developers Stamford is well known as a business-friendly city for developers. Mayor Daniel Malloy also speaks of the city’s “inclusionary zoning,” referring to a city program that requires developers to set aside 10 per cent of new housing for low- and moderate-income buyers, or pay to have affordable housing built offsite. A 2001 report set a target of 8,000 new homes for middle- class and low-income workers, as a starting point in the years ahead. Five years later, only a fraction of these have been built or are even planned. Location, Location, Location Geographically, Stamford is a waterfront community located along Long Island Sound, with its many boating and water-sport activities. Stamford beaches are calm, white and inviting. Stamford spans about 40 square miles and sits comfortably between the wealthy communities of Greenwich, New Canaan and Darien, all in Fairfield County. The city consists of groups of neighborhoods, including the 2-, 3- and 4-acre zoned residential areas of North Stamford, above the Merritt Parkway, and Westover to the west. Stamford also includes the somewhat older and equally upscale areas of Wallach’s Point, Shippan and Dolphin Cove along the waterfront to the south. Average house prices in all of these areas sell for well over $1 million. The residential areas between the Merritt and I-95 consist of single-family houses and condominiums that range in price from $300,000 to $800,000. A Financial Capital Stamford sits 38 miles northeast of New York (a 38-minute Metro- North commute). It houses the U.S. headquarters of the financial conglomerate UBS, Inc., which operates the World’s Largest Trading Floor on Washington Boulevard in an enormous downtown facility adjacent to and visible from the Connecticut Turnpike (I-95). Stamford also hosts an International Financial Center office complex, several units of General Electric Corp., and both urban and suburban office complexes (Xerox, International Paper, Gerald Metals, Odessey Re Holdings, Silgan Corp., Crane Co., Purdue Pharma, priceline.com, Hyperion, MeadWestvaco, Pitney Bowles, Philips, etc.). In addition, Stamford:
Recent Major Construction Projects Stamford is the site for these planned and ongoing projects the "biggest potential changes in the city since the urban renewal effort that started in the 1960s...":
In the pipeline: Trump Park Stamford: A proposed 34-story, $150 million, Stamford condominium tower with 177 units on a half acre downtown is planned (they are up to about the 5th floor of the parking lot) by F.D. Rich Co., headed by Pres. Thomas Rich, and partners along with Donald Trump, a former Greenwich resident. The site is tentatively to be named Trump Parc Stamford (he has also put his name on a city center 35-story condo building in White Plains, N.Y.) The 350-foot high project is still subject to “land-use board” approvals. Other partners include Louis Cappelli of Cappelli Enterprises Inc. in Valhalla, N.Y. He also developed a similar complex in New Rochelle. trumpparcstamford. com The proposed complex in Stamford will house 177 luxury condos, 3,300 sq. ft. of retail space, four floors of parking, and six 2-story penthouses. This would become the tallest building in Stamford and the 6th tallest in Connecticut. Mr. Rich described the project as further validation of a 45-year urban renewal effort in Stamford, as the city continues to emerge as a 24-hr., seven-day-a-week destination. Mr. Trump is said to be involved in all aspects of the project. Costas Kondylis, the architect who designed the 70-story Trump World Tower and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Manhattan, is working on the Stamford project. (A Ritz-Carlton hotel and condominium development is also planned for another downtown site, along with another hotel/condo project under the famed "W" brand. Details will be included here as they become available.) In addition, the Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group is working with a non-profit organization (St. John Urban Development Corp.) to buy one of the three round St. John Towers (affordable apartment buildings at Tresser and Washington Blvd. They plan to build three residential towers, from 300 to 350 feet, with a supermarket and stores. The other two round towers will be renovated to keep them affordable for another 30 years. And, the city plans to build 419 apartments and ground-floor retail stores in three buildings off Summer St., West Park Place and Washington Blvd. (alongside Curley's Diner, which will remain, but will be build around as the city develops the downtown area. Antares Investment Partners of Greenwich has plans in the works to spend $103 million in predevelopment money for 4,000 housing units, eventually, on 82 acres of industrial property in the South End of Stamford, along its waterfront, part of which will be called Admiral’s Wharf. (The acreage includes former Pitney Bowes and Yale & Towne manufacturing complexes.) Overall, they intend to spend in excess of $2 billion in the area. Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital of New York and RBS’s Greenwich Capital of Greenwich are committed to a financing and predevelopment loan. Some 900 units will be in the initial Sound End project. Antares is expected to pay $4 million for a building permit. Norwalk real estate developer Building & Land Technology will work with Antares on the project, known as Harbor Point, whose first phase includes a 130-room hotel and 200,000 sq. ft. of office space along Stamford Harbor. They are creating a special tax district as well so they may sell $145 million in bonds for the project. Various city agency hearings are underway regarding these projects. In the past year, Antares has acquired the former Pitney Bowes inc. manufacturing plant, the Yale & Towne manufacturing site near Canal and Ludlow Streets, and the 38-acre former Connecticut Light & Power property off Dyke Lane, which includes the 14-acre Brewers Yacht Haven marina. With the loan, Antares (Managing Partner James Cabrera) will create a master plan for the 82 acres. The so-called Waterside site will include a mix of residential units, retail shops, public spaces and waterfront access. They have hired New York City-based Cooper, Robertson & Partners and Sasaki Associates of Boston to help it create a master plan of development, which they have done nationwide. The site will include the $300 million Admiral’s Wharf development comprised of 285 luxury condos, 100,000 sq. ft. on Stamford’s waterfront. The complex is being put together by Dwight Collins of Collins Enterprises. http://www.collins-llc.com/devlist.htm * * * The Stanford Planning Board has just approved the Royal Bank of Scotland’s planned 2008, 12-story, financial complex adjacent to UBS’s giant facility, to house RBS Greenwich Capital, which is relocating from Greenwich, and RBS’s corporate banking operations, relocating from Manhattan. The project received “expedited” approval by the Stamford Planning Board. By 2008, RBS plans to have built the NEW World’s Largest Wall St. Trading Floor (95,000 sq. ft.) included within an office complex of 500,000 sq. ft., located across the street from UBS’s huge operation at Washington Blvd. and Richmond Hill Ave. downtown. They plan to bring in 1,000 traders and 2,000 additional employees. http: //www.rbs.co.uk * * * Jason Schlesinger, president of Ceebraid-Signal Corporation, developer of The Lofts at 20th St. and the Gramercy Mews in NYC, and The Chesterfield prestigious condos in Stamford, is developing and marketing ultra-luxurious condominiums ($1.2 million to $3 million) in a soon to be constructed building called Highgrove, residences “celebrating Architecture, The Arts and Antiques in Stamford.” These units are selling at an unheard-of- price of $735 per sq. ft. This will be an 18 story building with 91 units in Stamford’s City Center area. http://www.highgrovestamford.com * * * Pipers III, consisting of James Fieber of The Fieber Group, The Spinnaker Companies and Hoffman Investment Partners, has launched the 59-unit River Oaks single-family luxury residences on 28 acres, in a gated community on Stamford’s High Ridge Road, near the Merritt Parkway. These distinctive, 3,000-5,000 sq. ft. Colonial homes range in price from $1.45 million to $1.57 million. Ownership includes the five feet of land adjacent to each unit. Construction is well underway and their sales to date have not been announced. (Estimate: About a third of them are built and construction is ongoing.) http://www.riveroakssales.com * * * Seth G. Weinstein, principal of Stamford-based Hannah Real Estate Investors (also Glen View Partners, Steven Wise is principal), is a partner in a new $50 million, mixed-use development on Glenbrook Road and East Main St. (current site of a Cadillac/Subaru/Pontiac dealer, which includes a new 15,000 sq. ft. Walgreen’s and 145-unit condo units called Glen View House. Other partners include Ray Kinol and his son, Paxton Kinol, of Stillwater Investment Management. Construction will begin this summer and be completed in 2008. The East Side Partnership, headed by Chrmn James Grunberger, who owns a shopping plaza one block away, has applauded the project and the Stamford Zoning Board has approved it. http://www. hannahrealestateinvestors.com * * * Seth G. Weinstein of Hannah Real Estate Investors and Ray & Paxton Kinol of Stillwater Investment Management have filed a zoning application to build a 5 ½-story building consisting of 112 condominiums (the Eastside Commons), consisting of 99 2-bdrm and 11 3-bdrm units and 1 1-bdrm unit (these latter 12 will be for buyers earning half of Stamford’s median income for a family of 4 of $111,600) on a 1.9 acres site of the Chrysler dealership on the north side of East Main St. on the East Side, a block east of the Cadillac dealer. Larry Davidoff, who used to own the property, helped pull the deal together. * * * Separately and nearby, the mayor is brokering a deal for a new Metro-North station for the New Canaan line a short walk away. Plans are being drawn by the Lessard Group of Vienna, Va., and the site will include a 4,000 sq. ft. bank and 11,000 sq. ft. of retail space. * * * Seth Weinstein (Hannah RE) & Ray/Paxton Kinol have just completed the 92-unit apartment complex, called Mill River House, on West Broad St. on Stamford’s West Side (a former Oldsmobile dealership). William Raveis Real Estate serves as the Listing Broker. It is nearly sold out and sites on Stamford’s much less attractive Westside, a neighborhood undergoing modest gentrification. Eleven units will be set aside as affordable units. * * * Adjacent to the Mill River House on West Broad St., Weinstein and the Kinols are building a 60-unit condo complex called Adams House. William Raveis Real Estate serves as the Listing Broker. Mill River House and the Adams House are being built under the business name of the Eastside Development Associates. The goal, according to Rick Redniss, a land-use consultant who worked on all three complexes, is to convert the East side into a pedestrian-friendly village, with more apartments and condos above street-level retail - - pro people, anti car. Seven units will be set aside as affordable. * * * City Place Realty Associates has joined up with C&T Partners’s principals, John Calicchio and Michael Tsiahouridis, and Inwo Management Corporation owner Ernie Bello to develop the City Place condominiums, about 100 2- and 3-bedroom high-end luxury condominiums ($700,000 to $2M) on Washington Boulevard in Downtown Stamford. William Raveis Real Estate serves as the Listing Broker and mortgage banker. http://www. cityplacestamford.com * * * The Metropolitan office-conversion of 40 offices to contemporary loft-condominiums ($580,000 to $1.65M) on Summer St. in Stamford is scheduled for a winter opening. William Raveis Real Estate is the Listing Broker for these condominiums and 12 townhouses to be built adjacent to the main office building in the downtown area of Stamford near the University of Connecticut. About half of the units are sold. First Summer Development LLC, Seth Weinstein and Paxton & Ray Kinol. http://www. themetropolitan1515summer.com Developer Randall Salvatore has binders (purchase offers accepted) for 135 of 170 condo/townhouses he plans to build off Camp Avenue in the city's Springdale neighborhood. Stamford- based RMS Construction LLC has begun site preparation work, excavation and construction of retaining walls. The first occupants of "The Village at River's Edge" should move in by year-end 2006. Salvatore and his firm paid $25.15 million for the 90-acre property and has been marketing the units about eight weeks. By agreement with the City, 17 of the units will be sold at below-market rates to individuals who earn less than half of Stamford area's median income. * * * Excavation has begun on the city’s newest children’s playground called the West Main Street downtown. The 10,000 sq. ft. playground will become a portion of a 26-acre Mill River Park, which includes the elimination of a downtown dam, restoring water flow to the Mill River. Darien Asphalt will handle the $300,000 job, along with $200,000 worth of city volunteer help as part of the Mill River Collaboration, a public-private group overseeing the park’s design. The “Big Hole” Everyone in the area knows about the 4.3-acre development site, a square and flat block-long, excavated plot, bordered by two streets and two rows of buildings. The land is owned by Howard and Edward Milstein & family. The investment property is located in the center of town - - opposite the city’s largest indoor mall (Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, etc.). Local residents refer to the property as “The Big Hole” or just “The Hole.” The site has had excavation completed down about two floors below the street level, where development stopped. It has sat here, untouched for several years - - a huge eye-sore and blight on the city-center’s landscape. Surrounding the site on three sides are office and apartment buildings. Chain-link fencing limits views and keeps pedestrians out. It is an easy walk to the city’s main library, theaters, shops, Metro-North Station, City Hall, and several large office complexes. In short, it has enormous potential. |
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