The much-ballyhooed flight from New York City caused by Covid-19 has definitely benefited Stamford, according to the owner of one of that city”™s newest rental communities ”“ though he warns that the bounce could be short-lived.
“I think it”™s a temporary exodus,” David Barry, CEO of Urby ”“ which in partnership with Brookfield Property Group operates Stamford Urby at 1 Greyrock Place ”“ told the Business Journal. “Right now it”™s driven by a lot of business offices that have not returned to work yet.”
Barry noted that earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase asked its managers to start returning to their offices beginning Sept. 21, with some exemptions allowed ”“ a possible sign that the work-from-home movement may be dissipating.
Nevertheless, the $20 million, 465-unit Stamford Urby has now signed about 275 leases, Barry said, roughly 11 months after it began accepting tenants. Obviously the pandemic took place in the middle of that period, but Barry said the rental numbers were more or less in line with what the company had anticipated.
“The leasing pace has been really strong,” he said, with more than 30% of those leases since May signed by New York residents.
Even if the migration from the Empire State should slow down or reverse, Barry said, Urby remains confident that millennials will continue looking to live outside of Gotham. While other Urby properties in Jersey City and Harrison, New Jersey, are more driven by the quick commutes to Manhattan, he added, Stamford residents ”“ and wannabe residents ”“ are looking for something else.
“In general that”™s a group that”™s reaching a point in their lives where they want to start having kids and things like that,” he said. “Even as New York City gets back online, certain people are still going to want to shift to Connecticut, which is something that should benefit us and Stamford as a whole. We”™ve gotten a lot of leads and inquiries from New York City addresses ”“ more than we were pre-Covid.”
Built at the site of Stamford”™s notorious-for-years “hole in the ground,” Urby features a plethora of green spaces, an elevated saltwater pool and patio, communal kitchen, fitness facility and a dog park for resident canines.
Monthly rents currently range from $1,780 for studios, $2,295 for one-bedrooms and $2,905 for two-bedroom units.
Virtual tours have become routine in real estate. And while Urby is no exception, Barry said that it seems that the days of signing leases without at least getting an in-person glance at the apartment also seem to be on the wane.
“In the current environment, most people follow up with an in-person visit, either guided or self-guided,” he said. “That”™s still very much a part of the equation. You”™re making a life decision here, something that”™s going to have an effect on you for a year or more, so most people want to come in and touch the property before signing.”
Still to come is a second and final phase, which will bring the property”™s number of apartments to 648. Originally set to begin in January, weather delays and then the pandemic caused those plans to be revisited. Barry said the work would now “probably start in the fourth quarter, or it could be first-quarter 2021. We”™re still in the pre-pricing phase as far as construction costs.”
Urby and Brookfield Properties are about to start work on additional projects in Jersey City (“within six weeks”), Dallas (“very soon”) and a pair of Urby residences in Washington, D.C., provisionally set to start in the second quarter of 2021.
“Covid caused some delays of course,” Barry said. “Every part of the world slowed down or stopped. But we”™re still going full speed ahead.”
