On a dreary morning in Stamford last week, backhoes continued site work for Antares Investment Partners L.L.C.”™s massive Harbor Point waterfront development.
Project manager Bruce MacLeod says his company will be able to dig up the loans necessary to complete the work.
The ability of Fairfield County”™s superstar developer to fulfill that promise was called into question earlier this month, after a Boston real estate firm acquired a discounted, $26 million interest in Antares”™ property at 100 W. Putnam Ave. Antares acquired the property last year from UST Inc. for $130 million and is renovating the building for lease to other companies.
At the same time, Antares sold off two Greenwich residential complexes, as reported by the Greenwich Time, for $20 million less than their purchase price, following creditor Lehman Brothers”™ threat to place the properties under foreclosure proceedings. Antares declined comment to the Fairfield County Business Journal on the Greenwich properties due to confidentiality agreements it had signed.
The developments come during a period of general uncertainty in the credit markets, as financiers reassess the value of their holdings.
Antares”™ inability or unwillingness to carry its original obligations on the Greenwich properties raises questions on whether it has the deep pockets and resolve to see through to completion its Harbor Park project in the South End.
MacLeod is confident of completing the project.
To put steel in the ground for the first phase of the Harbor Point, which is to include an 80,000-square-foot office building and a hotel, Antares must ink a $500 million loan, according to MacLeod, Antares chief operating officer. To do that, it must first fix a guaranteed price from a general contractor; MacLeod expects the company to accomplish both tasks by August.
“There”™s been nothing that makes us think we can”™t get a construction loan,” MacLeod said. “This opportunity is better than anything I”™ve seen in my career.”
That is due in part due to the property”™s waterfront locale; proximity to downtown Stamford and the city”™s train station; the city”™s efforts to promote itself to developers; and vigorous efforts by Gov. Jodi Rell to promote “smart growth” concepts that emphasize people living near where they work.
Long dominated by old industrial buildings and nondescript houses, Stamford”™s South End enjoyed a brief flurry of development in the early 1980s on the eve of the Coastal Area Management Act, which put restrictions on commercial construction near Long Island Sound.
With 4,000 units of housing proposed within walking distance of downtown, the Antares project is critical in Stamford”™s efforts at a makeover attracting young professionals to live and work in the city.
Antares”™ equity partner in Harbor Point is Philadelphia-based Lubert Adler Partners L.P., which is planning a similar development in Chicago, on lakefront industrial grounds once occupied by the Solo Cup Co.
Ultimately, Antares plans to build another office building with 200,000 square feet of space; for the project to proceed, the firm will likely have to identify an “anchor” tenant that will take on a long-term lease for a significant portion of the building.
More immediately, the company has been negotiating with Stamford for tax-increment financing. Any TIF agreement would allow the city to get an assurance of future tax revenue to underwrite bonds needed today for various utility and infrastructure work needed for the Harbor Point site.
In response to a question, MacLeod said the company has no plans to divest properties or otherwise redeploy assets in an effort to ensure the successful completion of Harbor Point. The scope of the project is such that up to 15 years will be needed to complete all phases, he said, and Antares all along has factored the vagaries of the business and real-estate cycles into its plans.
While there are no guarantees in his business, Antares has sunk a significant amount of its resources into the project and is committed to its success.
“It”™s like faith,” MacLeod said. “You believe or you don”™t believe.”
