In what might in time become the keystone of a Stamford revitalization spanning four decades, Bridgewater Associates committed to a $750 million waterfront headquarters in Building and Land Technology”™s (BLT) massive Harbor Point development.
For BLT, it marks by far the largest win yet in a project that has resulted in several large residential buildings and a small flotilla of big-name commercial tenants, to include Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., Fairway Market, and McKinsey & Co.
If Starwood represented Connecticut”™s biggest economic development win in years, bringing some 850 workers across the border to Connecticut, the Bridgewater deal should eclipse it if completed as planned. Bridgewater committed to creating anywhere from 750 to 1,000 jobs in addition to the 1,225 people it already employs at its Westport headquarters and satellite offices, housing them in what it promises will be a signature property that maintains public access to the small peninsula jutting into Stamford”™s harbor where the office will be built.
Malloy said the project has been in the works for some time, but began coalescing in earnest after he spoke with Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio last winter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“This didn”™t happen overnight,” Malloy said. “These deals take a significant amount of time to pull together.”
Bridgewater qualified for some $115 million in incentives under Malloy”™s “First Five” program of economic incentives for companies adding at least 200 jobs, which he is now referring to as the “Next Five” with three companies having signed on this summer ”“ including Deloitte Inc. in Stamford and Wilton ”“ after five did so last year, including NBC Sports Group for its new Stamford studios. In all, the eight companies that have enrolled to date are promising to add more than 4,500 jobs while investing $1.4 billion.
With Dalio accustomed to making 10 figures in annual compensation for himself, let alone the rest of his company, Malloy”™s extension of benefits to the wealthy hedge fund sparked national headlines. He suggested New York and New Jersey were readying bids to land Bridgewater, with the company not saying whether it pursued any such offers.
“There will be some controversy about this project ”“ there always is,” Malloy admitted. “This is subject to local approval. The state is not telling Stamford what it has to do. This is a decision Stamford has to make for itself. But it is an extraordinary opportunity for Stamford to think outside the box when it comes to development in the South End.”
As first reported by the Fairfield County Business Journal, Bridgewater had already secured space at Wilton Woods Corporate Center for some 225,000 square feet of space, sufficient for more than 1,000 people.
Area real estate brokers have long speculated on whether Bridgewater would consider establishing a headquarters in Stamford, with Dalio”™s son having been an employee of Building and Land Technology; and with Bridgewater having an existing commercial real estate relationship with BLT via offices it has used at BLT”™s Towers complex in Norwalk.
Some had speculated that Bridgewater might be interested in taking over UBS AG”™s Stamford trading floor and offices, should the investment bank choose to vacate the premises in favor of New York City. Connecticut last year awarded up to $20 million in new incentives for UBS to keep at least 2,000 employees in Stamford for another five years. If UBS sticks to the terms of that deal, its lease would come due in 2017, about the time Bridgewater Associates would be moving into its new Stamford headquarters.
“We”™ve kind of jumbled out all over the place and have offices all around Westport and around there,” said Greg Jensen, co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates. “We want to be in one place.”
The deal is subject to approval from Stamford boards, and Malloy cautioned officials in his hometown not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“It”™s an opportunity that I think brings great luster to Stamford as a financial center, to Fairfield County as a financial center,” Malloy said. “This is an industry in which we”™ve had a fair amount of success in Fairfield County ”¦. What I expect the industry to do is sit up and take note of what this outfit is doing. This is really quite extraordinary and it may take a while for everybody to fully understand it.”
