A finance company that bills itself as the world”™s largest independent infrastructure firm has moved its U.S. headquarters to Greenwich, an indication that Fairfield County remains an attractive locale despite affordable rents in New York City.
Alinda Capital Partners L.L.C. has taken more than 25,000 square feet of offices at 100 West Putnam Ave. in Greenwich, until 2008 the home of UST, which subsequently moved to Stamford before being acquired by Altria Group.
After UST sold its property and moved to Stamford, hedge funds swiftly pounced on available leases in the renovated building. With the credit crisis that struck in 2008, however, those hedge funds suddenly were struggling and the building swiftly emptied.
Brokers agree that some hedge funds and financial companies appear to be in expansion mode once more ”“ in addition to the Alinda deal, Bridgewater Associates recently took more than 50,000 square feet of space in Norwalk. Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy is moving from Wilton to the Harbor Point district under development in Stamford by Building and Land Technology. Statoil took 50,000 square feet of space not used by General Reinsurance Corp. at its new headquarters building at 120 Long Ridge Road. And Greenwich insurance company W.R. Berkley expanded to Stamford, where it is leasing nearly 50,000 square feet at Stamford Plaza.
“We had a great year in 2010, especially relative to other markets around here,” said Robert Caruso, managing director in the Stamford office of CB Richard Ellis. “We are seeing it with the hedge funds, there is a viable market there.”
Still, activity has yet to pick up for multiple buildings in Stamford and Greenwich that could represent draws for financial companies. The former General Reinsurance Corp. headquarters at 695 E. Main St. is still in a holding pattern as new manager L&L Holding Co. undertakes renovations. At the Harbor Drive office complex in Stamford, brokers and tenants will have a new contact, after longtime managing partner Arthur Emil died last summer. The park has drawn at least one high-profile financial company in CRT Capital Group L.L.C., started by founders of Greenwich Capital with more than $225 million in capital. Several brokers said they were unaware of any activity at Greenwich Capital”™s former waterfront headquarters on Steamboat Road in Greenwich, which has remained empty since Royal Bank of Scotland moved those operations to Stamford in 2009.
“I”™m going to be interested in what is going to happen there,” said Gerard Hallock, executive managing director in the Stamford office of Colliers International. “It”™s an old, dated, obsolete space ”“ very difficult to divide up. But it”™s on the water in Greenwich, Connecticut.”
For its part, Alinda is awash in cash, managing $7 billion in investments, much of it in the form of transportation infrastructure in the United Kingdom and in energy facilities in the United States such as pipelines and natural gas storage sites. Until last year, the company held equity stakes in management companies of several U.S. airports, including Logan International Airport in Boston and Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Also last year, Alinda sold Siemens AG its 75 percent stake in San Francisco-based Republic Intelligent Transportation Systems Inc., the largest U.S. company focused on streetlight and traffic signal maintenance.
Alinda managing partner Chris Beale previously was head of project finance at Citigroup, at the time the world”™s largest infrastructure finance business. He was also global head of project finance at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston, and chairman of Beale Lynch Capital Partners, a private investment firm in New York.
Alinda”™s executive group includes several Citigroup alumni. Partner Philip Dyk was formerly managing director of Atlantis Water Fund L.P., an affiliate of Stamford-based Poseidon Resources Corp., which is developing desalination plants in California and other locales.
