The Cytec building at 1937 West Main St. is one of two in Stamford owned by Steven Wise Associates and Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, alongside The Campus property at 1 Blachley Road, which houses the headquarters studio of NBC Sports and the Chelsea Piers of Connecticut athletic complex. The developers acquired the property in 2011 and are pursuing a redevelopment under a limited liability company called West Side Development Partners.
On Sept. 29, Stamford”™s planning board was expected to consider whether to allow the developers to move forward on construction of a home center that would total 115,000 square feet of space, along with a parking lot to accommodate 100 cars; a garden center measuring nearly 30,000 square feet; and one additional building for retail or flex use.
- The Cytec building at 1937 W. Main St. in Stamford
The center would be built behind the main Cytec building on West Main Street, where the Woodland Park, N.J.-based specialty chemicals company still has some employees while it”™s being marketed for lease to other office tenants.
On Sept. 28, Steven Wise would not say whether Home Depot remains interested in the property, which would be about midway between Home Depot stores in Norwalk and Port Chester, New York.
West Side Development”™s proposed building would be smaller than the 145,000-square-foot building Home Depot proposed in 2006, but slightly larger than its average store size as reported in the company”™s annual report.
“The site has universal appeal, but this type of user is one that can really serve Stamford and serve it well,” Wise said. “Stamford has evolved in so many positive ways. I think the timing is right.”
At last report, Home Depot owned nine of every 10 store properties it occupied.
The existing Cytec building, which the company bought in 1937, totals 200,000 square feet. Wise said the project would complete an environmental cleanup of the site in which Cytec has participated.
Home Depot sued Cytec in 2009 for breach of contract after attempting to acquire the property to build a store there.
At the time of Home Depot”™s original proposal nearly a decade ago, neighbors fought the redevelopment of the property on grounds it would burden local roads with a flood of new traffic. Wise said he expects similar concerns on the latest go-around, and said the developers are working with the city to improve intersections as well as other measures to lessen any impact.
The property has a Super Stop & Shop supermarket next door and a large retail complex across the street anchored by a Shop Rite, less than 1,000 feet from the Greenwich border.
Stamford has a number of smaller hardware stores and other retailers providing various home products, but no big-box home store. In July, Lowe”™s opened a new store on Connecticut Avenue in Norwalk on a site that was previously the headquarters of Affinion Group before that company relocated to Stamford in 2010. The Lowe”™s store employs about 130 people, including part-timers.
Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-964-2236; www.twitter.com/casoulman Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News-Times (Danbury). See ctpost.com for more from this reporter.
