In a bullish vote on the prospects for residential housing in Fairfield County, Building and Land Technology revealed plans for three new apartment buildings in Stamford”™s Harbor Point development, as well as a major tract of new housing in Danbury.
Norwalk-based BLT is planning 645 apartment units in Stamford, and about 470 units of condominiums in Danbury, according to a report in the Danbury News Times.
“I see these three new residential buildings ”¦ as further proof of the rebirth of the South End, and of the city of Stamford”™s ability to work with private enterprises to create jobs and housing and maintain Stamford”™s position as the leader in economic development in the region,” said Mayor Mike Pavia, in a prepared statement.
Construction is planned to begin this summer, with the first Stamford apartments coming online next spring. The tallest of those buildings would be 22 stories; all three would face the recently created 4.5-acre Commons Park and offer indoor parking, a fitness center, a landscaped rooftop terrace with two swimming pools and views of Long Island Sound, as well as a free jitney service to the Stamford Train Station.
If completed as planned, Harbor Point could total more than 4,000 units of housing and multiple commercial buildings.
“We have seen such an overwhelming demand for high quality rental housing in Stamford at both our Lofts at Yale & Towne and 101 Park Place communities,” said Carl Kuehner III, CEO of BLT, in a statement.
In Danbury, BLT filed plans to build five condominium buildings and a clubhouse on Woodland Road in The Reserve section of the town”™s west side, according to the Danbury News Times. BLT spent $10 million for the property in 2005.
The filing follows in the footsteps of Toll Bros., which jumpstarted the larger Rivington housing project at The Reserve after buying the property from WCI Communities late last year for nearly $24 million.
In a conference call with investment analysts late last year, Toll Bros. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the company plans to build 800 homes at Rivington and has no plans to divest any of the property. He added the company would lower the price point of some properties it will offer there, but not in all cases.
“It”™s a mix ”“ we are sticking with some product lines, we”™re modifying others,” Yearley said. “Rivington is going through a fairly significant change. There were some podium buildings there that we don”™t care to build, and we”™re moving to town homes. For the most part, we are sticking with the lot size. The price of (a) home is dependent upon the market but we”™ve underwritten those purchases at today”™s price ”¦ so we”™re pretty comfortable with where we are.”
The question for both Toll Bros. and BLT will be the comfort level of buyers, of course.
“Today”™s buyer is not the buyer of two years ago, where they are coming into the office and they are haggling and they are haggling, and they don”™t give up until they get the best deal,” Yearley said. “Today”™s buyer, I think, recognizes that the builders have gone as low as they”™re going to go, and they”™re just afraid.”
Even as BLT and Toll Bros. ramp up construction in Fairfield County, the overall confidence of Northeast builders edged upward in February, according to an index published by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Bank.
“Builders are telling us that some pockets of optimism have begun to emerge,” said David Crowe, NAHB”™s chief economist, in a prepared statement. “But many prospective purchasers are concerned about selling their existing home in the current market, or face difficulty securing credit for a home purchase.”
