As trains chugged into Metro-North”™s first new station in 85 years, Blackrock Realty said discussions are building steam with a Connecticut company to take as much as 75,000 square feet of space at the proposed Fairfield Metro Center project.
First floated more than a decade ago, if completed as planned the 35-acre project is to include more than 1 million square feet of office space, 30,000 square feet of retail space, 190 apartments, a hotel and parkland.
Throughout the recession and recovery, Fairfield”™s office market has remained the tightest among any submarket in the wider county. The town”™s 11 best multitenant office buildings ”“ totaling more than 1 million square feet ”“ boasted an astounding direct vacancy rate of below 1 percent this past summer, as calculated by Cushman & Wakefield.
Blackrock, a joint venture of Fairfield-based Wittek Development and New Rochelle, N.Y.-based Rugby Realty Co. Inc., aims to add to that supply. Principal Kurt Wittek said several companies have already inquired about securing space at Fairfield Metro Center, with Blackrock having hired Cushman & Wakefield as its leasing agent. He declined to identify the potential anchor company by name.
The footings and foundations for the initial Concourse Building have been completed. Wittek said if Blackrock secures that initial anchor tenant, construction would take about 14 months on what would be a $70 million, five-story building connecting to the new train station via a glass-encased bridge, and to a parking garage with 1,400 spaces.
Blackrock Realty hopes to break ground on the nearby residential apartment complex in the summer of 2012. Future phases, including four additional five-story commercial office buildings, will be rolled out as dictated by market demand.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 2 for that rail station.
“Friday was the most significant milestone to date,” Wittek said. “We can now take (prospective tenants) there and ”¦ see people getting on and off of trains. It is all very real and tangible ”¦ Beyond Greenwich, there is no (office) that literally has a building connected to a train station.
“I think the fact that it lies on the eastern edge of the county is a big positive,” Wittek added. “If you look at the traffic on I-95 ”¦ getting to and from Stamford is one of the most difficult things at almost any hour ”¦ Gone are the days of these remote, unconnected sites on little suburban roads. I think the model is now quite urbanist and connected to transport.”
It was unclear how many construction jobs the development could support. The project team also includes architect Gensler & Associates, commercial real estate services company Jones Lang Lasalle, Walker Parking and engineering services companies Cosentini Engineers, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Loureiro Engineering Associates, Landtech Consultants and Thornton Tomasetti.
