Randy Salvatore, founder and president of Stamford-based RMS Cos., is one of the many developers heralding the move toward a “work, play, live” culture in downtown Stamford. Since 2009, he has been buying up real estate and building chic and modern rental housing units and hotels that cater to the young crowd and the hip empty-nesters.
As Salvatore is poised to start another RMS project, he holds fast to the belief that his economic development projects will be a mainstay in downtown Stamford and continue to attract working professionals, businesses, restaurants and entertainment to the city.
“With more people coming to the downtown you have more entertainment options, better restaurants and shows,” Salvatore said. “Stamford has grown by close to 2,000 more people in the past two years, and it”™s because you can get a lot for what you would go to Manhattan for. Your rental costs are 40 percent cheaper in Stamford than in Manhattan.”
The newest RMS addition to the downtown will be a $50 million, 122-unit project on Washington Boulevard slated to open in 2015. This is Salvatore”™s first mixed-use building project, and it will include retail tenants such as restaurants and a pharmacy.
John Ruotolo, vice president of operations of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District, said residential units in downtown Stamford have tripled over the past 15 years.
“In the year 2000, there were 2,000 units,” Ruotolo said. “Now we”™re at 6,400 units, and we have another 2,200 coming up. The residential component adds to the commercial office spaces and restaurants and has been the key to the success of the downtown. The mixed-use is what caused the infill of retail and restaurant and entertainment.”
The boom in rental housing began in downtown Stamford about five years ago at the tail end of the recent economic recession. The market for condos and houses began shrinking because of the burden of homeownership, a mortgage and depreciating home values.
Rental apartments, meantime, have become the more-appealing products because people who are unmarried and are part of a transient population are not forced to make long-term commitments. Salvatore, along with his contemporaries, has capitalized on construction projects that have brought millions of dollars in revenues to the downtown through rental properties.
“It”™s all friendly competition amongst the developers,” Salvatore said. “Competition makes everyone better because you have to differentiate your product. Every project I build, I think about what else I can do better to attract the next wave of tenants. If I was the only one building in downtown Stamford there wouldn”™t be a critical mass here.”
Some of the projects Salvatore completed in the downtown over the years include 100 Prospect St., a $25 million, 82-unit apartment building; The BLVD, a nearly $33 million, 94-unit apartment building on Washington Boulevard; Parallel 41, a $45 million, 124-unit apartment building; The Moderne, a $20-million, 58-unit apartment building on Franklin Street; and The Verano, a $20 million, 58-unit apartment building on Summer Street. He also opened “New-York style boutique” hotels in Stamford and Norwalk under the name Hotel Zero Degrees in November 2009 and April 2013, respectively.
Salvatore, who has a number of luxury single-family houses and town houses in his portfolio, said he plans to build more hotels in the region. He secured real estate in Danbury and is close to closing another deal in Westchester County, N.Y. Salvatore said he plans to open them as hotels that use contemporary d̩cor and amenities and provide customers a more personal experience. He added that he canӪt disclose the locations nor divulge whether they will open as Hotel Zero Degrees or as a completely different brand.
