Imagine if it took 30 minutes to get to Manhattan from Bridgeport. Imagine the view out your office window was the waterfront along the Long Island Sound. Imagine you could go anywhere on a direct flight from the Westchester County Airport.
Commercial real estate brokers from Westchester and Fairfield counties gathered July 24 to discuss ideas and ways to attract growth in a sluggish market and stagnant area. Year-to-date, commercial leasing activity in Fairfield has had the second slowest half-year period this year in the past decade. Hosted by real estate event company Bisnow L.L.C., panelists said the future of the counties”™ growth depended not only on businesses moving to the region, but attracting the younger generation.
The New York City exodus to the northern suburbs was spurred by high taxes, crime and dirtiness. But since it has cleaned up its act, people no longer want to leave the city and area youth want to move there.
Roughly 60 percent of buildings in the counties were built between 1973 and 1988 and many are in need of a redesign, said William Cuddy, CBRE Inc. executive vice president.
“Inventory requires constant reinvestment,” Cuddy said. “(It) can”™t sit for years for a redesign. It needs to happen faster.”
Additionally, the area could use a lesson in “being cool,” said Kurt Wittek, Black Rock Realty CEO. Wittek is behind the Fairfield Metro Center project that will develop the area surrounding the new Fairfield Metro Station. A hotel and residential apartments will be set along an 11-acre waterfront park and office and retail spaces will be built connecting to the train station.
Young adults want entertainment options after work, as well as being able to walk to retail stores and be close to trains into Manhattan, Wittek said. When they work, they want well-designed spaces with natural light and fresh air, which typically isn”™t a building that”™s 30 years old.
By offering the best in convenience, such as access to Zipcars, day care centers, good food and cheap rent, the area could differentiate itself as well, said Jeffrey Newman, executive vice president of Malkin Properties.
There are 14 colleges and 30,000 students in the area, which opens up a lot of opportunities, Cuddy said. If there was more integration between the colleges and the workforce, the area could better retain the youth that already lives and grew up in the region.
Funding and guiding entrepreneurs in and out of college would do just that, said Justin Krebs, principal at Normandy Real Estate Partners.
Silicon Valley is a suburb of San Francisco near Stanford University, said Julia Klein, a Stamford real estate attorney who attended the event. What”™s stopping Fairfield and Westchester counties? They are suburbs of New York City near Yale University, Columbia University and New York University.
Krebs said business incubators drive growth, leading to more companies coming here to find talent.
“Early stage funding is what is going to start companies,” Krebs said. “I”™m optimistic, even though we have some challenges ahead of us.”
