If Connecticut”™s Stamford studio deal with NBC Sports showcased anew the state”™s ability to attract major businesses, a replay of 2011 in a few years”™ time may well suggest Bridgewater Associates”™ Wilton lease ”“ quietly executed with no fanfare ”“ was far more profound for the local economy.
At its annual awards dinner, the local chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties awarded its “deal of the year” recognizing Clay Fowler, Kevin Segalla and Michael Wise, who after buying the former Clairol plant in Stamford reeled in NBC Sports under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy”™s First Five incentive program. New York City-based Chelsea Piers is also setting up a massive sports entertainment facility at the site.
The only other local deal to match NBC Sports for scale in 2011 was Westport-based Bridgewater Associates”™ decision to expand into more than 225,000 square feet of space in Wilton, first reported by the Fairfield County Business Journal in July.
In another major transaction first reported by the Fairfield County Business Journal, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. leased 160,000 square feet of space at the former Health Net building in Shelton. Sikorsky plans to use the site as flex space rather than accommodating any expansion, however, as it renovates its headquarters offices in Stratford.
”˜Not a lot in the pipeline”™
Bridgewater”™s expansion was particularly welcome given ongoing cuts in the financial sector, with hedge funds not immune to the ongoing uncertainty.
“One dynamic within the market that hasn”™t changed is we are heavily, heavily dependent on the financial sector,” said Tom Pajolek, executive vice president in the Stamford office of CB Richard Ellis. “As we have seen that group right-size, that is having an ongoing effect.”
Small and mid-size businesses of all types are cautious entering 2012, which is impacting commercial real estate movement and deal-making, according to Gerard Hallock, executive managing director in the Stamford office of Colliers International. “The prognosis for next year is not looking great,” Hallock said. “There”™s not a lot in the pipeline ”¦ Smaller companies ”“ which are the bread and butter of our area ”“ are scared.”
A longtime Stamford resident, Hallock marveled at Building & Land Technology L.L.C.”™s astonishing pace in developing its Harbor Point properties in Stamford”™s South End, with buildings continuing to mushroom in 2011.
BLT plans a waterside hotel
In the Dec. 12 edition, the Fairfield County Business Journal first reported BLT”™s negotiations to buy the General Reinsurance Corp. headquarters at 695 E. Main St. in Stamford. BLT did not respond to a request for comment ”“ multiple sources said the deal is expected to close between Dec. 15 and year-end.
In a deal involving an even larger property, Clarion Partners bought out Albert D. Phelps Inc.”™s minority interest in Merritt 7 Corporate Park in Norwalk, the second-largest office park in Fairfield County after R.D. Scinto Inc.”™s Enterprise Corporate Park in Shelton.
Bob Scinto, the only other developer to keep pace with BLT in recent years via his R.D. Scinto Inc. in Shelton, was released in November after serving a six-month prison sentence for lying to federal agents investigating influence peddling in city hall there.
Under CEO Carl Kuehner III, BLT now stands alone as the dominant developer not just in Fairfield County but in all of Connecticut. Since the onset of the recession, BLT has built multiple residential and office buildings, while drawing Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. to an existing building along with myriad smaller businesses. In November, BLT filed plans for a waterside hotel, as reported by the Stamford Advocate.
