At the junction of Route 7 and the Merritt Parkway in Norwalk, Carl Kuehner III gave a lesson to developers by building The Towers complex near the height of the last business cycle, then swiftly finding blue-chip tenants like GE Capital and Xerox Corp. to tenant the buildings during the downturn.
A few miles up Danbury Road, Salvatore Campofranco took notes ”“ and is now leasing his 372 Wilton office building across from Wilton High School, which he hopes will serve as the primer for a budding real estate empire all his own.
Acquiring the building for $15 million in 2008 after leaving a senior executive position with Reckson Associates Realty Corp., Campofranco expects to have the building fully leased by next year.
The state is in the process of widening Route 7 to two lanes, with an as-yet unknown impact on commercial real estate prices and development on the mostly single-lane corridor between Wilton and Danbury.
Even as existing tenants like Drinks Americas Holdings Ltd. and the American Cancer Society have withstood the sights, sounds and smells of renovation inside the building, another tenant has overseen the ceaseless occurring on the main roadway outside ”“ the state Department of Transportation, which has temporarily taken up residence at 372 Wilton while the widening proceeds.
Campofranco said he does not expect the widening to play a major factor in a tenant”™s decision to lease space at 372 Wilton, but said it could help shorten commute times for workers whose commute would include Route 7. At deadline, he was scheduled to show the building to two businesses currently based in Danbury and was on the brink of signing a lease with a Meriden company.
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“The widening had less of an impact in terms of our decision to purchase than (Carl) Kuehner”™s success, but you could say it had an impact,” Campofranco said.
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Even as Kuehner”™s Building and Land Technology completed the Towers, Davis Marcus Partners was building an office building at 60 Danbury Road, and earlier this year landed as a tenant Sun Products Corp., which was created in a $2 billion spinout from Unilever AG to sell laundry products like Wisk and Snuggle.
Until 2007, Campofranco was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Reckson Associates, a major owner of commercial offices throughout Fairfield County, Westchester County, N.Y., and New York City that is now owned by SL Green Realty Corp.
In a conference call with investors late last month, SL Green”™s CEO said the company was holding up in the recession, generating a $12 million profit in the second quarter despite significant layoffs throughout the region.
“Notwithstanding vacancy rates of upwards of 20 percent in Westchester and 18 percent in Connecticut, the suburban portfolio weighs in at a 90 percent occupancy rate,” said Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green. “My hat is off to the folks in our White Plains office for holding up their end of the bargain in this very tough economic climate.”
In one sense, that economic climate has played to Campofranco”™s advantage ”“ he estimates that the costs of renovating Wilton 372 are 25 percent below what they would have been at the height of the economic cycle two years ago when his company, Luzern Associates, bought the building.
Much renovation remains to be done ”“ by design. Campofranco is allowing tenants to choose their own color designs and layouts for the as-yet incomplete second floor. When done, the building will total 92,000 square feet of rentable space, with amenities such as a small fitness room and a central conference room for small businesses not wanting to lease extra space for the purpose.
Campofranco did not indicate whether he is considering other purchases of real estate to add to 372 Wilton.
