Ready to unlock new residences
The new Harbor Point-based residential units in The Lock Works are nearing completion in Stamford.
The Building and Land Technology owned residential 329-unit complex is adjacent to the Fairway Market, which is also part of the Harbor Point development that opened in south Stamford last year.
Prior to The Lock Works, BLT opened Harbor Point residential units at 101 Park Place and The Lofts at Yale & Towne, which The Lock Works will neighbor.
Also entering the Harbor Point community in the past year has been Design Within Reach, Cornell University Veterinary Specialists, Robek”™s Premium Fruit Smoothies, and Go Green Dry Cleaners. The development has signed a lease to open Dinosaur Barb-B-Que in 2012.
Trench growth
Greenwich-based United Rentals Inc. has continued the expansion of its trench safety rental network with the opening of three locations in the eastern United States.
The new branches will open in Nashville, Raleigh, N.C., and Baltimore and extend the company”™s trench safety presence to a total of 58 locations in North America.
Taking on learning
Greenwich-based investment company Weld North Holdings has acquired The Learning House.
Jonathan Grayer, CEO of Weld North, said the company invested in the Louisville, Ky.-based business because he believes it can quickly grow to become the market leader in the multibillion-dollar not-for-profit postsecondary online education services industry.
Founded in 2001, Learning House helps to enable not-for-profit colleges and universities to develop effective ways to deliver online degree programs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Generational divide
According to a survey conducted by Pitney Bowes at the Direct Marketing Association’s 2011 Conference & Exhibition, 20 percent of 231 attendees polled are reporting to a younger supervisor.
Susan Johnson, vice president of executive succession and diversity strategies for Stamford-based Pitney Bowes said the survey data call attention to today’s multigenerational workplace. She said the technologically adept Generation X bridges the gap between email-reliant Baby Boomers and the digital natives of Generation Y.
LED savings
The city of Stamford estimates that by it will save nearly $150,000 annually through its initiative to make streetlights LED.
The city began exploring how to light more efficiently as a way to offset its budget restrictions.
To jumpstart the project, the city was awarded an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, an initiative funding energy efficiency and conservation programs across the country. The city has replaced more than 1,000 high-pressure sodium-based streetlights.
Avenue overhaul
Old Greenwich-based Shaw Properties has partnered with Stamford-based JCS Capital and Stamford-based Core Plus Partners to acquire 409 Greenwich Ave.
The property best known as Thataway Cafe at the bottom of Greenwich Avenue will be the site of the partnership”™s new development that includes housing, retail and a restaurant.
The partnership has been approved for a new building that will include second-floor retail space and apartments on the third floor with rooftop gardens.
The site will be the new home to Serafina Restaurant, which serves Italian cuisine and has locations in Manhattan and White Plains, N.Y.
Construction is slated to begin in January and has a completion date of December 2012.
Prime purchase
Urstadt Biddle Properties has acquired the Fairfield Centre Shopping Center in Fairfield.
Urstadt Biddle Properties has completed the purchase of the shopping center for $17 million, excluding closing costs. Urstadt Biddle bought the property from UB Fairfield Centre L.L.C., a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Urstadt Biddle Properties.
The property was bought free and clear of mortgage, and the acquisition was funded with a borrowing on the Urstadt Biddle”™s unsecured line of credit. The center, located on the Post Road in the town of Fairfield was built in 1995 and contains 63,300 square feet of leasable space. The center is currently 100 percent leased to tenants Marshall”™s, CVS and Office Max.
