The big elephant in Stamford”™s industrial room remains a decided shade of gray these days.
Procter & Gamble has spent the past year emptying its former Clairol plant in the Cove neighborhood of Stamford, and the massive facility has yet to land a redeveloper or tenant.
The property is attracting interest from multiple parties, however, according to Jim Fagan, senior managing director of Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut Inc., who spoke at a University of Connecticut forum last week organized by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and the Stamford Chamber of Commerce.
The big question is for what purpose the 1-million-square-foot property is under consideration. While located in Stamford, the Clairol site is embedded in a residential neighborhood that, while close to Interstate 95, is relatively far from Stamford”™s primary rail station that has attracted much of the city”™s development in the past few years.
And Stamford remains a relatively expensive city for low-margin manufacturers and distributors, in terms of real estate costs for the businesses themselves and housing costs for their workers, a point perhaps best illustrated by Procter & Gamble”™s exodus.
“In terms of Clairol moving out of Stamford and moving production to Mexico, I don”™t think there is anything Connecticut could have done to change that,” Fagan said.
Still, the industrial market regained a little steam heading into the second half of 2009.
“The good news is that we are still in the lower ranges of vacancy rates than many parts of the country,” said Mark Beaudry, owner of Stamford-based Beaudry Commercial Real Estate. “Anywhere else, they would be thrilled with 6.6 percent vacancy rate.
“There were four renewals in Stamford, which is a good sign,” Beaudry said. “Companies stayed ”“ they didn”™t pack up and leave.”
Major spaces are available throughout the county, both for sale and lease. In Stamford, a former Pitney Bowes Inc. property at 23 Barry Place is on the block for an undisclosed price, with nearly 190,000 square feet of space available. Shelton boasts the 160,000- square-foot 470 Bridgeport Ave., and a smaller property next door. In Norwalk, some 100,000 square feet is available at 300 Wilson Ave. Kendro Laboratories”™ former space in Bethel is listed for sale at $4.3 million and is being offered up for multitenant use, with more than 80,000 square feet available.
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For his part, Beaudry counts some 120 available industrial spaces in Stamford and Norwalk alone, let alone in the Danbury and Bridgeport area, or across the border in New Haven County or Westchester County, N.Y.
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While there was activity among companies shopping for space last year, deal flow did not begin to pick up until the second half.
“I would take 30 to 40 companies to look at space, offers were bouncing around, and then they would disappear,” Beaudry said. “I can tell you, I was busy as hell doing nothing.”
In Milford last month, the former home of perfume and cologne distributor Gary Farn Ltd. sold for $1.3 million to Composition Materials Co. Inc., in a deal brokered by Angel Commercial L.L.C. Composition Materials manufactures plastic blasting media used to strip paint and other coatings from surfaces. Until 2000, the company had been based in Fairfield and before that in Stamford, and until now has always leased its facilities. The company financed the purchase through a loan guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The year was capped in December by an agreement by a new company called Dogstar Studio, which committed to converting a former ExxonMobil manufacturing plant in Stratford into a movie production studio. In its present form, the property totals nearly 290,000 square feet of space ”“ a major redevelopment if the $20 million project comes through as planned.
