Retailer takes over former news building

Joining its two sister brands in Greenwich, Urban Outfitters will take over the former Greenwich Time building.

Diane Fox, Greenwich town planner, said a building permit will be issued once Greenfield Partners, the Norwalk-based landlord, resolves issues concerning the dividing wall separating the clothing store from another retail space. The location of the retailer will be 20 East Elm St., a street that runs perpendicular to the main retail thoroughfare, Greenwich Avenue.

The town”™s planning and zoning commission recently approved the clothing store, which is targeted at 20-something-year-olds. The town is already home to the store”™s affiliated brands, Free People on Greenwich Avenue and Anthropologie on West Putnam Avenue. Urban Outfitters Inc. is the publicly traded company that owns and operates a total of five retail brands, including Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and Leifsdottir. Founded in 1970, Urban Outfitters Inc. operates 160 Urban Outfitters stores in the United States, Canada and Europe. Urban Outfitters would not respond to requests for information on its Greenwich plans.

Urban Outfitters reported a net income of $71.6 million for this year”™s second quarter; $22 million more than it reported during the same period last year. The Greenwich store will join one on the Yale Campus as the second in the state.

Allied Property Group in Greenwich, said the Elm Street location fits Urban Outfitters need for a large space. Urban Outfitter stores are typically multiple floors of around 10,000 square feet, a rare amount of space to find in the center of town, Torelli said. The company has 15 job listings posted for the store on the online job board Indeed.com.

The Greenwich Time newspaper was in the location from 1937 to 2008 before moving to 1455 E. Putnam Ave. The former site of The Stamford Advocate in Stamford is also owned by Greenfield Partners. The company plans to build 350 apartments and 11,000 square feet of retail space in that location. Greenfield declined to comment on the plans filed by Urban Outfitters.