A new neighborhood is taking shape in Stamford”™s South End; stimulating the local economy by attracting business and creating jobs.
As the residential aspect of Building and Land Technology”™s Harbor Point mixed-use project fills, the need for consumer-based services grows. The latest addition to
the 80-acre development is Go Green Dry Cleaners; in two locations ”“ one on Canal Street and the other on Washington Boulevard.
Carl Kuehner, CEO of Building and Land Technology, brought on Fairway Markets to the project last year. The Manhattan-based grocer opened its doors in November hiring 500 employees.
“The tremendous success of The Lofts and 101 Park Place, coupled with the delivery later this year of an additional 329 apartment homes, has created a strong need for neighborhood retail and services in the South End,” Kuehner said.
The project includes 6 million square feet of mixed-use development, which BLT estimates to be 85 percent residential and 15 percent retail and commercial. There is also more than 11 acres of parks and public space. In all there will be 4,000 new residential units at Harbor Point, 10 percent of which are deemed affordable housing.
“Harbor Point continues to be a huge source of confidence in the city, and through the business interest that”™s going on there you can see why,” said Laure Aubuchon, the city”™s director of economic development for the city of Stamford. “With the kind of lifestyle-based growth that”™s happening there you”™re watching the city reinvent itself and looking into the future of Stamford.”
Aubuchon said BLT is showing a strong effort to provide the amenities for the small and smart community it is building.
“They really are very cognizant as to what people need for neighborhood and they are very systematically filling out the landscape there,” Aubuchon said. “They also seem to be of the mindset that if you can do good, and do well that the same time, then all for the better.”
She said attracting strong, young retailers along with large corporations reflects the insightful way with which BLT approached its project in the south end.
“I”™m pleased that we have been able to attract stores like Go Green Dry Cleaners and Fairway Market that provide exceptional products and support our long-term goals for Harbor Point,” Kuehner said.
BLT recently signed leases with Go Green, a 100 percent eco-friendly drycleaner.
“You could drink the fluid we use,” said Gary Madrit, chief operating officer and co-owner of Go Green. “We”™re very excited to be bringing our commitment to green to Stamford.”
Go Green opened its first location last year in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Madrit is also co-owner of Go Green”™s sister business, Image Cleaners, which has locations in Westchester County at Mohegan Lake, Yorktown Heights and Somers, as well as in Putnam County in Brewster and Carmel. Another shop will be opening this year at the Ridge Hill shopping center in Yonkers, which is currently under development.
The Canal Street location will be at the Yale & Towne portion of the Harbor Point project, adjacent to the fully leased Lofts apartment community and directly across from Fairway Market, with which it will share parking.
The Washington Boulevard location will be on the ground floor of Harbor Point Square, across from the 101 Park Place rental residences. Both stores will be drop-off locations with all cleaning done at the company”™s main plant in Westchester. The locations will have tailors on staff which will take on about 20 percent of the business, Madrit estimated.
“It pairs well with the supermarket because people do their grocery shopping once a week, about the same amount they do their dry cleaning,” Madrit said. “There are also the corporate and residential elements here. We”™re looking to be full open at Yale and Towne by May.” He said the Washington Boulevard location would be open in October paralleling the Harbor Point progress.
The project will the new home to the headquarters for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Cornell University Veterinary Specialists, Design Within Reach and Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy, among others.
Go Green and Image Cleaners both use the Green Earth Cleaning process, a venture backed by GE and Proctor and Gamble among others, to develop a more environmental form of dry-cleaning by avoiding the use of perchloroethylene, known commonly as perc, a toxic air contaminant used widely by the dry cleaning industry today.
“The process is so much healthier and doesn”™t cost any more,” Madrit said. “Just because we”™re green doesn”™t mean we”™re more expensive; the prices are going to be around $11.50 per suit, to give you an idea. This is the future of dry cleaning, mainly because the use of perc will be pushed out by law soon.” State lawmakers across the country have begun to look phasing out the use of perc, which contains known carcinogens.
Madrit and partners Michael Koppy, chief financial officer and co-owner and Steve Dorneles, vice of business production and co-owner, said they had their eyes on the project since early last year when construction began at the Fairway Market.
“We really saw this opportunity coming along and new our product would pair well with the green living world they”™re developing here,” Koppy said. “Our process really echoes our philosophy of an environmentally safe and conscious lifestyle. Harbor Point will be a Gold LEED certified project; we”™re a great match for that.”
Koppy said Go Green would be looking to establish drop locations at the Stamford area office parks and corporate centers allowing more of Stamford”™s business population to use the service.
“We”™d also like to do clothing drives for the churches and schools in the area,” Koppy said. “We will be a fully functioning business here and want to be here for the community.”
