Contributed photos.
In 2007, Building & Land Technology (BLT) acquired waterfront property in Stamford from the now-defunct Antares Investment Partners of Greenwich. Fast-forward 15 years and Harbor Point is one of the jewels of Fairfield County”™s real estate scene, offering an 8.4 million-square-foot mix of multifamily housing, office space and retail units that changed Stamford for the better and reanimated the shoreline economy.
Beyond Harbor Point, BLT is an active participant elsewhere in Stamford and to the east in Norwalk; the company”™s tri-state presence also expands to Jersey City, New Jersey. In an exclusive interview with the Business Journals, BLT Co-President Ted Ferrarone looked back on the company”™s peaks and challenges during 2022 while offering a preview of what 2023 could offer.
As we reach the end of the year and look back at the last 12 months, what do you see as BLT”™s greatest achievements?
Ferrarone: From a development standpoint in 2022, we brought online the second tower for Charter Communications and we opened up Anthem, which is the last apartment building that is part of the original Harbor Point master plan. We built out a new park called Triangle Park and we renovated four historic buildings into below market rate units. And we partnered with HDF [Housing Development Fund] ”” they did a big renovation and new construction of some other affordable homeownership units here in Stanford. And we brought a ton of new tenant companies down here to the South End as well in the last year.
And, so, it”™s been a really good year. It”™s really interesting now, because the construction is really complete. You see everybody”™s out on the street, walking and jogging and pushing strollers ”” it”™s really vibrant down here and it”™s nice.
And on the flip side, what have been your greatest challenges?
Ferrarone: That”™s a great question. Stamford, the South End and Harbor Point have had a lot of great tailwinds. Covid has been a challenging time, but I think at some level it”™s actually worked to Stamford”™s advantage because people realized this is a great place to live and to work.
It”™s been a challenging time ”” certainly with the economy when interest rates are up, and that”™s not great for everybody. But it hasn”™t really affected us here. I think some of the retailers had a tough time during Covid, but they seemed to have really rebounded now. I think everybody had a great summer. And they seem to be doing well today.
In terms of the residential real estate, how would you define Stamford”™s housing market?
Ferrarone: The apartment side has been really strong. I”™ve been working here in Stamford for more than 15 years, and when we first started building Harbor Point there really weren”™t that many apartment buildings in Stamford. Over that time period, there”™s been just such a huge amount ”” and a wide array of apartments have been built throughout Downtown Stamford, in the South End. You get everything from renovated two-story homes to high-rise towers. There are modern buildings, there are more traditional buildings. We”™ve built about 4,200 apartments alone just in the South End.
But there have been a couple hundred other apartments built by others here, and Downtown Stamford also had thousands of apartments built. That also includes a lot of affordable housing which has been built, which I think has been a benefit for the economy here. And when we talk to corporate employers who are thinking about relocating to Stamford, people really want to be here ”” the biggest impediment historically was that they couldn”™t get enough housing for their workforce, and you don”™t hear that as much now because there is so much housing there.
What do you have on your agenda for 2023?
Ferrarone: That”™s a great question. Here in Stamford, we”™re finishing up the leaseup on Anthem and will continue to do a lot of great programming and events. And this is the first time in a decade we haven”™t had a ton of construction. We”™ve got some office space that we”™re working on leasing, which will bring some new employers down here to the neighborhood.
We”™ve been focused on Stamford ”” what is BLT doing up the road in Norwalk?
Ferrarone: In Norwalk, we opened up a complex called The Curb, which is on Glover Avenue. We built about 900 units there in the last five years. We”™re just finishing up the third building there and received all the approvals to build another 1,300 units there, which we”™ll be working on over the next couple years ”” that will likely start next year and that”™s going to be great.
I think that”™s a place where the market is really underserved by housing ”” both Wilton and in Norwalk, in that area there just isn”™t enough apartments out there. And that”™s where we hear from the employers that they”™re looking for housing for their teams. When we look at the residents who live at The Curb, predominantly they work in a relatively tight radius around that area. So, we know that housing is serving the corporate employers in that area.
There have been complaints throughout the construction industry regarding the inability of many developers to get workers. Has this been a problem for BLT?
Ferrarone: No, not really. One of the great things the State of Connecticut did is they kept construction up and running during Covid ”” versus New York City where it shut down and people scattered here in Connecticut, where they kept everybody working. So, we haven”™t really seen that hit here.
Is BLT considering going into any other markets, either within Fairfield County or elsewhere in Connecticut?
Ferrarone: We”™ve done quite a bit of work up in Danbury. Historically, we have very large projects that they”™re called the Abbey Woods. Certainly, we would. We”™re not looking at anything today, but we would.
You”™re also doing work in Jersey City. How does that market compared to what you”™re doing in Stamford in Norwalk?
Ferrarone: Jersey City”™s a great market, but it is much more dependent on New York City ”” probably 50% of our residents in Jersey City work in New York City. It is much more urban with a lot more apartments. It is different though the quality of life in Stamford and Norwalk ”” it”™s a little more walkable here. Jersey City is more New York-centric whereas Stamford and Norwalk being a little more diverse.
