GREENWICH VS. STAMFORD
Connecticut’s two closest towns battle it out with new homes, luxe leisure spots and top tech firms and hedge funds
Greenwich
Few places in America conjure up images of wealth and exclusivity more than Greenwich. As affluent as it is picturesque, its sprawling estates and upscale shopping and dining scenes have made it a standout destination in Fairfield County — the mostly leafy enclave filled with bedroom communities on the Long Island Sound. The small-town vibe is augmented by a downtown dotted with trendy farm-to-table eateries and fashion-forward shopping.
“Greenwich has really become much more cosmopolitan than people think,” says Kate Hohorst, who moved to Greenwich from Brooklyn 21 years ago with her husband, Jim, and their children. The couple, now in their 60s, recently put their eight-bedroom, 8,000-square-foot Victorian up for sale through Douglas Elliman for $5.2 million. “We’ve seen this town go from a simple suburb to a more sophisticated place over the years,” Hobart says.
Stamford
It’s citified and fun. The office of travel giant Kayak, which relocated from Norwalk in December 2013, has a bar, ping pong, pool and foosball tables, a massage room and a yoga studio. The workers of a relocated tech firm can now go stand-up paddleboarding during lunch hour. With a flourishing business and diverse restaurant scene, New Yorkers can easily transition to Stamford, 35 miles to the northeast. Young folks flock to hip Judy’s Bar & Kitchen and rooftop spot Sign of the Whale. “Stamford is both city and suburb, with easy access to the ocean, the country, and just a Metro-North ride into New York,” says the one-time Sutton Place resident Linda Kavanagh, owner of MaxEx Public Relations. Ultimately, she settled on Stamford for its affordability (especially compared to Greenwich and New Canaan, where she has also resided). She purchased her two-bedroom home for $220,000 in 1996.
Greenwich
From Grand Central Station, Metro-North’s New Haven line trains travel from Greenwich into Manhattan seven days a week. Travel time is roughly 40 minutes each way. A peak one-way ticket costs $13.75, off-peak is $10.25. Driving from Manhattan takes about an hour in normal traffic along I-95. Savvy drivers skip the crowded concrete slabs along the interstate in favor of the Merritt Parkway, a much more leafy commute.
Folks may think of Greenwich as filled with old-money blue bloods, but its population has increasingly diversified over the past decade, says Chris Finlay, a broker with Halstead. Though mostly home to bankers, younger entrepreneurs and techies from Manhattan — and an increasing number of international buyers from Europe and Asia — are arriving, Finlay adds. “It’s a pretty diverse crowd compared to just a few years ago,” he says. “They’re typically younger married couples from New York looking for more space and better schools.” Kimberly Lake Ford and her husband were on the hunt for a larger home when they purchased in Greenwich earlier this year. They were living on the Upper West Side with their 1-year-old daughter and considered Westchester County and Stamford when they began their search. But they ultimately decided on Greenwich — purchasing a five-bedroom home with four bathrooms and a pool — for the good schools.
A town of about 60,000, Greenwich is home to some of the country’s largest hedge funds, including AQR Capital Management, Lone Pine Capital and Viking Global Investors.
The spec house construction boom that gripped Greenwich a decade ago has waned, but plenty of new-builds exist. And brokers say newer properties are most sought after by younger buyers. And many are priced to sell.
Developer Chris Cortese, 36 years old, is building a 4,000-square-foot spec house near the center of town (pictured below) that he plans to list for $2.5 million when it’s completed in April. He says that price point will lure eager Gothamites. “It’s very competitive in this town to find homes of this size at that price,” says the Greenwich native, who estimates that new homes make up about 15 percent of the town’s sales inventory.
Greenwich is one of the country’s priciest markets, with few bargains. The median home price is currently $2.14 million, according to Zillow.
Despite the costs, sales have been sluggish at the top of the market and that’s pushing sellers to unload properties, brokers say. There were only five sales for $10 million or more in 2015 and 2016, the slowest pace since at least 2008, according to brokerage Houlihan Lawrence.
While homes at market’s upper end reach well above $10 million, the middle of the market stretches between $3 million and $6 million, says Jennifer Leahy, a Greenwich broker with Douglas Elliman. “That’s really the sweet spot for this market,” Leahy says. “Sales in this price point are up 27 percent compared to last year.” Leahy is currently listing a six-bedroom home on just over 6 acres at 158 Clapboard Ridge Road for $5.29 million.
The English Tudor has a tennis/basketball court.
The biggest drawback for prospective buyers is Connecticut’s rising state income tax burden on the wealthy, which makes it less of a tax haven than it used to be. Connecticut raised its top tax rate twice in the last decade, in 2011 and 2015, to the current 6.99 percent. Still, the state’s highest income-tax rate is below New York’s for top earners. Another downside for wealthy buyers looking for homes at the top of the market: shrinking inventory. During the second quarter, there were 211 luxury homes for sale in Greenwich, down 21.3 percent from last year’s 268, according to a report by Elliman.
Stamford
The express train on Metro-North’s New Haven line takes about 50 minutes to Grand Central ($15.25 peak / $11.50 off-peak). It is the second-busiest station after that 42nd Street landmark. For locals, Stamford recently added bike lanes and a bike sharing program is in the works. The estimated driving time is about an hour to midtown Manhattan.
Stamford is a veritable melting pot. Its population is 33 percent foreign-born (Manhattan is 29 percent; nationwide it’s 13 percent).
“The city has always been a gateway to immigrants, but now there are more ethnic groups entering and calling it home. Neighborhoods have flourished with the formation of community forums. The downtown area buzzes with the addition of a summer concert series [“Alive@5”], and restaurants reflect the city’s diversity,” says Maria Palermo, 53, a senior coordinator for the commercial operations department for Purdue Pharma — and a lifelong Stamfordite.
Stamford is also young: 65 percents of households have someone aged 18 to 34, while 62 percent have no resident 35 or older.
Once known for its UBS/RBS tag, gone is the “Wall Street North” of yesteryear. Besides bookings site Kayak, technology research firm Gartner, Indeed.com and World Wrestling Entertainment are all among the top 10 largest employers in town.
All you have to do is look up to see Stamford’s massive growth. In January 2018, RXR Realty will open 26-story Atlantic Station (pictured below), the developer’s first residential tower in the area, a block from the train station. It will have 325 units, retail space and an indoor/outdoor pool. Rents start at $1,800 for a studio to over $4,000 for a two-bedroom. Reminiscent of Battery Park City, Harbor Point is a waterfront development with apartments, offices, shops, restaurants, parks and marinas. Developer BLT continues to expand its residential empire with three forthcoming rentals: 391-unit 100 Commons Park North, 218-unit Davenport Landing and an unnamed 432-unit project.
The median closed sales price year-to-date is $570,000 for a single-family home and $301,525 for a condo, according to Berkshire Hathaway’s Stamford office. “Properties in top condition priced aggressively and downtown are selling — some with multiple offers,” notes Tom Casey, a broker and office leader. One of Casey’s listings is 250 Saddle Hill Road, a three-bedroom home formerly owned by Cyndi Lauper, asking $935,000. The colonial residence boasts water views and a pool. “Since the bottom of the housing market in early 2012, Stamford home values have barely edged higher,” says Aaron Terrazas, a senior economist at Zillow. While homes here are a steal compared to Greenwich, those seeking an entry-level property will likely be fighting for limited inventory. For rentals, options range from $940 for a 365-squarefoot studio at St. John’s Towers, a five-minute drive to the train station, to a two-bedroom for $4,190 at 111 Harbor Point, a building with rooftop pool, barbecue pavilion and fire pits along with a gym and game room. Zillow reports the median rent is $2,369.
“The public school system leaves something to be desired,” says former Stamford resident Cait Kelly, 31, an editor/marketer who moved to Fairfield in September. “As a person who is looking to start a family in the not-so-distant future, we had to prioritize the school system over some of the conveniences we enjoyed.” If Stamford addressed its public school issues, it could potentially help sway millennials currently residing there to stay. “My husband and I already want to come back to Stamford after our kids are all grown up,” adds Kelly.