Webster Bank grows HQ
STAMFORD — Webster Bank, which completed its merger with Sterling National Bank last month, announced Friday that it has doubled the footprint of its headquarters in downtown Stamford.
The bank has added 23,031 square feet and now occupies a total of 45,979 square feet at 200 Elm St., while it has also extended its lease. It originally leased space in the building in 2018 and then confirmed last month that those offices would serve as its new headquarters.
“Webster is pleased to have 200 Elm as our new corporate headquarters and taking additional space. This will allow us to continue to grow in one of Stamford’s premium downtown buildings,” Michael O’Connor, Webster’s regional president and director of corporate services, said in a statement.
Webster was represented in the transaction by Drew Saunders and Ed Tonnessen, who work in the Stamford office of commercial real estate firm JLL.
Another commercial real estate firm, CBRE, is the new exclusive leasing agent for 200 Elm and an adjacent building at 695 E. Main.
The two buildings comprise an approximately 560,000-square-foot complex, which was acquired by A.M. Property Holdings late last year for $235 million in one of the largest property sales of the past decade in Connecticut.
While the new headquarters is in Stamford, Webster officials have said offices in Waterbury and Pearl River, N.Y. — which, respectively, served as the former headquarters location for Webster and Sterling — will be part of “a multi-campus presence.”
The bank employs a total of about 4,300 people. Webster officials said in a statement last month they could not specify how many employees are based in Stamford, Waterbury and Pearl River because “there are no specific headcounts for any locations as we have a hybrid and remote working model.
“Our colleagues work in company locations based on the needs of our customers and the most productive way to work in a safe and collaborative manner.”
At 200 Elm, Webster’s headquarters are part of a property that underwent a $75 million, multi-stage redevelopment in the past decade under its former
“Ownership is committed to creating a truly amazing work environment that is like no other in Stamford that offers tenants a plethora of amenities that are geared towards health, wellness, sustainability and safety as employees return to work.”
Nathan Wasserman, president of AM Property Holding Group
owner, Stamford-based developer Building and Land Technology.
When BLT acquired the site in 2012, it stood totally vacant as a result of the relocation a couple of years earlier of reinsurance firm GenRe’s headquarters to a campus about two miles north, on Long Ridge Road.
The property is being renamed The Link, with the new owners announcing Friday that they plan to “further develop the asset by engaging the interior courtyard along with service enhancements, as well as rigorously pursuing sustainability and environmental initiatives.”
“Ownership is committed to creating a truly amazing work environment that is like no other in Stamford that offers tenants a plethora of amenities that are geared towards health, wellness, sustainability and safety as employees return to work,” Nathan Wasserman, president of AM Property Holding Group, said in a statement.
The Link has 83,902 square feet of available office space, with units ranging from 3,700 square feet to 52,000 square feet, according to CBRE. Its amenities include a fitness center and spa, a conference facility and a cafeteria with indoor and outdoor dining.
Other tenants at 200 Elm-695 E. Main include professional services firms Deloitte and RSM, personal care and home care goods producer Henkel, alcoholic beverages specialist Diageo, insurer Ascot Group and hedge fund Tudor Investment Corp.
“We are excited to be marketing this truly iconic asset in the heart of the Stamford Central Business District,” Brian Carcaterra, a member of CBRE’s leasing team for the property, said in a statement.
“Never in history has Stamford been a better place to live, work and play, and The Link is surrounded by all of the excitement of Harbor Point and the influx of new residents during these last two years.
“With the recently concluded expansion and extension for Webster Bank, we are accelerating through our strategy and are hyper-focused on leasing the remaining balance of space.”