Downtown buildings work to fill vacancies
Heading into 2019, central business districts in southwestern Connecticut face an ongoing challenge: Filling their empty spaces.
In cities such as Stamford, the brick-and-mortar supply has grown as several apartment buildings with large ground-floor storefronts, have opened in the past year.
Retail and restaurant turnover complicates the recruitment of tenants, but a number of properties are exploring alternatives, including street-level office space, to reduce their vacancies.
“These new spaces will work,” said Sandy Goldstein, president of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District. “They are perfect spots for restaurants, gyms or drugstores. I believe they will fill up.”
Filling the spaces
As downtown housing expands throughout the area, new buildings have sought to provide onlocation amenities for their residents.
The 325-unit Atlantic Station tower — which opened nearly a year ago at 355 Atlantic St., in downtown Stamford — has allocated about 17,000 square feet on its ground level for some combination of restaurants and stores.
No retail or restaurant leases have been signed at Atlantic Station, but its commercial space has attracted interest from banks, restaurants and gourmet grocers.
Officials at Cushman & Wakefield, the property’s commercial real estate broker, declined to comment this week on the ground-floor leasing.
Older buildings also grapple with idle space. For several years, approximately 3,500 square feet has stood empty at the base of the Trump Parc condominium tower, at the corner of Broad Street and
Washington Boulevard, in downtown Stamford.
At the same time, new commercial tenants continue to arrive in other buildings.
A couple of blocks from Trump Parc, a notice is posted for a permit for a proposed liquor store, in a ground-floor window of the 66 Summer apartment block, at 66 Summer St.
On the same section of Summer Street, other high-rises have shown they can host thriving businesses. Australian restaurant Flinders Lane debuted last year at the 22-floor Summer House. Across the street, the Park Square West complex houses Japanese restaurant Kashi and a UFC gym.
In downtown Bridgeport, vacancies in the expansive Mechanics & Farmers and former People’s Savings Bank buildings have been repurposed for new arrivals like the B:Hive Bridgeport co-working center.
In the long-dormant northern stretch of downtown Bridgeport, residential redevelopment has lifted the neighborhood’s prospects. New ventures include the Collab Exchange retail incubator on Main Street.
“There is potential for foot traffic; I think it just needs to be cultivated. And there are some property owners now really focusing on ground-floor tenant recruitment,” said Lauren Coakley Vincent, president of Bridgeport’s Downtown Special Services District. “You’ll see more effort going toward activating those spaces and courting more entrepreneurs into those places.”
In Danbury, where the hospital dominates a skyline otherwise devoid of high-rise apartments, the city’s ground-level retail space in Main Street apartment and office buildings has few vacancies. A diverse mix of stores and restaurants has emerged. Businesses like a thrift store for the Salvation Army, which has returned after a few years’ hiatus to 129 Main St.
Range of options
When retailers or restaurants have not immediately materialized, some buildings have chosen corporate occupants.
The new Vela on the Park building, at 1011 Washington Blvd., in downtown Stamford, has signed an office tenant to take about 2,600 square feet of the 3,700 square feet available on its ground floor.
Officials at Simon David Real Estate, the property’s leasing agent, confirmed the deal, but they did not disclose the tenant’s name.
In Greenwich, the owner of the downtown Pickwick Plaza office complex sought permission this year from the town to convert to offices an extended storefront running along the top of Greenwich Avenue. The reconfigured space could accommodate one or more financial-services companies.
Such tenants could help to fill the approximately 9,000-square-foot ground floor in the SoNo 50 office building, at 50 Washington St., in South Norwalk. About half of the level has been empty since the building was acquired more than four years ago by Capital Equities Group.
Turnover in neighboring buildings highlights the challenge of attracting retailers. SoNo 50 stands across the street from one of Norwalk’s newest and most-conspicuous vacancies: the former Klaff’s home-decor store.
“While … this could be a retail use (at SoNo 50), we feel it’s actually much better suited for office space,” Steve Greenbush, a senior vice president at CBRE, the property’s leasing agent, said in an email. “In the past, tenants were (wary) of plaza-level space, as everyone always assumed higher is better. This is no longer the case, with forward-thinking companies seeking creative, open space with an outdoor presence.”