By Allan Murphy
Sentinel Contributor
Hello to December and the season of lights. Fantastic to have them back on the Avenue and thanks to those that spearheaded the Light Up Greenwich campaign. The twinkling trees certainly do make our evenings a bit more merry and bright!
My family has just returned from Thanksgiving in Copenhagen. It’s even darker and damper there this time of year, and the Danes counter that with something they call “hygge.” There is no direct translation, but it generally means creating spaces and experiences that provide a sense of coziness and warmth and comfort—and the Danes do it beautifully, with lots of candles and decorations and smiles and good cheer.
Some places in our town that strike me as having hygge include The Homestead, the back room at The Ginger Man, Polpo, Mill Street Bar & Table, La Cremaillere (in Banksville, just over the New York line), Le Penguin, the bar at Boxcar Cantina, Louie’s bar, Bruce Park Grille, and Applausi. Cozy spaces bring warmth and cheer to the season.
News from the commercial real estate front: The office space market continues to be reasonably active. In western Greenwich several new leases are currently being negotiated, and there is rumor of a large new medical deal brewing. The medical office market has been one of the most active submarkets over the last couple of years, especially as some larger blocks of space have been leased by ever-larger medical groups that are consolidating numerous smaller practitioners—as illustrated by WestMed’s significant new presence at 644 W. Putnam Ave., the modern-looking CVS building.
Central Greenwich class A space near the train continues to command pricing in the $80 to $110 per square-foot range, though the market for those tenants is narrowly defined. Some existing central Greenwich tenants are opting for other alternatives. A central Greenwich law firm recently chose to expand in eastern Greenwich rather than downtown, and a central Greenwich financial services firm will soon move to New York City.
Several new office leases have recently been signed in Cos Cob at 8 Sound Shore Drive and One River Road, and in Old Greenwich at 1700 E. Putnam and Greenwich Commons, so the east side of town is also active. To be sure, there is still vacancy in Greenwich, but there is also reasonable activity—it’s getting cozier.
On the retail and restaurant front, The National restaurant and b.good are now open on the bottom of the Avenue, and Leafline Salad has closed near the top of the Avenue, to be replaced by The Granola Bar in mid-January. It’s a challenging location due to the setback from the sidewalk, but hopefully a good new offering can overcome that (although I thought Leafline was pretty good).
The General Electric question: GE’s future presence in Fairfield, or lack thereof, doesn’t impact Greenwich directly, but GE does cast a shadow in our direction from both a commercial and residential perspective. Just as important, GE’s possible decision to move its headquarters out of state may be a harbinger of what’s ahead. The anecdotal evidence is starting to add up: ESL Investments, Kamunting Capital, Synowledge, and several individuals that I know have recently departed Greenwich for Florida because of Connecticut’s worsening economic and tax environment. And moving is a frequent topic of conversation in our discussions with tenants and their executives.
We are fortunate to have a beautiful and desirable town that has continued to attract talented people and their companies—but it would be naïve to think that we aren’t now competing for those people and companies against many other desirable places that offer more favorable business and tax environments.
Allan Murphy is a senior managing director at the commercial real estate services firm Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. He has specialized in the Greenwich and Stamford markets since 1996.
