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Column: Commercial Real Estate: A Sense of Rejuvenation Is in the Air

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By Allan Murphy
Real Estate Columnist

Allan Murphy
Allan Murphy

First the big stuff: Shumway Capital is readying 28 Havemeyer (the former Wells Fargo bank branch, catty-corner to the new fire station) for its own use, which leaves nearly 30,000 square feet available at 100 W. Putnam, the old UST building, where the asking rent is $110 per square foot.

The quantitatively focused AQR hedge fund continues to grow, currently needing another 40,000 square feet, but lower priced Stamford space seems a more likely destination for that need. Several smaller investment companies and advisors have recently absorbed many spaces in the 2,000 to 5,000-square-foot range, primarily in Class A buildings, both downtown and in western Greenwich. Class A space near the train continues to see moderate demand, and more tellingly, the good quality non-central business district, non-train station buildings are also seeing increased activity.

Most tenants remain cautious, conservative, and slow to conclude, but some are consequently losing spaces to more bullish—and therefore faster acting—competitors.  That’s one sign of an improving market. There is an exciting and significant large-scope development being rekindled for central Greenwich; stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks. It promises to be a nice addition to the central Greenwich urban-ish environment.

Moving away from downtown and out to the hamlets that create our suburban and sometimes rural-ish Greenwich experience: I spent a little time driving around in the snow-sleet-rain Tuesday afternoon to review the commercial street-fronts of Chickahominy, Byram, and Old Greenwich. As my primary business is commercial office space, I am somewhat less knowledgeable about the retail street-fronts, and especially so in the secondary “hamlet” locales, since I travel through them less frequently. Still, I’ve been living and working in town for over 20 years, so I feel that I generally know which businesses are where, and when businesses come and go. Wrong.  I was amazed at how little I knew about the hamlet businesses.

RE-Dashboard-map-2-26In Chickahominy, there are a few old stand-bys remaining, but also lots of new businesses in the last couple of yearsor—or at least new to my more observant eye. The Two Door Cafe is a long-time fixture (though I’ve never been, which must be remedied), the Greenwich Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop has now been in place for several years, the Greco’s Express Pizza/Bella Cucina is well established, and Garden Catering is being renovated, but everything else seemed new to me. I recognized the buildings, but not the tenants: the Melissa Barbieri art studio, Green of Greenwich custom flowers, Anthony Lawrence Home store, Maison Prive Chefs, The Corner Market (formerly Holly Hill Deli?), the Nina Gagarin studio, Black Rock Galleries, Catholic Psych Institute, and the renamed Bimbo Bakeries (really?). The look and feel of that stretch of Hamilton Avenue seems the same, but there are many new tenants and attractively updated spaces. It’s a good sign for our town and for Chickahominy. New replaces old, renovation occurs, and a fresh set of merchants, goods, and services sprouts up.

I’ll save the details for another week, but the same evidence of rejuvenation seems apparent in Byram and Old Greenwich. And though I didn’t “tour” them Tuesday, I suspect the same holds true for Pemberwick, Glenville, and Banksville. It’s certainly true for Cos Cob and central Greenwich, including Greenwich Avenue. Just today I learned that Allen Edmunds, Hamptonite NY, and Shari’s may all soon open on the Avenue.

All over town there seems to be a healthy and steady turnover of new replacing old, bringing new and different energy to the business centers of our hamlets, keeping them relevant, updated, and fun. There are so many interesting businesses all over our town. Now if only we can take the time to slow down, observe, experience, and enjoy them.

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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..

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