antares

It has finally come to Connecticut. Advanced thinking of planners, architects and deal-makers. These individuals, along with well schooled municipal professionals and (well, almost) visionary elected officials are about to make history in our little bit of New England!

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"New Yorker" magazine has a report, the Greenwich TIME says (August 22, 2008), that includes mention of some "back-country" projects by Antares...

United unions: Construction workers protest nonunion hiring
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Elizabeth Kim, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/11/2008 03:27:45 AM EDT

Sensing a tightening job market, hundreds of union construction workers rallied in the city's South End on Friday to protest the hiring of nonunion, out-of-state laborers.

They converged on the rubbled work site of Harbor Point, managed by Building and Land Technology. The Norwalk developer has hired a Texas contractor that union leaders said employs nonunion workers, who typically work for lower wages and no benefits. A telephone call seeking a comment from Carl Kuehner, chief executive officer of Building and Land Technology, was not returned.

At a cost of $3 billion for 7.6 million square feet of mixed-use waterfront space, Harbor Point is the state's largest development. With the economy in turmoil and financing drying up, there was a sense among many workers Friday that there may be few other projects supplying jobs.

"If we don't get these jobs here, we're not going to have any jobs," said John Olsen, president of Connecticut AFL-CIO, one of more than a dozen speakers at the event.

Members in the crowd nodded in agreement, shouting "Yeah." Along the front row, several wore signs reading, "We are CT Taxpayers" and "No rats."

At least three contractors are working on sites that make up the Harbor Point complex. One of them is O&G Industries, which is based in Torrington and employs union workers, several of whom attended the noon rally. They watched a line of state and local politicians who showed up for a brief turn at the podium. The speakers included U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, along with his Democratic challenger, Jim Himes; state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal; state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford; and Mayor Dannel Malloy.

"Those jobs on this job site are going to go to good hardworking Connecticut labor citizens," Malloy said, pointing to the mounds of dirt in the distance.

The mayor ended his speech by raising his fist and proclaiming, "Labor is back."

Protest organizer Charles LeConche seemed unimpressed by the gesture, saying the mayor should have demanded the Harbor Point the developer hire union laborers. LeConche is co-director of the Connecticut First Coalition and business manager of Connecticut Laborers' District Council. In an interview after the rally, Malloy said he has been urging the developer to sign a project labor agreement, a pact between builders and unions setting wages and benefits.

Under the original builder, Antares, such an agreement was in place, union leaders said.

"Who do you think got them to sign that?" Malloy said, referring to his own efforts.

Harbor Point, contrary to what union members such as LeConche believed, had not received any tax relief from the city, he said. "This is $3 billion of private money."

Malloy said people often mistakenly assume the city provided tax relief because "to get this kind of development, that's the standard" in the state.

"But it isn't here," Malloy said.

Beginning about 11:30 a.m. Friday, there was a sense something was afoot. Construction workers dressed in boots and hard hats began marching along Washington Boulevard toward the South End. Many workers were on break from jobs at other construction sites such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, across the highway. They came to support their union brothers and sisters, they said.

"It should have never gone this far," said Terry Finn, who belongs to Local 3 group of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

"We've been losing out market share to nonunion workers," he said, adding that lately, nonunion workers were "hurting too."

Finn, a Stamford resident, seemed unmoved by the promises from the mayor and other politicians.

"I'm 44 and growing more and more cynical," he said.

Antares turns over projects; Norwalk developer to assume control of Stamford sites
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Peter Healy and Magdelene Perez
Article Launched: 09/03/2008 07:59:00 AM EDT

A Norwalk developer has taken sole control over two huge projects in Stamford's South End, the 80-acre Harbor Point redevelopment and Gateway, a proposed office complex on the former Manger Electric property.

Building and Land Technology officials said Tuesday the company had assumed Antares Investment Partners' management roles.

Antares is redeveloping the former UST Inc. headquarters at 100 W. Putnam Ave. in downtown Greenwich for upscale office tenants and owns numerous office buildings in Stamford's South End, Waterside, East Side and downtown neighborhoods. One tenant leased a portion of 100 W. Putnam for $155 per square foot per year.

Joseph Beninati, co-founder and managing partner of Antares, said Greenwich-based Antares will continue to own and manage the office buildings with James Cabrera, Antares' other co-founder and managing partner.

"This frees Jim and me up for future acquisitions in the land assemblage, such as 100 W. Putnam Ave. and the Stamford project," Beninati said.

The two companies said in March they had become partners in the 10-year Harbor Point development, which includes 4,000 new units of housing, office and retail space, two hotels and more than 12 acres of new parkland and waterfront trails.

Gateway is an office complex that Antares had sought to build between Washington Boulevard, Pulaski Street, the Mill River and the Metro-North Railroad tracks. The city has not yet approved it.

Carl Kuehner III, president and chief executive officer of Building and Land Technology, said the company is providing $200 million in new expansion capital for Harbor Point. The Lubert-Adler real estate private equity firm of Philadelphia is its financial partner in the project. Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy endorsed the switch.

"Carl Kuehner has proven himself an outstanding developer who gets things done," Malloy said. "The Antares folks were the visionaries. They got the project to this point, and now Kuehner will be responsible for executing it. It is good news for everybody."

Kuehner said the changes were not related to Antares' finances. In January, Antares sold two apartment complexes in Greenwich at a loss under threat of foreclosure from lender Lehman Brothers. Antares had wanted to convert them into luxury condominiums.

"Harbor Point is not a financial issue, whether it was with Antares or any of the other partners" of Antares, Kuehner said.

Building and Land Technology has more experience in constructing buildings from the ground up than Antares does, he said. It developed three large office buildings near the Merritt Parkway and numerous other office parks, apartment complexes and single-family houses. It also is redeveloping four office properties on Long Ridge Road in Stamford, including the former Xerox Corp. headquarters.

Beninati agreed.

"(Kuehner) has the construction and development experience to take the (Harbor Point) project to the next level," Beninati said. "We have over a half-billion dollars invested in the city, and we still have our equity stake in Harbor Point."

Beninati would not disclose the size of the equity stake and declined to discuss Gateway.

Antares is still liable, however, for several lawsuits from a 2006 fire that destroyed part of the old Yale & Towne factory complex, which is on Harbor Point property. "Whoever was sued previously is still the responsible party," Kuehner said.

Beninati said Antares does not comment on lawsuits.

City Rep. Linda Cannady, whose district includes the South End and who is a member of the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, said Tuesday she had not been informed of the shift in leadership for Harbor Point.

Cannady said she would have to learn more before judging whether the transfer bodes well for the neighborhood. She had been supportive of the plan but said she would also welcome positive changes.

"I have to see what changes (if any) were made to the project myself," Cannady said. "If something's changed, I'm sure I'll hear about it."

Harbor Point takes shape
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Magdalene Perez
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/28/2008 02:36:25 AM EDT

STAMFORD - When South End resident Ewelina Olejarz wakes up at 7 a.m., she is abruptly reminded that her neighborhood is about to be transformed.

"Everything starts to shake," said Olejarz, 31, who lives on Harbor Street. "It's all day."

The rumblings are a sign of the ambitious plans of Greenwich developer Antares, which is rebuilding 80 acres of the South End in its Harbor Point project. This month, Antares received the first foundation permits for two office buildings - an eight-story structure at Washington Boulevard and Atlantic Street, and a six-story one just to the south.

On once-aging industrial strips, Antares envisions 4,000 apartments; more than 100,000 square feet of retail space, including a grocery store; a waterfront hotel; a South End "central park" at Walter Wheeler Drive; and a mile of waterfront trails. Other amenities will include a public dock, outdoor plaza and a waterfront restaurant.

Nelson Pedroza, who spent a tranquil afternoon listening to the water lap against the docks in Kosciuszko Park last week, expects the Harbor Point plan will be an all-around benefit.

"I think it's a great idea, one, for the neighborhood; two, for all the people who live here; and, three, for the economy here," said Pedroza, 24, a student at the University of Connecticut. "Every way you look at it, everybody wins."

Olejarz has seen the drawings and said she thinks the Harbor Point project looks good. But she is concerned that the influx of office workers,

shoppers and new residents will create too much traffic and make the streets unsafe for her 3-year-old. Other South End residents worry that development will drive the cost of living beyond their reach.

Whatever view residents take, things are happening.

A drive down Washington Boulevard reveals chain-link fencing around dirt and gravel lots strewn with concrete pipes, orange cones and trailer-sized Dumpsters. In areas where the work is most advanced, groups of tall metal cables poke out of the ground.

John Freeman, general counsel for Antares, said he expects to have all of the first phase finished by next July - two offices, the hotel and one residential building with 337 rental apartments, including 40 classified as affordable. The parkland, which includes the Walter Wheeler space, a pedestrian path along the water and an extension of Kosciuszko Park, should be growing grass by spring, Freeman said.

Antares expects to have superstructure permits, which allow vertical construction, for three of the buildings by fall, Freeman said. A permit for the hotel should follow.

"At that point the steel will start to go up," he said. "It starts moving really quickly at that point."

But that timeline falls behind the original one. In May, Antares told the zoning board it would break ground as soon as the project was approved, which was early June. A few weeks ago, Freeman said Antares would start building vertically in August.

City officials said they hope all of the expected $4 million in building permit fees is in city coffers before the end of the fiscal year. In June, Mayor Dannel Malloy pushed the zoning board to approve the Antares project because the $4 million was included in the city budget.

But officials expect the money to trickle in. Antares has paid $59,840 for the two foundation permits, said Robert DeMarco, chief building official.

Finance board Chairman Michael Pollard said the slow infusion of cash should not be a problem unless the project falls significantly behind schedule.

"We only get concerned if there is a delay that results in money coming in a following fiscal year," Pollard said. "That would be a signal that the city has to adjust the budget."

Antares is searching for tenants. Freeman said several companies are interested in the retail and office space, but no agreements have been announced.

For months, heavy machinery has been removing contaminated soil, capping off areas and moving underground utilities.Antares is realigning Washington Boulevard at Pacific Street to connect with Dyke Lane. Along the waterfront in one area, workers raised the height of the land by several feet using fill, so visitors will have a better view of the water.

Pedroza said he thinks the sooner the project is done, the better.

"Ever since I lived in Stamford, the South End has been one of the most marginalized neighborhoods," Pedroza said. "It's like the Trump tower. The faster they're done with it, the faster everybody can move in."

Antares' office tower plan put on hold
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Magdalene Perez, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/23/2008 02:56:52 AM EDT

STAMFORD - Greenwich developer Antares Investment Partners is waiting for a green light from the city Zoning Board before it can seek tenants for a 323,000-square-foot office building it wants to build in the South End. But the board this week put off any decision on the property until at least September.

Antares is asking the Zoning Board to convert Antares' waterfront property between Henry Street and the Metro-North Railroad tracks from industrial to commercial use. If the Zoning Board approves the change, Antares will interpret the decision as a sign that it should move forward with courting potential tenants, Rick Redniss, a planning consultant for the project, said this week.

"They have to make a decision," Redniss said. "Do we want to go out and spend another $2 million, or do we want to stop because the city doesn't want us to do this?"

After a four-hour public hearing on the zone change Monday, the board put off a decision until at least Sept. 8, when its members will take up the matter again. The Gateway plan, as the project is known, is still conceptual, but Antares hopes to build a 150-foot tall office tower on a 3.4-acre parcel north of Henry Street along Washington Boulevard. If Antares is allowed to go ahead with its vision for the vacant industrial site, the project would complete a ring of offices, including UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Metro Center, around the transit hub.

Ray Kowalczyk, a South End native who was the only resident to speak at the hearing, said his biggest concern is that a looming office tower might block out light on his wife's rental property on Pulaski Street.

After growing up in the South End and watching Pitney Bowes first develop, then abandon manufacturing in the area, Kowalczyk said he knows how quickly development can change a neighborhood.

"I don't want to see something like Trump Parc there," he said after the hearing, referring to the 34-story luxury apartment building going up at Washington Boulevard and Broad Street. "They can have their office space, just don't have it come right up to Pulaski Street."

Redniss said Kowalczyk need not be concerned that the building would abut his wife's property, because Antares plans to build the office a block away, north of Henry Street. Antares has cut back on its ambitions for the area, scrapping an original plan proposed in October that would have brought two office towers totaling 680,000 square feet to Washington Boulevard. Under that proposal, the towers would have been the largest office development in Stamford.

In comparison, the RBS headquarters under construction on Washington Boulevard is about 600,000 square feet. Antares pulled back when the response from the city indicated the project was "too much too soon," said John Freeman, general counsel for Antares' projects in the South End.

Redniss characterized the office project as beneficial to the city. Antares is proposing to make public improvements, such as building a scenic overlook for the Mill River, adding bike lanes to nearby roads, and possibly building a pedestrian bridge from the transportation center into the office building. If the board defeats the proposal, the city may be missing a rare opportunity to take advantage of those improvements, Redniss said.

A sharply different view was presented by the developers of Metro Green, an expansive housing and office project that recently broke ground one block away at Henry and Atlantic streets. The Metro Green project will include a 325,000-square-foot office tower and 238 units of housing, the first 50 of which will be rented at affordable rates. Anthony Malkin, co-owner of Stamford-based W&M Properties, which worked to develop Metro Green, said an office-only use is inappropriate for the site.

Added traffic caused by the Antares development could tie up traffic entering and leaving the South End, he said.Traffic and planning consultants who spoke on behalf of Malkin suggested that other uses, such as a mix of residential and commercial, would be more appropriate.

"This is not just another piece of land," Malkin said. "This affects arguably the most important intersections in Stamford."

"We think a lot more study and review is needed for this site," he said.

Much about the project remains unclear. Antares has not yet submitted specific site plans, a fact that some board members said left them feeling uncomfortable about making a quick decision. A month ago, Antares withdrew applications to the Zoning Board to build up to 470,384 square feet, City Planner Norman Cole said. The extra space would have been in exchange for public amenities such as public parking and contributing to the nearby transportation center.

Antares also owns another parcel extending south from Henry Street to Pulaski Street. The developer is having discussions with city officials about the best uses for that tract, Freeman said.Among tentative proposals for the site is a public-access scenic overlook along Mill River. Comments made by board Chairwoman Phyllis Kapiloff suggested she may be leaning in favor of approving the zoning change.

"I don't think it could hurt us. I personally think it could help us," Kapiloff said. "I truly believe that in order to get what you want you have to take a risk."

South End plan depends on city officials' action
Stamford ADVOCATE
Article Launched: 05/27/2008 01:00:00 AM EDT

To the editor:

The South End of Stamford, in decline for years and burdened with a legacy of industrial contamination, is on the threshold of a renaissance so profound as to make it a national model of economic and community renewal. Rarely does a city's political leadership have an opportunity to rebuild so significant a part of its community for the benefit of generations to come. Stamford currently stands at the gateway of such an opportunity with the Harbor Point project in the South End.

Antares, the developer, has proposed a sweeping and ambitious plan to remake the South End into a special waterfront destination that would be good for the neighborhood, good for economic development and good for tax revenue that would benefit all of Stamford. It would also create tens of thousands of new construction and permanent jobs. Recognizing the need for anti-sprawl and smart-growth development, Harbor Point is only a 10-minute walk from the Stamford Transportation Center and includes improved street and pedestrian areas.

The project is moving ahead as scheduled and is now at the point where the city must approve a financing mechanism for the new parks and infrastructure improvements (roads, water, sewer, etc.) necessary for the development. I encourage the Board of Representatives to approve the tax increment financing for these improvements.

Harbor Point will revitalize the long-depressed South End and have great economic benefit for the whole city. The increase in the city's taxable Grand List means tens of millions of dollars more in tax revenue for the city every year - revenue that can be used to support citywide programs. It's the classic win-win situation.

However, the TIF agreement must be approved in order for the infrastructure to be constructed. Without the TIF agreement, Harbor Point, with all its potential, won't happen. It's time for action. Stamford needs to move forward and rebuild the South End.

Joseph J. McGee
Stamford

The writer is vice president for public policy for The Business Council of Fairfield County.

Antares is ready to build in South End
By Monica Potts, Stamford ADVOCATE
March 26, 2008

STAMFORD - The mayor and the Greenwich developer of more than 80 acres in the city's South End said yesterday that a deal to create a special taxing district for the project is before the Board of Representatives and they hope to break ground June 1.

The start date depends on approvals from the land-use boards and approval of the creation of the special tax district.

"Having a vision is fun," Antares partner James Cabrera said at a news conference at the Stamford Government Center. "Now we have to build something."

Mayor Dannel Malloy said he included some of the fees Antares is expected to pay, including $4 million for a building permit, in his budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Norwalk real estate developer Building & Land Technology will work with Antares on the project, known as Harbor Point. Final site plans for the first phase, including a 130-room hotel and 200,000 square feet of office space along Stamford Harbor, was submitted to land-use boards March 3.

Norman Cole, the city's principal planner, and Land Use Bureau Chief Robin Stein have said that such a turnaround would be ambitious for any project, especially one of this scale.

His staff will review the project and make recommendations to the land-use boards, then it will go through a round of public hearings and votes.

With the creation of a special tax district, Antares proposed paying for 11 acres of parkland and infrastructure improvements in the South End in the project's first phase.

The tax district would allow the developers to sell bonds backed by a projected increase in future taxes on the properties.

The agreement before the Board of Representatives would allow the developers to sell $145 million in bonds. No more than half of the increased tax revenue would go toward paying back the bonds. Michael Freimuth, Stamford director of economic development, said the increased tax revenue was calculated conservatively.

If the Board of Representatives approves the district, the biggest potential problem would be if the bonds sold at lower prices than estimated, he said.

"The markets are going to tell us," he said.

The land-use committee of the Board of Representatives was scheduled to begin hearing the tax district proposal last night.

Antares pushes Stamford projects to NYC companies
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Monica Potts, Staff Writer
Published February 28 2008

NEW YORK - Antares executives met with real estate brokers in Manhattan on Tuesday night to pitch their projects and Stamford as a desirable, less expensive alternative to Manhattan.

James Cabrera, a co-founder of Antares, told the crowd of about 80 that research shows 26 commercial clients are looking to expand or relocate and need at least 250,000 square feet of office space, including PriceWaterhouse-Coopers, AIG Inc. and Starwood Hotels. Only six office buildings in Manhattan could accommodate their needs, Cabrera said.

He and other Antares executives showed the brokers plans for their two major projects in Stamford - the redevelopment of 80 acres in the South End called Harbor Point and two office towers just south of the Metro-North train station called Gateway I and II. The presentation was at Daniel restaurant on East 65th Street in Manhattan.

Cabrera said plans for the Gateway project include 200,000-square-foot and 500,000-square-foot towers, and the company could accommodate a tenant that needed a large part or all of that space. He cited Stamford's proximity and similarity to New York City.

"We really believe Stamford is just an extension of New York City," he said.

Cabrera said the company plans to break ground on the first phase of Harbor Point in June, which depends on approval from city land-use boards.

Cabrera said the firm is prepared to charge $20 to $70 per square foot, compared with an average rent of $150 per square foot in Manhattan.

Robert Thuss of Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm working with Antares on the Gateway project, said access to a train station with a quick link to New York City is critical, even though telecommuting is possible from anywhere.

"People have been talking about that for 20 years, but the technology still isn't robust enough," Thuss said. "You have a lot of companies that try it, but they still have to have 80,000 square feet of office space in Manhattan."

Plans laid for Trump tower, new housing and new look for South End
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Monica Potts, Staff Writer
Published December 30 2007

STAMFORD - As big development projects got under way in 2007, including sweeping changes to the South End, the Stamford Town Center's pedestrian plaza opened after nearly two years of construction, just in time for the holiday shopping season.

The 144,000-square-foot wing at the site of the former Filene's Basement is anchored by Connecticut's largest Barnes & Noble, the fashion store H&M and several new restaurants.

"This is a real boon for the downtown, the city and the mall," Downtown Special Services District executive director Sandra Goldstein said when the wing opened.

The mall's owners said they decided to build the new wing to open the mall to pedestrian traffic and sunlight. Critics had charged since its 1982 opening that the mall looked like a concrete fortress in the middle of downtown.

Also this year, developers planned, began or dedicated many projects that will increase housing in the downtown and other neighborhoods, from luxury homes to affordable apartments, from North Stamford to the South End.

In May, developers broke ground on what may soon be considered the city's signature building, Trump Parc. The 34-story tower on the corner of Broad Street and Washington Boulevard will house 170 luxury units. Sales began in June.

To fulfill an affordable housing requirement, Trump Parc developers presented plans to the Zoning Board this month to purchase an existing apartment building on West Main Street and convert 17 of the units into below-market-rate condominiums. If the plan succeeds, it would mark the first time a developer has used an existing structure to meet the requirement.

Another luxury development, Windermere on the Lake in North Stamford, was well under way by the end of the year. Developers for the private community plan to open the first phase for sales in the spring.

As a condition of the plan's approval, the developers donated more than $800,000 to help fund about 50 affordable homes on Ludlow Street in the South End. The nonprofit organization responsible for that project, New Neighborhoods Inc., celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, and received a $200,000 gift from Bank of America for its contributions to affordable housing.

Also in the South End, the board approved general plans for redevelopment of 82 acres of brownfields by Greenwich-based Antares Real Estate. Plans were presented for infrastructure changes that would allow the first phase of their project to proceed, which includes converting some buildings at the former Yale & Towne lock factory into condominiums and adding 400,000 square feet of retail space. The developer also will add 4,000 housing units, and build 40 units of affordable housing either on its development sites or throughout the neighborhood. Antares expects to begin construction in the spring or summer.

Voting unanimously in July, the Zoning Board approved plans for the Metro Green development near the downtown train station. It will provide 220 apartments, 48 of which will be below-market, in addition to a 17-story office tower.

The project is under consideration for the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Neighborhood Development pilot program, and may be one of the first in the nation to be certified by it. The program emphasizes the materials and construction methods used, as other LEED programs do, and it also considers whether developers build close to city centers, diminishing sprawl and encouraging future tenants and employees to walk or use public transportation rather than drive.

The Stamford Housing Authority dedicated new housing developments, built with funding from the federal Hope VI grant program, that will replace the aging Fairfield Court. Residents began moving into houses on Taylor Street in December and Post House on Tresser Boulevard neared completion. The Zoning Board also approved the authority's plans for the first phase of Vidal Court's replacement, at 58 Progress Drive, using Hope VI-like state funding.

Two projects that would bring big-name stores to the city came under fire from community members. Concerns over potential traffic congestion led the Zoning Board to vote unanimously, with little discussion and no debate, to reject plans for a Home Depot on a vacant part of the Cytec Industries site on West Main Street in March.

Toward year's end, the city's land use boards began hearing plans to redevelop the Lord & Taylor site in Bulls Head. The plan would increase the size of the current store and bring in a 60,000-square-foot Whole Foods supermarket, as well as 50,000 square feet of additional commercial space.

The Planning Board expressed concern over proposed zoning code changes that would allow the project to proceed. About 12 residential and commercial neighbors for the project objected to the plan at a public hearing in December, saying it was too dependent on automobiles, did not include enough landscaping, and that a five-story parking garage on the southern portion of the lot would be unattractive when viewed from lower elevations to the south. Public hearings on the plan are to continue Jan. 7.

Antares works to resolve debt deal
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Hoa Nguyen
Published December 8 2007

GREENWICH - After showing signs of trouble when it scrapped condominium conversion plans for two of the largest apartment complexes in town, a Greenwich developer has defaulted on a loan, signaling more woes for the beleaguered project, according to a public notice published yesterday.

Lehman loaned $63.5 million to Antares two years ago as part of a deal to finance the $223 million purchase of Putnam Green and Weaver's Hill, which were to be renovated and sold as condominiums, according to reports published at the time. The debt was called a "mezzanine" loan, which is a type of supplementary loan used in complex real estate deals.

The first signs of trouble occurred three months ago, when Antares stopped renovation work, saying it was trying to re-finance its debt with Lehman, which totaled nearly $300 million, according to reports. Meanwhile, contractors began filing mechanic's liens and lawsuits for millions of dollars, seeking to receive back pay from Antares for renovation and other work done at the complexes. Now, Antares appears to have defaulted on the mezzanine loan and the lender is trying to sell membership in a limited liability company that owns the two apartment complexes. The properties are not being auctioned, rather membership interest in the company is.

That is important because the members of the company determine the fate of the property, including deciding when and under what terms it would sell the developments.

"It's a total vote of no confidence," said Frank Farricker, a former first selectman candidate and New York City real estate professional who is not connected with the deal but has experience in similar deals.

The auction is scheduled for 11 a.m. Jan. 3 at the law offices of Weil, Gotshal and Manges in New York City, according to the notice published in yesterday's Greenwich Time.

"We're not surprised by it," said lawyer John Freeman who represents Antares, adding there is still time to work out a deal with Lehman. "We're still optimistic that we can continue to negotiate and work it out."

A spokesman for Lehman Brothers did not return phone calls seeking comment. Another Greenwich lawyer not connected with the transaction said the auction appears to be an attempt by the lender to make something happen to a property that has been abandoned in mid-renovation and sits half-vacated.

"It's logical that the lenders are trying to do something," John Tesei said. "You can't let the property sit there forever in the condition that it's in."

Freeman said that defaulting on this debt does not affect the company's position in other projects, including plans to redevelop 82 acres in the South End of Stamford.

"This project is its own project," Freeman said. "It's a standalone deal, so it's not bad for the company as a whole."

Affordable office space draws hedge fund to downtown Stamford
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Peter Healy, Staff Writer
Published November 20 2007

Sorin Capital Management, a real estate-based hedge fund company, plans to relocate next month from New York City to 17,500 square feet of office space on the 12th floor of 400 Atlantic St. in Stamford.

It will occupy half of a floor where the headquarters of International Paper had been.

Sorin Capital representatives could not be reached for comment yesterday. The company focuses on commercial real estate debt and asset-backed securities, according to its Web site.

Sorin Capital is among many financial services firms, hedge funds and private equity firms that have relocated to or started in lower Fairfield County.

High office rents and a lack of suitable office space in Manhattan are among the factors that drive financial firms and hedge funds to lower Fairfield County, said Steven Greenbush, first vice president at the Stamford office of Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis commercial real estate.

"We have seen more and more hedge funds coming to the Stamford central business district now that the central business district in Greenwich is becoming very tight," Greenbush said.

They want to be close to the Stamford train station, restaurants, shops and the Stamford Town Center mall, Greenbush said. Many principals of hedge funds live in lower Fairfield and either do not need or want to commute to Manhattan anymore, he added.

The average asking rent for Class A office space in downtown Stamford was $41.33 per square foot per year as of Sept. 30, according to New York City-based Cushman & Wakefield Inc. commercial real estate.

Rents at prime buildings in Midtown Manhattan can reach as high as $150 per square foot, according to CB Richard Ellis, while $100 per square foot is common in Greenwich.

Brian Carcaterra, a managing director at the Greenwich office of Newmark Knight Frank commercial real estate, represented Sorin Capital in negotiations for its sublease at 400 Atlantic from International Paper.

Jay Hruska, executive director at the Stamford office of New York City-based Cushman & Wakefield Inc. commercial real estate, represented International Paper, which moved from 400 Atlantic to Memphis, Tenn., last year.

International Paper bought the former Champion International Corp. paper company and its headquarters building at 400 Atlantic St. in June 2000. International Paper then sold the 500,000-square-foot building to a partnership that included the Landis Group in Stamford. Landis is now the sole owner of the building.

International Paper had leased 132,000 square feet in an agreement that runs through Dec. 31, 2015, and is looking to sublet the bulk of its former space.

The 400 Atlantic St. building is 100 percent leased; major tenants are the UBS AG investment bank and American Express, according to Landis.

NEWS: management old games and new real estate ones...

South End plan gets OK; developer calls it the 'beginning of a big idea'
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Doug Dalena, Staff Writer
Published June 26 2007

STAMFORD - The Zoning Board last night unanimously approved the general plans for redeveloping 82 acres of South End brownfields, laying the framework for Antares Investment Partners' proposal for 4,000 units of housing and 400,000 square feet of retail.

The development, if built, would change the face of one of the city's poorest neighborhoods and could add more than 10,000 residents.

Antares hopes to file final development applications for its 1,065-home first phase by December and start building next spring, Antares general counsel John Freeman said.

James Cabrera, Antares' managing partner, expressed confidence in the plan - the largest single development proposal the Zoning Board has ever considered - before thanking board members and Land Use Bureau staff, who labored over the past week to tweak the conditions and zoning text that the board approved shortly before midnight.

"I've worked on the assemblage of land in the South End since 1997," Cabrera said. "Someone asked me for a big idea once. I think tonight is the beginning of a big idea."

The first phase would include 890 apartments off Washington Boulevard along the West Branch of Stamford Harbor, along with a hotel, office space and waterfront boardwalk, and conversion of a historic Yale & Towne factory building into 175 loft apartments and 250,000-square-foot big-box shopping center and supermarket off Canal Street.

The board deliberated over new zoning text and conditions for approval of the 62-acre waterfront site, called Harbor Point, for four hours. Board members spent another hour reviewing the smaller and more self-contained Yale & Towne plan.

Most of the debate revolved around two issues: a major expansion of developers options for meeting the city's requirement to reserve 10 percent of all housing at below-market prices for low- and moderate-income buyers; and the adequacy of safeguards in the zoning text to keep Brewer's Yacht Haven, one of the Northeast's largest full-service marinas, from being developed for non-maritime uses.

The board included new zoning regulations that allow Antares to build affordable housing for buyers and renters with household incomes up to 80 percent of the area median income - about $90,000 for a family of four - if it builds more affordable units. Conversely, it could build fewer units if they are reserved at lower prices for people with incomes as low as 30 percent of the area median - about $33,000.

The current affordable housing regulations for most parts of the city reserve below-market units for people with incomes at 50 percent of the area median. City community development officials and affordable housing advocates have said that locks out many people just above the 50 percent level who can't afford market-rate housing.

Though that measure provoked less controversy, one that would allow developers bonus density if they combined their private projects with city affordable housing funds to create more affordable units than the required 10 percent, sparked heated debate.

Most times, the provision would exempt only the additional affordable housing, or provide increased affordability within an existing building by creating subsidies for buyers. But it also would allow the Zoning Board to grant additional market-rate units in a building, city Principal Planner Norman Cole said.

Board member Audrey Cosentini objected to including the bonus density, saying she felt the project already includes dense housing. Cosentini said she feared the provision would simply lead to smaller affordable homes within the same development footprint, or more intense development elsewhere in the South End.

Board members agreed to remove the bonus provision. Later, member Maria Nakian suggested reviving it, saying it could make use of city-controlled affordable housing money that has sat unspent because nonprofit developers can't afford land in Stamford.

"Affordable housing is important enough that we should use any means we can to increase the supply," Nakian said.

Board members also debated whether to include provisions for an economic study if the developer wanted to replace the marina with a nonmaritime use. Cosentini said that it opened the door to closing the boatyard if the study showed it was less profitable than some other type of development.

"That's immediately putting it in the economic realm," she said. "A boatyard can never make as much as a shopping center.

Cole told the board that the study was just one of several conditions the property owner must satisfy, and that the zoning regulation for the Harbor Point district contained more strict controls than state environmental regulations, which Antares or a successor would also have to meet.

Members decided to require the study, but eliminated the word "economic."

The board also included zoning text or approval conditions that:

* require 10,000 square feet of cultural space at Harbor Point and 5,000 square feet at Yale & Towne;

* require the city's Urban Transitway road project, scheduled for completion in two years, be operating before the big-box retail could open on the Yale & Towne site;

* make Antares prove it will have a much-touted shuttle system between the South End and downtown started and operating by the time it develops the property;

* require a vast majority of the parkland and public boardwalks, eventually slated to connect Kosciuszko Park to the Mill River Greenway, be built in the first phase;

* codify limits on "destination retail" that the Downtown Special Services District, concerned about draining patrons from the city center, negotiated with Antares.

Not new, but we picked this up off the Antares' website collection of e-news clippings - food for thought?
AOL Money & Finance: Greenwich real estate tells tale of hedge fund success

By Blogging Stocks
Published: April 16, 2007
BLOGGING STOCKS

While pundits and journalists have long complained about the outrageous fees charged by hedge funds, there is at least one entrepreneur looking to take advantage of these huge paydays. Joseph Beninati is building palatial mansion in Greenwich Connecticut on spec, meaning that he is hoping that hedge fund managers (or the similarly well-off) will come along and scoop them up. The basement has a basketball court, a movie theater and a wine cellar that can hold 10,000 bottles. The house also has a bocce-ball court (Who plays bocce?), a pool, and a tennis court. View the Wall Street Journal article to see a video of the house.

Mr. Beninati and his partner have made a fortune catering the extremely well-heeled hedge fund mangers of Greenwich: They rent office space to them, provide 5-star meals at the restaurants in which they are investors, and own an upscale hotel as well.
Building these mansions in Greenwich on spec amounts to a huge bet on a continuation of the boom in alternative investments. Obviously Beninati and his firm Antares are bullish on the future of the industry. But if the houses don't sell quickly, investors might be able to interpret that as a proxy indicator for a slowdown in the alternative investments industry

Developer returns to Main St. concept for South End
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Doug Dalena, Staff Writer
Published June 11 2007

STAMFORD - The latest plan for the Yale & Towne factory complex revives the idea of a central street lined with upscale housing above shops and restaurants.

Antares Investment Partners showed the plan to the Zoning Board last week and will be back at 7 tonight on the fourth floor of the Stamford Government Center to explain more.

The board could decide by August whether to approve the general plan for Yale & Towne and another site off Washington Boulevard, Chairwoman Phyllis Kapiloff said last week. Antares must submit a final plan before it could start building the first phase.

The new design - the third one submitted for the 20-acre South End tract - would retain big-box retail and a massive parking garage on the eastern end of the site on Canal Street. It would convert the long six-story factory building on Henry Street into 175 loft apartments.

But it would align residential blocks and ground-floor retail spaces along a boulevard from Pacific Street through the center of the site to the big-box complex. The complex would have ground-floor retail along a new north-south extension of John Street.

All of the retail likely would fall within limits Antares negotiated with the Downtown Special Services District, which objected to the original plan, saying the heavy retail component would hurt downtown.

The original plan included 500,000 square feet of retail on both sites. The new plan has 400,000 square feet of retail.

Much of the 100,000 square feet Antares eliminated was "destination" retail such as clothing stores and other small shops the DSSD wants downtown. Many of the shops and restaurants would have been aligned along what Antares planners called a "Main Street" for the South End that would have connected Pacific Street to Canal Street through the center of the site.

Antares agreed to limit "destination" retail stores smaller than 40,000 square feet or furniture stores smaller than 60,000 square feet; limit the total retail to 330,000 square feet; and allow no more than five big-box stores such as Best Buy or Circuit City.

The retail must include a supermarket and have no more than 110,000 square feet of service businesses such as dry-cleaners, drug stores and restaurants.

After the agreement, planners eliminated the long east-west connector with shorter internal roads with several turns around a 1-acre park and several high-rise residential buildings.

In the newest plan by the firm Arrowstreet, the east-west central boulevard would return, although it does not run all the way to Canal Street. Architect Scott Pollack of Arrowstreet told the board last week that Antares wants to call the boulevard Marion Street, reviving a Yale & Towne road named for Marion Towne, wife of lock inventor Henry Towne. Linus Yale used Towne's lock designs to found the company that made Stamford a manufacturing center.

Pollack said the developers want to create an "urban street" through the development.

In the new plan, the park would shrink to half an acre, with a street on one side instead of all four. Another 1.5 acres of open space would be spread among several pocket parks and on street corners throughout the complex, Pollack said.

The new plan would shift the tallest buildings to the north side, near Market Street, which Land Use Bureau Chief Robin Stein said is an improvement. Two 21-story towers would rise from the central block between Market and Marion streets, instead of nearer to the residential neighborhood south of Henry Street as in the earlier plan.

Antares plans to save the brick Georgian building on the northwest corner of the site, constructed with money Henry Towne left in his will. Once an employee services center named for Towne, it would become the facade of a hotel in a later phase of the 10- to 12-year plan.

Antares managing partner James Cabrera said he would consider a suggestion from the daughter of a Yale & Towne executive that the historic building, which now houses a police substation, be set off from the hotel building to emphasize its importance in city history.

The general plan for Yale & Towne has 1,017 housing units, up to five big-box stores, including a supermarket and home improvement center, and a hotel.

The first phase, which Antares wants to begin next year, includes the retail complex on Canal Street and the 175 lofts in the Henry Street factory building.

Antares plan comes into view
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Doug Dalena, Staff Writer
Published May 1 2007

STAMFORD - Zoning Board members last night got their first official look at a plan to turn 82 acres of former industrial land in the South End into four new neighborhoods, with 4,000 homes.

Antares Investment Partners bought three large tracts of former factory and power-plant land in 2005. It plans to clean contamination from more than a century's worth of industrial operations on the land, and build housing, big-box and neighborhood retail, and waterfront shops and restaurants, as well as offices and hotels.

"Outside of the urban renewal projects of the '60s, '70s and early '80s, this is probably the biggest development project in the history of Stamford," William Hennessey, the developers' land-use attorney, told the board during the first of several planned hearings on the project. More than 50 people attended, with about a quarter of those working in some way for Antares. Nearly all spoke in favor of the development plans.

The hearings will help the Zoning Board decide whether to create two special zoning districts on parts of the property - one for the 20-acre Yale & Towne lock factory complex and another for 47 acres that once made up the Pitney Bowes complex and a succession of waterfront fuel depots and power plants.

In addition to creating the zoning districts - which would include high-rise buildings outside downtown, new mechanisms for developers to provide affordable housing and linkage of retail development with housing construction - the board is being asked to approve general development plans for the first phase of the project, called Harbor Point.

It would include 925 housing units and about 300,000 square feet of retail spread between the Yale & Towne site and the South End's western waterfront.

Much of last night's presentation focused on the developer's overall vision for the South End, the area's needed infrastructure improvements and the framework for the remaining hearings. The developers also gave a detailed conceptual walk-through of the development plan at Washington Boulevard and the harbor, showing renderings of the Harbor Square neighborhood that they said would become the centerpiece of the development.

"Harbor Square is really the heart of this project," said Gina Ford, of the Boston planning firm Sasaki Associates.

Designed to anchor the development and provide a significant attraction in the first phase, Harbor Square would include a waterfront plaza west of Washington Boulevard - surrounded by a hotel, office tower, retail buildings and housing. The square would lead to a road and an esplanade built along the city's hurricane barrier, which would have a boardwalk below.

During the public comment, where about 10 people spoke, Ponus Yacht Club Commodore Jeff Saunders commended the developers for taking on the challenge of transforming the South End, even though the process of change will come with some pain. The club, whose upper-crust name belies its blue-collar membership, is surrounded by land owned by Antares.

"Is it going to inconvenience us as a club? Sure it's going to inconvenience us," he said. "It's going to inconvenience every single owner of property in the South End . . . However, I think it will be worth it . . . I'll drive through the dust, I'll drive through the site, I'll go sit on my boat , and I'll watch it being developed."

The next hearing is scheduled for May 14 at Government Center.

Antares may buy housing near development to keep the properties affordable
Stamford ADVOCATE (?)
By Doug Dalena, Staff Writer
April 11, 2007

STAMFORD - The developer planning to build 4,000 units of housing in the South End has committed to buy existing affordable housing stock in the neighborhood to keep gentrification from displacing current residents, a consultant said.

Antares Investment Partners, which plans to develop 82 acres of former factory land over the next decade, agreed to the anti-gentrification
effort at the request of city officials and two community groups, land-use consultant Richard Redniss said last night at a Planning Board
meeting.

The board has been meeting to review the development plan before it makes a recommendation to the Zoning Board.

"The objective is to stabilize the housing stock that's there," Redniss said.

Though the none of the real estate company's development would displace existing housing, city officials and the two community groups - the Affordable Housing Action Coalition and the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone - expressed concern that the sheer size of the project is already driving up real estate prices on the 250-acre peninsula in Stamford Harbor.

"We're watching the sharks come out," South End resident and NRZ member John Wooten told the Planning Board last night.

That could lead landlords to sell existing low-cost housing out from under current tenants before Antares builds anything, Redniss said.

"They're concerned that if something isn't done, it will be too late," he said.

Antares has not bought any housing, but is researching properties and exploring partnerships with nonprofit housing groups that have specific projects planned or specific sites in mind, company attorney John Freeman said. Freeman and Redniss said the company might buy some housing stock before it starts construction on any new development in order to acquire property before it becomes too expensive.

Under its plan, Antares would buy the existing housing, fix it up where needed, and record permanent deed restrictions to ensure affordable sale
prices or rents, Redniss said. The plan could help satisfy the city's affordable housing requirements for new development.

Under the city requirements, Antares must reserve at least 10 percent of the housing units it plans to build at reduced prices and rents for people who earn less than half the area median income of $116,300. The Zoning Board will have ultimate authority on how Antares fulfills the requirement, but the company has asked for more flexibility in building a combination of affordable housing for people at different income levels.

Antares has committed to including all of the affordable housing either in its new buildings or elsewhere in the South End, instead of seeking to pay a fee to an affordable housing fund. At least 10 percent of the 175 loft apartments in the Yale & Towne factory building that Antares plans to restore would be reserved as affordable, Redniss said.

In the Harbor Point section of the development - on former power company land west of Washington Boulevard - the company is exploring building more than 10 percent of the 750 units in its first development phase as affordable to get a head start on requirements for later phases, he said.

Copyright (c) 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

Antares plays the market Developer debuts games made by Greenwich firm
Greenwich TIME
By Harold Davis, Special Correspondent
Published March 28 2007

Greenwich-based Antares Investment Partners is known its impressive portfolio of real estate in the area, but the company is looking to add more marketing zing with three online games created with Shift Control Media, also of Greenwich.

The games were created to promote Antares' controversial Greenwich Place and Greenwich Oaks properties, which include about 400 residential condominiums recently converted from apartments. Residents of the properties, formerly named Putnam Green and Weaver's Hill, are suing Antares, alleging that the developer failed to follow state statutes governing condominium conversions, unfairly raised the rents of senior citizens and improperly tried to evict tenants by putting their health and safety at risk.

Antares has disputed the claims.

"We're looking to generate interest and target people interested in Greenwich. We hope to turn suspects into prospects and prospects into sales," said Antares managing partner James Cabrera.

"The original idea was to raise awareness using a new medium, which are games," Cabrera said.

The games have a good tone and are not overly solicitous, said Tim Zuckert, president and chief executive officer of Shift Control.

"When people smell the marketing, they go away," Zuckert said.

The games took about eight to 10 weeks to develop and were designed to be Greenwich-centric. The first online game, "Avenue Rally," involves driving in the area of Greenwich Avenue to complete various tasks, such as returning a book to Greenwich Library.

"You have to avoid getting too many traffic violations. The more violations you get, the more aggressive the police get," said Zuckert, whose company opened in July and has games for PepsiCo, Napster and FedEx.

"Hedger" will requires getting a hedge fund manager safely from work to his boat, and "Trade Up" involves buying and selling real estate in order to get a mansion.

Since launching the game site, www.greenwichctgames.com, three weeks ago, Antares has received more than 15,000 hits, Zuckert said. Players are eligible to win prizes from 150 Greenwich retailers participating in the games' "Best of Greenwich Sweepstakes," said Andrea Pirrotti, head of marketing at Antares. Prizes range include $50 gift shopping certificates, dinner for two at restaurants such as Polpo and a stay at the Delmar Greenwich Harbor Hotel, one of Antares' properties. The grand prize is $5,000 worth of shopping at Richards, which is also featured in the game.

Kevin McEvoy, professor of marketing at the University of Connecticut in Stamford, said that online marketing campaigns such as Antares' have become more mainstream.

"Games for promotion and marketing are nothing new," McEvoy said. "What's new is what the Internet does for it. Its brings sound, noise and action, and you don't need a game piece to play. The key is the interaction of games, which makes them so exciting."

Companies that want to be "cutting edge, progressive and savvy" are using this approach, he said. Pirrotti said real estate development and private equity firm may consider more games in its future marketing campaigns.

"We're assessing the results and optimizing this to the Nth degree to see if it's a appropriate to do them for other properties," Pirrotti said. "We're very ROI (return on investment) driven, but the numbers are on the right trajectory."

Review of Antares' South End plan begins
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Doug Dalena, Staff Writer
Published March 16 2007

STAMFORD - City officials and consultants are examining the first phase of a project - set for review next week - that would add about 10,000 residents to the South End.

The Planning Board will hold its first meeting Tuesday night on the initial phase of Harbor Point, a plan by Antares Investment Partners to convert more than 80 acres of industrial land into several neighborhoods with 4,000 housing units, big-box stores and other retail, and hotel and office space.

The first phase, which Antares wants to build by 2009, would include two sites with a combined 925 homes and about 400,000 square feet of retail.

Most of the housing - 750 units - would be built along the waterfront at Washington Boulevard and Pacific Street, with a hotel, as well as retail, office and restaurant space.

The major retail development would be built on the eastern side of the Yale & Towne factory site off Canal Street, with a home-improvement warehouse store, supermarket and other big-box stores. That site would include 175 loft condominiums in a renovated 1910 factory building on Henry Street. The Planning Board must make a recommendation before the Zoning Board votes on the site plan, but reviewing it could take several meetings, Land Use Bureau Chief Robin Stein said.

The proposal asks for more flexibility in satisfying the city's affordable housing requirements, and to build several 20-story buildings in the South End. At 225 feet, they would be 95 feet higher than the lighted red Pitney Bowes sign removed from the development site in 2005.

"I don't believe we will complete the review of this all in one meeting," Stein said. "In fact, I can say that with a fair amount of confidence."

Over the next several months, consultants working for the Land Use Bureau and the Office of Economic Development will review the Antares project. The Land Use Bureau has engaged the Regional Plan Association and Phillips Preiss Shapiro, a private planning firm from New York, to evaluate how the proposal will affect the city, including infrastructure and public amenities. It recently hired the architecture firm Do Chung and Partners to evaluate the project, Stein said.

The Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit urban planning agency with an office in Stamford, is one of four consultants evaluating the project for the Office of Economic Development, which is reviewing a special tax district that Antares has proposed to pay for infrastructure for the project. Under the plan, called tax increment financing, the city uses expected tax revenue from the development to guarantee bonds to pay for roads, sidewalks, parks and other improvements the new neighborhoods will require.

If the development fails or doesn't produce enough tax revenue, the developer, not the city, would pay the bonds.

City boards would have to approve tax increment financing, and the state legislature would have to authorize it. The legislature's Finance Committee will hold a hearing on it next week. The Regional Plan Association is doing a cost-benefit analysis of the plan for Stamford and reviewing how other cities are handling tax increment financing proposals for large projects, Economic Development Director Michael Freimuth said.

"We don't need to reinvent this wheel," Freimuth said. "There've been a lot of lessons learned and a lot of mistakes made, and we want to benefit from that."

Webster Bank is reviewing the financial aspects of the plan, and bond counsel Robinson & Cole is evaluating how tax increment financing would affect the city's borrowing plans. The nonprofit National Development Council is evaluating Antares' projected profits from the development.

"We want them to look at it from the perspective of the investor," Freimuth said.

If the projections are realistic, the city can expect the infrastructure investments to pay off in new tax revenue. But if they are too high, the city might question why Antares needs public money at all, he said. Meanwhile, city planners are combing through details in the site plans as they prepare to make recommendations to the boards.
They asked Antares to make several changes, especially to the waterfront plaza and pedestrian paths, which would link Mill River Park to Kosciuszko Park, Stein said.

Some of them were too low in the original plans for pedestrians to see Stamford Harbor over the hurricane barrier on the West Branch of Stamford Harbor, principal planner Norman Cole said.

"The related issue is our real desire to make sure they were inviting to the people in the neighborhood and not just to the ones living in the development," Stein said.

Architects and designers for Antares told him they could change the design, Cole said. Phone messages left for Antares partner James Cabrera and attorney John Freeman were not returned yesterday.