When joint venture partners ClearRock Properties, Gottesman Real Estate Partners, and Mountain Development Corp. set out to redevelop 850 Canal Street in Stamford’s South End, they looked to the past for inspiration. In a multi-million-dollar redevelopment of the asset, the owners transformed the 2002 property into a completely modern, “loft-style” Class A office building reminiscent of a more historic building.
The completed redevelopment includes a brand-new all-glass entrance, lobby, elevator cabs, common areas, parking lot, and two floors of available space including one full floor of almost 20,000 square feet and three prebuilt suites ranging from 2,000-5,000 square feet. The renovation positions the building as one of the hippest Class A loft-inspired office leasing opportunities in Stamford.
Amenities include an opportunity for building signage; a private shuttle service to the Stamford train station; an electric vehicle charging station exclusively for tenant use; The Granola Bar, a local and organic casual dining experience; and Serendipity Labs, a 13,000-square-foot co-working space that can be used for meetings, networking and events.
“850 Canal offers tenants the best of both worlds: modern ease and convenience with a cool vintage loft vibe that is virtually unattainable in Stamford,” said ClearRock Properties Principal Doug Winshall. “With modern architecture such as rectangular floor plates and ribbon windows, the spaces are easier to plan than traditional loft space, but still offer tenants a hip loft aesthetic.”
The owners began redevelopment of 850 Canal Street—part of their three-building, 250,000-square-foot office campus, which also includes 700 and 860 Canal—earlier this summer when the anchor tenant, national accounting firm RSM, vacated 30,000 square feet.
Seizing the opportunity to deepen its “urban campus” brand while filling the vacant office space, the owners partnered with the same team that in 2013 successfully redeveloped 700 Canal Street from a historic brick-and-beam loft style building into a Class A office property that has performed exceptionally well.
“The redevelopment of 700 Canal Street was a great success for the building, for the ownership group and for the South End,” said Winshall. “In renovating 850 Canal, we wanted to build on that success by engaging the same team to turn this newer, more modern building into a first-rate office property with the same cool atmosphere and historic design elements as 700 Canal.”
Building architect MKDA used similar industrial-influenced finishes to create a bridge between the prewar and modern office buildings, using design elements that relate to the area’s historic roots. Though the feel and finishes are a bit different due to the materials and architecture used at the time of their construction, the two buildings both evoke the same loft aesthetic.
CBRE’s Brian Carcaterra, Michael McCall and Kellene Callahan, who are marketing the space currently available for lease at the building, have secured the building’s first lease following the renovations. BRS USA signed an eight-year lease for 6,800 square feet on the building’s Third Floor.
“The ownership team behind 850 Canal Street is a class act,” noted Carcaterra. “These are owners who know how to create value for tenants in all areas—architecture, amenities, incentives and management—and this will come across in what we expect to be fairly robust leasing of available space in the building.”
“With 700 Canal, we began to create a great selection of amenities that our tenants at 850 Canal will be also be able to utilize, adding value to their overall lease experience,” added Michael Seeve, president at Mountain Development Corp., which in addition to its ownership stake also manages the properties. “As we move forward with the leasing at 850 Canal and redevelopment of 860 Canal, we will continue to take a proactive approach to create a top-notch asset and to secure quality tenancy.”
“When we acquired this three-building portfolio, our team immediately set out to make significant improvements to services, operations and management. We are confident that the success we experienced at 700 Canal will be repeated at 850 Canal and 860 Canal, and that we will continue to add tremendous value to our portfolio and the South End,” added Gottesman Real Estate Partners CEO Andy Gottesman.