October 10, 2007
Stamford Advocate
One Hundred West Putnam site to house hedge fund
By: Peter Healy

A second Greenwich-based hedge fund firm has leased a large block of office space at the recently vacated former UST Inc. headquarters in Greenwich, local real estate executives said.

Plainfield Asset Management will join the hedge firm Strategic Value Partners of Greenwich at 100 W. Putnam Ave. after Greenwich-based Antares Investment Partners renovates the 150,000-square-foot building.
Sources, who requested anonymity because of the confidential nature of the hedge fund industry, said Plainfield leased 60,000 square feet at 100 W. Putnam and also will keep its office at 55 Railroad Ave. in downtown Greenwich.

James Cabrera, co-founder and managing partner of Antares, said the real estate developer is not disclosing the second tenant's name because it has a confidentiality agreement with that tenant.

Strategic Value Partners will move from Field Point Road in Greenwich to 40,000 square feet of office space at 100 W. Putnam Ave. next year, Antares said in June.

Antares said in an advertisement last week in The Advocate and Greenwich Time that 100 W. Putnam is 70 percent leased.

"In the two months since we began marketing the building, we have leased 70 percent of the space and demand remains strong for the remaining space," said John V. Wheeler, president of Antares' acquisitions, in a statement. "We are excited to work with 100 W. Putnam's tenants -- successful and world-renowned hedge funds and securities firms -- to support their business growth."

Plainfield officials could not be reached for comment. The firm employs more than 100 people in Greenwich, according to its Web site. Max Holmes founded the company in 2005.

UST, the world's largest maker of smokeless tobacco products, relocated to the High Ridge Park office complex in Stamford last month. It sold the building to Antares and a partner for $136.7 million in March as part of a long-range cost-cutting move.

Projected rents of $120 to $140 per square foot per year at 100 W. Putnam might help recoup Antares' investment.

"Antares continues to lead the Fairfield County office market, as they did with Pickwick Plaza," said Bob Gillon, president of Darien-based Signature Group commercial real estate.

"They are setting new rental rates at the former UST building," Gillon said. "Antares was the first to top the $100 per square foot mark (at Pickwick) and now they are leasing space in the $120 to $140 range with leases to Plainfield Asset Management and Strategic Asset Management."

In January, Antares and several other partners sold the Pickwick Plaza office and retail complex to a Westchester, N.Y., investor for $235 million.

Rents at 100 W. Putnam Ave. reflect rising rates in downtown Greenwich, said John Goodkind, managing principal at the Greenwich office of New York City-based Newmark Knight Frank commercial real estate. "For premiere buildings in Greenwich, the market remains strong," Goodkind said. "That will only strengthen the central business district Greenwich office buildings."

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