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December 6, 2007 ACNielsen's Modeling Group, a company born in Stamford, will move, but plans to stay in the city. The firm, which uses mathematical formulas and statistics to help clients market their products and services, is scheduled to move from 100 Prospect St. to 600 Summer St. later this month. The company's 15,000-square-foot lease is among the deals that enabled the owner of 600 Summer St., Greenwich-based Antares Investment Partners, to reach 80 percent occupancy this year in its 1.45 million square feet of commercial real estate holdings in Stamford and Greenwich. "Our recent leasing agreement with ACNielsen is an excellent example of our ability to attract and retain leading corporations in the area," said John Wheeler, Antares' president of acquisitions and investments. ACNielsen acquired the modeling group about a year ago. The unit employs 55 people in Stamford and has an office in Cincinnati. Former modeling group principals Sharon Ameri and Dipta Chakraborty are senior vice presidents with the company. Its customers are consumer-packaged goods companies. The company has to move because its current landlord, Seaboard Properties, is converting the Prospect Street office building to housing. The modeling group chose to move just a couple of blocks away. "We have had a high rate of success in Stamford and it is very convenient for our employees," said Jennifer Frighetto, spokeswoman for ACNielsen North America. ACNielsen is the marketing information arm of the Nielsen Co., a privately held marketing, audience-measuring and business media company with operations in more than 100 countries. Nielsen Co. has headquarters in New York City and the Netherlands. David White of D.H. White Commercial Real Estate Services in Stamford represented ACNielsen in negotiations for the modeling group lease. Antares represented itself. "This is a small example of how the downtown area of Stamford continues to be active with leasing," said James Fagan, senior managing director of the Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y., operations of New York City-based Cushman & Wakefield Inc. commercial real estate. "Despite the small turndown in the economy, we see activity starting to pick up," Fagan said. "We are cautiously optimistic about the future of the real estate markets both in Fairfield and Westchester County." The ACNielsen lease and other transactions helped Antares garner the "Fairfield County Sales of the Year" award from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. Founded in 1996 by James Cabrera and Joseph Beninati, Antares has more than $6 billion in assets and projects under management, totaling nearly 10 million square feet. It invests in office, retail, hotel and residential projects. The company faces problems, too. Last month, All-Phase Electric of New York filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Antares Construction Co. to compel the Greenwich developer to pay the contractor $117,000 in overdue bills for renovation work at the Greenwich Place apartments, Greenwich Time reported. Antares decided not to convert the apartments to condominiums after slow sales. All-Phase has a mechanic's lien on the property. It is among dozens of liens that contractors have placed, seeking payment for renovation work at that complex as well as at Greenwich Oaks, formerly known as Weaver's Hill. Antares has said it does not comment on pending litigation. Antares stopped all major construction activity in late August at Greenwich Place and Greenwich Oaks, citing re-financing problems. The developer bought the two complexes nearly two years ago for $223 million.
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