August 28, 2007
Stamford Advocate
South End imprint: Antares buys 2nd office building in neighborhood
By: Peter Healy

Greenwich-based Antares Investment Partners increased its vast holdings in Stamford's South End last week by acquiring an office building at 2187 Atlantic St.

Antares paid an investment group led by Charles Mallory $53 million for the 22-year-old building, according to city property records.

A marketing office for Antares' Harbor Point redevelopment project in the South End will occupy the penthouse office suite in the building, said James Cabrera, managing partner and co-founder of Antares.

The 2187 Atlantic St. purchase comes after Antares' $128 million acquisition of a 395,000-square-foot office building at 333 Ludlow St. in the South End in May.

"We think buying this property on the waterfront in Stamford is a good, strategic acquisition," Cabrera said. "It complements our holdings in the Harbor Point District. It sits right in the middle of our development of Harbor Point. It is a quality asset that is a block from the train station."

The fully leased 10-story building, also known as Clearwater House, contains 105,000 square feet of office space. A parking garage fills its first three floors.

Tenants include the executive offices of Centerplate Inc., an operator of stadium concessions; Petroleum Heat & Power Co. (Petro), a home heating oil distributor; Allianz Global Investors and several nautical shipping companies.

"It's a beautiful waterfront location," said Jeffrey Dunne, vice chairman at the Stamford office of Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis commercial real estate. "It has a good mix of tenants who pay incrementally for the good views and the location within walking distance of the train station."

Office building values might have reached their peak in lower Fairfield County, Dunne said.
"The higher cost of debt is starting to have an impact on values in both the residential and commercial real estate markets," he said.

But a slow real estate market might not deter further acquisitions by Antares.

Asked if the company planned to buy more commercial property in the South End, Cabrera said, "any property in the South End that is strategic in our overall development plan in the Harbor Point District is an acquisition target."

Antares expects to build 4,000 housing units and 400,000 square feet of retail space on reclaimed South End brownfields that once housed factories for Pitney Bowes postage equipment and Yale & Towne hardware, plus a former Connecticut Light & Power plant and a fuel depot.

Antares is scheduled to buy the 7.5-acre former Manger Electric property between the Metro-North Railroad tracks, Washington Boulevard and Pulaski Street in the South End on Sept. 10.

The developer is seeking city approval to build a 350,000-square-foot office tower on the Manger property.

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