In a move that represents significant absorption for the city's commercial market, Deloitte LLP has signed a 15-year lease to occupy approximately 120,000 s/f at BLT Financial Centre, a six-story class A office building located at 695 East Main St. in the city's Central Business District.
Deloitte will serve as the anchor tenant for the building, which previously housed General Reinsurance Corp.'s North American headquarters. Building and Land Technology (BLT), one of the largest property owners in Fairfield County, purchased the vacant property in 2012 and began an extensive renovation and repositioning of the 594,000 s/f office campus, including renaming it the BLT Financial Centre.
"Deloitte is precisely the type of prominent corporate tenant we envisioned for BLT Financial Centre when we acquired the asset and made the commitment to bring it up to the standards of a premier commercial complex," said Carl Kuehner III, CEO of BLT, which is also developing the Harbor Point mixed-use waterfront community in the city's South End. "This lease signing signals a new beginning for the well-located and modernized BLT Financial Centre and a strengthening of Stamford's prominence as a regional business center."
Deloitte, one of the world's largest professional services organizations, will utilize the new space to bring together its two Fairfield County offices currently located in Wilton and Stamford into one location. The organization, which is expected to begin operations in its new location by the 4th quarter of 2014, will occupy floors two through six in the "Clock Tower," one of two interconnected buildings at the BLT Financial Centre.
Situated on 6.55 acres, BLT Financial Centre is comprised of two interconnected six-story buildings, the Clock Tower and Main Building. Offering visibility and access from I-95, the property boasts a four-story glass atrium main lobby and 1,400 covered parking spaces.
New upgrades underway include a full-service cafeteria with atrium seating, a state of the art fitness center, conference facility, and exterior courtyard for special events. Tenants also enjoy concierge service and shuttle service to the Stamford Transportation Center - located three minutes away - with express train service into New York City.
The office will incorporate Deloitte's Next Generation Workplace, a dynamic, fresh, and collaborative space that strengthens the organization's culture and brand. The new space will provide an innovative array of flexible workspace options to better support the varied work modes of Deloitte's professionals - from increased face-to-face interactions, to areas for teaming, private discussions, and heads down work.
"We look forward to our move into the new space, and the opportunities for collaboration that this will bring to our people and our organization," said Steve Gallucci, Stamford managing partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "We are also pleased to demonstrate our continued commitment to serving our clients, and to leverage the collective impact of the 1,200 Fairfield County based Deloitte professionals in the local community and state of Connecticut where we live and work."
The new leasing activity at BLT Financial Centre reflects the city's growing appeal among prominent corporate users. Other notable transactions completed in recent years include the relocation of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Design Within Reach, and Kayak Software, each of whom have located their world headquarters at Harbor Point in Stamford.
Building and Land Technology (BLT) is a privately held real estate private equity, development and property management firm. Founded in 1982, BLT is vertically integrated and has invested, developed, owned and managed over 5 million s/f of commercial space and over 10,000 residential units. BLT is one of the largest office landlords in Connecticut, and its office holdings include the corporate headquarters for Gen Re, GE Commercial Finance, Diageo, GE Real Estate, Xerox, GE Energy, Design Within Reach, Kayak Software, AON/Hewitt, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Structured Portfolio Management. BLT is the developer of numerous residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects, including Harbor Point, a transformative mixed-use development in Stamford, CT. One of the largest redevelopments on the eastern seaboard, Harbor Point encompasses an entire neighborhood, with a full mile of waterfront, more than 4,000 residential units, and several million s/f of commercial development.
BLT's holdings include more than 100 active real estate companies, a majority interest in William Pitt Sotheby's residential brokerage firm with 28 offices and 1,100 agents, a mortgage and insurance company, and numerous private equity investments.