FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNAL YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com
MARKET HITS SPEED BUMP
FCBJ this week A PUSH TO ATTRACT BUSINESSES to Stratford has resulted in at least 350 new jobs and corporate expansions … 3 STATE TRANSPORTATION officials have a new tool in their arsenals that could speed up bridge construction … 5 THE FORMER CONGRESSIONAL campaign manager for Christopher Donovan pleaded guilty to conspiracy and faces up to five years in prison … 12 A BUSINESS PLAN competition now in its second year has brought out the best in budding entrepreneurs at Fairfield University … 17
April 22, 2013 | VOL. 49, No. 16
Office vacancY raTe up acrOss fairfielD cOunTY BY PATRICK GALLAGHER pgallagher@westfairinc.com
O
ffice leasing activity across Fairfield County slumped in the first quarter, falling nearly 30 percent compared with a year ago, as the county’s vacancy rate increased to 20.5 percent, a new report shows. New leases reached in the first quarter of 2013 totaled 247,782 square feet as activity
declined 61 percent from the previous quarter and 29 percent from the first quarter of 2012, according to CBRE Inc.’s MarketView report. The state of the commercial market was no more apparent than in Stamford’s central business district (CBD). There, relocations, consolidations and closures by financial services firms including Citigroup, Diamondback Capital Management, Discover Financial Services and Aladdin
» Market, page 6
Encore, encore!
RESTORING
AARP TELLS BOOMERS TO START NEW BUSINESSES
a
CORNERSTONE
BY JENNIFER BISSELL jbissell@westfairinc.com
PAGE 2
MEDIA PARTNER
The Bedford Square proposal calls for the Weeks Pavilion, inset, to be razed and replaced with new mixed-use buildings.
+
Capital Holding Group contributed to 200,000 square feet of space that was returned to the market. Countywide, nearly 450,000 square feet of space was vacated during the first quarter, according to CBRE. The vacancy rate, now at 20.5 percent, rose from 20.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and from 19.3 percent a year prior. “A lot of the larger deals and a lot of
9 Webster Bank Arena thrives
CONNECT WITH FCBJ westfaironline.com
@
BABY BOOMERS LOOKING for the next phase of employment may want to look in the mirror. AARP officials are encouraging workers over the age of 50 to start their own businesses. The retirement planning and advocacy group held two workshops April 16 in Waterbury and April 18 in Bridgeport for “encore entrepreneurs.” The workshops, also hosted by the Connecticut Small Business Administration, included presentations from local business development groups and networking opportunities. “A lot of people over 50 are in a position where they can take a risk,” said Nora Duncan, Connecticut AARP director. Groups that participated included the Women’s Business Development Council, national business counseling group SCORE and Social Enterprise Trust Inc., an entrepreneurial social advocacy group, among others. After 50, many people no longer have children at home, have taken a retirement package or have a less traditional job, Duncan said. Nearly 33 percent of AARP members in Connecticut are extremely or very inter» Encore, page 6