Hartford Business Journal

6 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 24, 2025 DE AL WATCH been fully leased, Genovese said. Retail tenants include Bank of America, Barrett Bookstore, Sail to Sable The Cabana, Shoes 'N' More, Green & Tonic, Darien Toy Box, among others. The project's goal is to create a new town square in a Fairfield County suburb with just over 22,000 residents, and a median household income of $250,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. A recent Bloomberg article high- lighting McKinsey's move to Darien said the town is quickly "becoming a miniature version of nearby Greenwich," and is looking to attract bankers who want to stop commuting to New York City. Indeed, a marketing website describes The Corbin District as a place where "New York City meets New England." Quality of space Genovese said the office space was initially offered at $60 per square foot, but high demand has increased asking rents for the remaining avail- able space to $90 per square foot. That rivals Greenwich's average asking rent of $91.15 per square foot for class A office space, according to commercial real estate broker Cushman & Wakefield. Fairfield County's fourth-quarter average asking rent was $34.37 per square foot, Cushman & Wakefield data shows. Overall, Darien currently has only a small slice (484,684 square feet) of Fairfield County's overall office market, but most of that space (nearly 96%) in town is occupied. Fair- field County's 37.6 million square feet of office space was 29% vacant at the end of the fourth quarter, Cushman & Wakefield data shows. "The success of the Darien office market is primarily driven by the quality of its office space and its accessibility via the Metro-North rail line," said Steven Fiore, senior research analyst with Cushman & Wakefield. Fiore said office tenants today desire modern, high-quality buildings near major transit hubs. "Needless to say, this aligns with Darien's offerings," Fiore said. "In contrast, much of Fairfield County's office inventory consists of older suburban corporate office parks, which are struggling to compete with current tenant preferences." The Corbin District's class A office space will benefit Darien's economic development by complementing a downtown that is already class A, said the town's First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky. "You walk across the street or across the parking lot to a class A restaurant to entertain colleagues or clients," Zagrodzky said. "There are class A shops and boutiques, there's a class A clothing store, a class A ice cream place." Another reason Darien's office space is attractive, Zagrodzky said, is because many of the town's residents are office workers who no longer want to spend almost an hour in I-95 traffic to get to their employers in Stamford or Greenwich. "If you leave in the morning from here at 8:15 for a meeting in Greenwich, it's going to take you 40 minutes in heavy traffic just to get to Greenwich," he said. "Frankly, I think a lot of people just said we are sick of that." Whether The Corbin District will fully satisfy Darien's future office space demand remains to be seen, Zagrodzky said. "I think it's kind of what the market will bear," he said. "I don't know that there are a lot more locations in town where you can put that type of office space, so David is really in a great spot in terms of location and that strategy to create that very attractive office space." Darien First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky discusses The Corbin District project in his Town Hall office. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL JULIANO THU, APRIL 3, 2025 — 7:30PM An Evening with José Andrés Renowned Humanitarian, Chef and Restaurateur Moderator: Danny Meyer Live and unscripted at The Bushnell Tickets on Sale ctforum.org Hosted by When the world hurts, he heals. LIFETIME VISIONARIES: Connecticut Public | The Hartford Financial Services Group Lincoln Financial Group | RTX Corporation | The Rosalyn Group | Travelers

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