Name: James Ritman
Title: Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank
Age: 41
Experience: 16 years
Brokers at Newmark Knight Frank’s Stamford office have their finger on the pulse of commercial real estate in Fairfield and Westchester counties. The brokerage reports that the Fairfield County office market recently posted its strongest performance since 2015, as occupancy rose by 230,945 square feet in the third quarter after six quarters of flat or negative absorption. That brought the vacancy rate down 0.5 percent to 26.4 percent. James Ritman, the Stamford office’s managing director, has brokered more than $2.2 billion in transactions since joining the firm in 2002 on behalf of clients including Design Within Reach, Vineyard Vines and Progressive Insurance.
Q: What were the reasons for Newmark Knight Frank’s move from Greenwich to Stamford in 2015?
A: We’d recruited a team that was based in Westchester, so our Greenwich location was close to that office. That gave us a reason to move further north. Stamford is the major metro city in lower Fairfield County, so we were able to get a little bit closer to people who commute south to the office. And we’re in the city where most of the (commercial real estate) activity is going on. We were able to get into a really nice building (680 Washington Boulevard) right next to the train station.
Q: One of the milestone transactions in the third quarter was Charter Communication’s commitment for a 500,000-square-foot build-to-suit office complex at Building and Land Technology’s 406 Washington Boulevard. Why would a company go for new construction given all of the availabilities in existing buildings?
A: It’s really hard to put into words the magnitude of that deal. To have a build-to-suit for a company like Charter at the train station is an incredible shot in the arm and momentum swing for the city of Stamford and for Connecticut. Why they chose that versus what was out there, in terms of available inventory, they weren’t happy with the existing inventory. They wanted something that was custom-designed and to their level of finish and detail to attract and bring in 1,100 employees. They’re a company that thinks it’s important to be visible on I-95 and close to the train. This was a bigger statement and something the company uses as a vehicle to attract and retain employees. It probably wasn’t the cheapest alternative.
Q: With Bank of America’s lease of the former UBS trading floor at 600 Washington Boulevard, will we see more landlords and tenants getting creative about ways to use big office buildings?
A: This was an opportunistic move for Bank of America. With the train station and being 40 minutes from New York City, they were able to take over one of the largest trading floors in the world in a relatively new building with redundant fiber and backup power. They have a plug-and-play for their disaster recovery outside of the city. On a case-by-case basis, buildings that have run their useful life as pure office are looking to be creative with adaptive reuses. We’ve seen retail, multifamily, supermarkets, Life Time Fitness and sports facilities. In any economy, people need doctors and clearly medical has been a larger driver and will continue to remain one.
Q: What was your reaction to Gov. Dannel Malloy picking the Stamford and Hartford regions as the state’s two proposed sites for Amazon’s second headquarters?
A: Obviously I’m sitting in Stamford and we do business in Hartford. It’s a great city and it’s had its challenges over the years, every city does. Seeing what’s gone on in Stamford with the residential units built over the last 10 years, UConn Stamford expanding its programs and seeing companies like Charter and Bridgewater Assoc. move in down the street, there’s more and more groups coming to Stamford. It’s become a 365-24-7 city. The other thing that’s really unique about Stamford is you have these opportunities that are built and you have a lot of sites that are entitled or going through the entitlement process that are available to Amazon. To be able to go into good institutional quality buildings near the train or Harbor Point is incredible.
Five Favorite Bands Ritman Wishes He Could Have Seen In Concert:
- Jimi Hendrix
- Nirvana
- Led Zeppelin
- The Beatles
- Elliot Smith
