New office space at the Corbin District mixed-use redevelopment in downtown Darien has attracted significant preleasing as construction of the One Market building begins. Image courtesy of Baywater Properties
A development transforming downtown Darien now has a major cash infusion to help power its next phase.
Wealth management giant Barings, through its Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate arm, gave Baywater Properties a $165 million loan package for its 7-acre Corbin District development. The loan came a day after Crain’s New York Business reported that consulting giant McKinsey & Co. was relocating its 260-person Stamford office to the site.
The development’s first phase completed in 2022 and the Barings financing will enable construction of its second phase.
The Barings loan comes in the form of a commercial property assessed clean energy loan, a type of loan typically used to fund new “green building” projects or renovations that will reduce an existing building’s carbon emissions.
In an email to The Commercial Record, Barings said the $165 million in financing split between a $102 million construction loan and a $63.3 million C-PACE loan, the largest such loan since its Centerpoint arm was launched in 2011, and its structure will reduce Baywater’s interest carrying costs by $3 million over 2.5 years.
The Corbin District’s design means that it will save $2.1 million in both its water and power bills over 25 years and reduce its carbon footprint by 266 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year compared to a traditional design, Barings said. Extensive use of pervious pavers in the project will go far to protect it from stormwater flooding while its 48 electric vehicle chargers (and with the potential to add 42 more) will mean its tenants’ own carbon footprints will be lower, the firm said.
“We are excited to partner with the exceptional local team at Baywater Properties that’s transforming downtown Darien for the better and we’re pleased with our team’s ability to move quickly, customize a capital stack, and leverage our in-house construction team to position The Corbin District for success in this next phase,” Ryan Naumes, a managing director with Barings, said in a statement. “We continue to see tremendous opportunity in the construction lending space, especially as it relates to C-PACE structures.”
The Corbin District sits between Interstate 95, the Darien Metro-North train station, and Poston Post Road. The project’s second phase is expected to be complete in 2026 and will feature 11 new buildings, including 112 apartment units, 105,968 square feet of office space and 78,810 square feet of retail space. The commercial components of the property are nearly 80 percent pre-leased, Barings said, and will add a mix of new tenants, including professional service company Aon, Crestwood Advisors and Janney Montgomery Scott.
The financing from Barings has a five-year term and the C-PACE funding from CounterpointeSRE has a 25-year term, Barings said, adding that the loan went from commitment to close in 56 days. The New York JLL Capital Markets team led by Michael Gigliotti, Evan Pariser, and Robert Tonnessen advised sponsorship on the financing.
The Commercial Record editorial intern Erin Delaney contributed reporting.
