VOLUME 24 NUMBER 18 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1994 OFFICE 225 HIGH RIDGE ROAD STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT PROJECT TYPE A 221,630-square-foot two-building office complex located one-half mile north of downtown Stamford, Connecticut. The buildings are secluded in the heavily wooded terrain of the property yet offer all the amenities of a major urban center. SPECIAL FEATURES Distinctive architecture reminiscent of the large estates once in the area Efficient, flexible interiors that are easily subdivided and capable of accommodating small and large tenants Full-service dining facility, 1.1-mile fitness course, and fitness center DEVELOPER/MANAGER Gerald D. Hines Interests 2800 Post Oak Boulevard Houston, Texas 77056-6118 713-621-8000 ARCHITECT Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 220 East 42nd Street New York, New York 10017 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT The SWA Group Boston, Massachusetts CIVIL ENGINEER Allan Davis Associates, Inc. Norwalk, Connecticut 06851 GENERAL DESCRIPTION The 225 High Ridge Road office complex, a 221,630-square-foot two building facility, is located one-half mile north of downtown Stamford, Connecticut, in Fairfield County. With more than 40 million square feet of office space, 5,000 hotel rooms, and the corporate headquarters for 25 Fortune 500 firms, Fairfield County has become a nationally recognized office location. Unlike most other suburban locations in the metropolitan New York area, Fairfield County has largely retained its suburban character and natural beauty. The site at 225 High Ridge Road was the last one available for development in the north Stamford area. Developed by Gerald D. Hines Interests at a total cost of $53 million, the first phase of 225 High Ridge Road opened in the spring of 1990, 15 months after the start of construction. The second building was completed three months later. Currently fully occupied at top rental rates, these buildings were 97 percent leased at completion—a striking contrast with the 20 percent vacancy rate for Class A office space that Stamford has averaged over the last four years. THE SITE AND PLAN The 225 High Ridge Road complex sits on a 14-acre parcel within a 30-acre master plan developed in conjunction with Waldenbooks, whose recently expanded headquarters building is located just to the south. In December 1986, Waldenbooks acquired a 23-acre site adjacent to its seven-acre headquarters property to accommodate its expansion requirements. Concurrently, Hines and Waldenbooks agreed to seek approval for a unified master plan of the 30-acre parcel and stipulated that Hines would subsequently purchase that portion of the property not required for the Waldenbooks expansion. The New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed both the master plan for the coordinated development and the two Hines buildings. Following an extensive review process involving complex environmental remediation, approvals required to develop the master plan were obtained, and the property was subdivided in late 1988. The three low-density office buildings and connecting roadways on the 30-acre site blend into the secluded parklike setting of the property. The master plan achieves a consistency in design through common treatment of outdoor lighting, landscaping, and signage. Though compatible in design and similar in scale, the Waldenbooks and 225 High Ridge Road complexes have distinctive identities. The mature vegetation in the center of the property and the shared main entry drive from High Ridge Road separate and define the two areas. A 1.1-mile fitness course with ten exercise stations curves through the woods. This heavily used amenity is open to the public as well as project tenants and has been the staging area for community-sponsored events such as the Stamford Marathon. The site's frontage along High Ridge Road is opposite an established residential area. To minimize any disruption to the neighborhood, the buildings are set back on the property and entry signage is unobtrusive. The 225 High Ridge Road complex is completely separated from a residential neighborhood at its northern boundary by a massive berm and thick buffer of trees. The eastern section of the site is heavily wooded, contributing to the sense of privacy and place. DESIGN The site plan for 225 High Ridge Road is an oval shape set into the wooded landscape. At the center of the site is an oval-shaped courtyard, which is the focal point of the project and across which the East and West Buildings face each other. A curved arcade connects the two buildings and provides access to services such as a cafeteria and a fitness center. The oval shape of the courtyard is repeated in the landscaping around the buildings and in the arrangement of the parking areas, where 339 parking spaces are distributed evenly around the two buildings to minimize walking distances. To preserve the existing vegetation, designers included an additional 332 parking spaces in an underground garage, for a total ratio of more than three spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space. Traffic circulation within the project is facilitated by a ring road. From the main entry drive, visitors approach the two buildings through the central courtyard, which features a stand of birch trees more than 20 feet in height. The classical masonry style architecture of the two buildings employs brick, precast concrete, and clear glass, reminiscent of the large estates that once dotted the area. David Childs, senior architect for the project, says, "The idea was to create a sense of arrival at important buildings, akin to what is found at a college campus." Unified through siting and symmetry, the buildings achieve individuality through separate entrances marked by central pavilions. Incorporating a distinctive brick pattern, the entrance pavilion for each building terminates in a barrel vault that is repeated on the outer entrances, providing a strong architectural identity when viewed from either the courtyard or High Ridge Road. TENANTS The buildings have been designed to achieve a maximum of efficiency and flexibility in tenant office facilities. Within the buildings, large rectangular floors offer the opportunity to consolidate operations in a single comprehensive plan, providing an advantage for tenants anticipating continued growth. Ranging in size from 35,000 to 40,000 square feet, the floors have been configured to optimize usable space and to accommodate either open office or partitioned layouts. Oversized windows, more than seven feet tall and six feet wide, offer natural light and views of the outdoors. A central core, two major entrances on the ground floor, and regular column spacing at 30-foot intervals allow the flexibility to plan smaller to medium-sized units. Two years into its ten-year lease, Chrysler Capital Corporation, originally the only tenant in the East Building, subleased nearly 60,000 square feet of its 115,000 square feet to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. The space proved so easy to subdivide that there was no disruption in the rental stream. Learning International, the largest tenant in the West Building at 225 High Ridge Road, occupies 55,000 square feet. U.S. Trust Company of Connecticut and Centerchem each lease 10,000 square feet of space. Six other tenants range in size from 2,000 to 8,000 square feet. EXPERIENCE GAINED The planning and design for a business location must focus on the occupancy experience. The developer should concentrate on providing services that will make the space work from the tenants' perspective and on making the space efficient and flexible in layout and operation. A well-conceived project combines form and function. Hines was faithful to its design concept of creating a stately, tradition-inspired sense of place that also provides its tenants with technologically advanced systems and a wide array of amenities and services. PROJECT DATA LAND USE INFORMATION Site Area: 14.63 acres Gross Building Area (GBA): 240,000 square feet Net Rentable Area (NRA): 221,630 square feet Average Floor Size: 35,000 square feet Floor/Area Ratio: 0.38 Total Parking Spaces: 671 Structured: 332 Surface: 339 LAND USE PLAN Acres Percent of Site Buildings 1.60 10.9 Paved areas (surface parking and roads) 2.40 16.4 Landscaped areas 6.01 41.1 Other 4.62 31.6 Total 14.63 100.0 OFFICE TENANT INFORMATION Percent of NRA Occupied: 100 percent Average Annual Rent: $17.71 per square foot Length of Leases: 3 to 10 years Typical Terms of Lease: Tenant improvements, $10 per square foot; 5-year lease Average Tenant Size: 50,000 square feet Tenant Sizes: 1,156 to 58,249 square feet ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES (1993) Taxes $572,000 Insurance 32,000 Services (cafeteria, van service, building management 514,000 services) Maintenance 175,000 Janitorial 226,000 Utilities 617,000 Management 241,000 Total $2,377,000 DEVELOPMENT COST INFORMATION Site Acquisition Cost $10,606,629 Site Improvement Costs (On- and Off-Site) Excavation $450,000 Grading 312,500 Sewer/water/drainage 375,000 Paving 314,105 Curbs/sidewalks 249,000 Landscaping/irrigation 902,500 Miscellaneous 480,600 Total $3,083,705 Construction Costs Superstructure $11,106,206 HVAC 1,857,720 Electrical 1,333,500 Plumbing/sprinklers 1,523,000 Elevators 463,200 Fees/general conditions 2,030,330 Finishes 1,586,238 Graphics/specialties 55,760 Change orders and tenant 5,879,620 work Total $25,835,574 Soft Costs Architecture/engineering $ 2,193,000 Project management 3,070,000 Leasing/marketing 6,570,000 Legal/accounting 240,277 Taxes/insurance 415,000 Title fees 57,094 Construction interest and fees 475,000 Miscellaneous 600,000 Total $13,620,371 Total Development Cost $53,146,279 Development Cost per Gross Square Foot: $221 Development Cost per Net Square Foot: $240 DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE Site Purchased: November 1988 Planning Started: March 1987 Construction Started: January 1989 Leasing Started: March 1987 Phase I Completed: April 1990 Project Completed: July 1990 DIRECTIONS From Westchester, New York, Airport: Take northbound Merritt Parkway; exit at High Ridge Road (Exit 35).