Starwood Moving HQ to Connecticut

STAMFORD, CT-Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, in a coup for Connecticut, is moving its headquarters to the Harbor Point redevelopment here. Vacating its White Plains, NY office, the international lodgins company plans to take 800 jobs northeast in January 2012.

“For months I have worked with Starwood executives and my economic development team to make this deal–and the jobs and investments it brings–a reality for the people of our state,” says Gov. M. Jodi Rell in a statement.

Starwood will vacate its current headquarters at 1111 Westchester Ave. in White Plains, NY and take up residence in 250,000 square feet at Harbor Point. CEO of Starwood, Fits van Paasschen, notes in a statement, that there were incentives which helped land the company in Connecticut, saying, “Not only did the State of Connecticut provide meaningful incentives that translate to a savings of 20% per year in rent, but we will also have the opportunity to design office space that reflects Starwood’s leadership in global hospitality, design and brand-building, as well as our commitment to the environment and our communities.”

The project is getting assistance from the Department of Economic and Community Development in the form of a $9.5-million loan and Urban and Industrial Site Reinvestment Tax Credits with a ceiling of $75 million. Part of the bargain is that Starwood will receive a sales tax exemption on building materials up to $5 million from the Connecticut Development Authority. The exemption itself is subject to approval by the CDA’s board of directors. Starwood will partner with the landlord to renovate the existing facility with a $40-million investment.

Harbor Point is a $3 billion project which will build up Stamford’s South End district. The waterfront redevelopment project is on the docket for 11 acres of parks, a 485-slip marina, various office space–of which Starwood is partaking–400,000-square-feet of retail, 4,000 new residences and two hotels. The project will boast LEED certification under the LEED Neighborhood Development program and is broken into four phases. The timeline for the completion will round out the fourth phase in roughly 10 years, with construction already under way.

Building and Land Technology is the lead developer with expansion capital additionally provided by Lubert-Adler, while Antares Investment Partners still remains part of the project. Newmark Knight Frank’s Neal Golden, Ross Perlman and John Goodkind prepped Starwood Hotels in the deal.