Cushman & Wakefield to lease 1m s/f Fairfield development.

Fairfield Metro Center, slated to be the largest LEED[R] (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified new construction project in Connecticut that will combine a new onsite Metro North commuter rail station with over one million square feet of office, hotel and retail space, has officially begun its leasing initiative and has selected Cushman & Wakefield as exclusive agent.

The groundbreaking will take place in July with the first phase of Fairfield Metro Center scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010. Phase One will feature the train station, the concourse building, which includes 89,000 s/f feet of office space, 30,000 s/f of retail space and the first of four 200,000 s/f office buildings with views of the Long Island Sound, a 190-room Hilton hotel, and a 40,000 s/f fitness center, indoor pool and spa.

At the core of the development, which is located on 35 acres off Exit 24 of Interstate 95 in Fairfield, Conn., is the new Fairfield Metro train station with 65-minute direct access to Grand Central Terminal. The development overlooks Ash Creek and a 10-acre conservation area with nature trails for walking and jogging.

Fairfield Metro Center is expected to become the first development of its scope in Connecticut to achieve LEED certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's new construction rating system. The LEED certification is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance, environmentally sound, green buildings. Fairfield Metro Center is expected to qualify for LEED Green Building certification at the silver level.

The project will be built by Blackrock Realty L.L.C., a joint venture between Westport, Conn.-based Wittek Development, and New Rochelle, N.Y.-based Rugby Realty Co.

"We're delighted that our seven years of effort are finally bringing this project to fruition and that we're getting into the ground to build Fairfield Metro Center," said Kurt Wittek, CEO of Wittek Development. "We look forward to welcoming a roster of elite companies to our world-class development."

Cushman & Wakefield's, Edward Weiss, Steve Baker, Brooke Feder, Gregory Frisoli, and Paul Kauffman, serve as the team representing property ownership in the leasing of 850,000 s/f of office space. The project team also includes international architectural and design firm Gensler, recipient of the U.S. Green Building Council's 2005 Leadership Award, and engineering firm Cosentini Associates, whose notable sustainable LEED Gold projects include The Solaire and Goldman Sachs World Headquarters in New York City.

"It is exciting to see Fairfield Metro Center come to realization after Blackrock's extensive efforts," said Joseph Harbert, chief operating officer of the New York Metro Region for Cushman & Wakefield. "We are thrilled to have been selected as leasing agent for this high-profile assignment. This thriving mixed-use development, built around public transportation and amenities, has been designed to support tenants' productivity and growth and will reinvent the workplace as we know it today."

Fairfield Metro Center incorporates the leading thinking in sustainability and high-performance buildings and its tenants will experience significant annual savings in the areas of energy efficiency and reliability, increased employee retention and reduced hiring costs, based on the property design.

"Fairfield Metro Center is being developed utilizing all the best practices of high-performance building design," said Feder, a director at Cushman & Wakefield.

"Typically, a company's employee costs are 10 to 12 times that of their total occupancy costs including rent, maintenance and utilities, so each improvement in workforce productivity, morale and overall health can have a significant impact on the bottom line. That's why leading corporations, such as those in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, are more profitable than their peers."

"Fairfield Metro Center possesses numerous powerful features," said Aaron Stauber of Rugby Realty.

"With its brand new, highly-efficient construction, unsurpassed tenant amenities, access to a large and highly talented labor pool, and direct train access to Manhattan, the complex will become the most sought after address for tenants in the market for discerning, energy efficient space."