UBS Warburg continues expansion in Stamford.

Whether you drive to Stamford on Interstate 95 or travel by train via the Stamford Transportation Center, signs of the city's real estate boom are hard to miss.

UBS Warburg, the company often mentioned in conjunction with the city's recent economic revival, recently started construction on the second phase of its Washington Boulevard facility. Across the street, Louis Dreyfus Property Group is demolishing its existing nine-story building to make room for a new 23-story office tower.

"The Stamford economy is extremely strong right now," said Stamford Chamber of Commerce President John "Jack" Condlin.

UBS Warburg, the American division of Europe's third-largest bank UBS A.G., opened the facility completed during the first phase of construction in 1997. The second phase of construction will add 338,000 square feet to the building, enlarging it to 910,000 square feet. The $100 million project is scheduled to be completed 2002.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and being built by Turner Construction, the UBS Warburg addition will enlarge the trading floor by 36,000 square feet. At 103,000 square feet, the expanded trading floor will be the world's largest. The company currently employees 3,000 people, but will add 500 new workers with the added space. Of the total workforce, 1,150 people work as securities trading personnel.

A third phase of construction is planned for the facility, but the company has not announced an anticipated start date for the work. The city's Zoning Board approved all three phases of construction in the mid-1990s, when the company unveiled plans to leave Manhattan and build a new facility in Stamford.

Across the street on Richmond Hill Avenue, Louis Dreyfus has already demolished a gas station and warehouse on the site where the company plans to build a 574,000-square-foot office tower.

Within the next few months, the company expects to complete the land transactions, environmental clean-up and other necessary details prior to the start of construction, said Stamford-based Land Use Consultant Richard Redniss, of Redniss & Mead Inc., who has worked on the project.

Company officials have not announced a tenant for the building but, in public statements, have appeared bullish about the project. When pressed on the issue, company officials express optimism that a deal will be reached, but usually stop short of saying the company will move forward with the project "on speculation," or without securing a tenant prior to construction. When questioned about a tenant, Redniss made similar statements.

"(Securing a tenant) won't be something that holds up the project," Redniss said.

In the past 20 years, the supply of office space in Stamford has more than doubled, going from about 12 million square feet to 30 million square feet. When UBS Warburg built its new headquarters in 1997, however, it was the only new office building the city had seen in a decade. The lack of new construction and the thriving economy has resulted in an extremely tight office market that could benefit from the addition of new space. For this reason, business officials are rooting for the successful completion of the Louis Dreyfus project, Condlin said.

"We're anxious and hopeful that it will move forward," Condlin said. "It would provide much needed relief for a tight office market. We need more space for existing companies to grow."

Joe McGee, executive director of SACIA, the Business Council, said there has been about one million square feet of new office space built during the 1990s, but that is far less than the six million built during the 1980s.

"Stamford is doing well but the growth is more modest than in the 1980s," he said.

However, the jobs that are being brought to the city are of much higher quality than in the past, he said.

"The companies that are coming here are high-paying, information-based companies," McGee said.

The office market isn't the only sector reaping the benefits of a strong economy. The influx of new jobs has created a demand for workers and, with mare people working in the city, the housing market has tightened.

To meet the demand for housing new apartments are being built, mainly in downtown Stamford where residents are close to shops, restaurants, and public transportation. A 316-unit apartment building is under construction on Forest and Greyrock streets where a school used to be located. A few blocks away on Summer, Bedford and North streets, Archstone Communities has begun work on a 161-unit luxury apartment building at the site of a former parking lot.

On Southfield Avenue along the West Branch of Stamford Harbor, work has started on a 323-unit luxury apartment building to be owned and operated by AvalonBay Communities Inc. Six fuel storage tanks owned by Hoffman Fuel Company were torn down to make room for the new housing.