The Summit At Danbury Signs Lease With Nuvance Health

DANBURY, CT — Nuvance Health announced Monday it will be leasing 220,000 square feet of office space in the former Union Carbide building to consolidate offices in Connecticut and bring 500 jobs from locations in New York.

The deal is the largest office lease in the state this year, according to a news release from Summit Development of Southport, who acquired the property two years ago.

"The turnaround of this property that had been a beacon in Danbury for nearly 40 years has gone beyond what we could have imagined," said project manager Michael Basile. "We have invested $20 million in improvements, and we have been blessed with robust commercial activity that has brought 12 new leases since our October 2018 acquisition, increasing occupancy from 20 percent to 41 percent. The Nuvance lease will bring office space occupancy to 80 percent and with their proposed further expansion we will be at 100 percent."

The lease with Nuvance is for 12 years and includes an option to expand up to 300,000 square feet. Nuvance operates seven hospitals in Connecticut and New York, including Danbury Hospital and Norwalk Hospital, and Putnam Hospital and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in New York. Its executive headquarters, back offices, labs and clinical facilities will be consolidated at The Summit.

"The announcement of the agreement between The Summit and Nuvance Health is some of the best economic news we have seen this year," said Gov. Ned Lamont. "Summit Development has made a lasting commitment to Danbury and to the State of Connecticut through their investment in this property, and their new partnership with Nuvance Health, a healthcare institution which provides world-class care. This announcement is only the beginning, as I know it will serve as a catalyst for additional growth and development in Danbury."

Summit Development, joined by Crestline and the Rizzo Companies, acquired the property in foreclosure and just 15 percent occupied, for $17 million two years ago.

Summit Development President Felix T. Charney said: "This is not only a success for us, but it allows Nuvance to have a unified, centralized headquarters, and obviously, it is a major economic boost for the City of Danbury and the State of Connecticut. We could not be happier with this outcome."

Charney has made a specialty of turning around underperforming commercial properties in the Connecticut-New York area including repositioning the Norden Systems plant on Interstate 95 in Norwalk to a mixed-use residential and office complex; converting the Handy & Harmon factory site in Fairfield to a retail center anchored by Whole Foods; and renovating the Yale Lock Building and The Maritime buildings on the waterfront in South Norwalk into stylish offices and apartments.

Anthony M. Rizzo Jr., president and CEO of The Rizzo Companies, said that the collaboration between private sector and the city is enabling the creation of "a dynamic live-work-play environment under one roof — essentially a city within a city — that will be unique to the region."

The Summit is also intended to be home to the $75 million Danbury Career Academy for middle and high school students, and 200 residential apartments.

When completed, The Summit at Danbury will have 600,000 square feet of office space; 75,000 square feet of conference and event space; and 30,000 square feet of core services and amenities including Market Place Kitchen & Bar, Platinum Fitness, conference space and pool; 400 residential apartments; and a public school.

"The Summit at Danbury is positioned to be our city’s biggest asset," said former mayor Mark Boughton. "Nuvance Health's decision to move its regional and New York-based offices to the Summit is great news for our entire city. In this highly challenging time, the success of The Summit is a bright spot and an encouraging sign for the future. "

Designed by the prominent architectural firm of Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo, the building was constructed as Union Carbide's corporate headquarters in the early 1980s at a cost of $450 million. In 2002, Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide and sold the building in 2006. In 2009, a new owner purchased the 1.2 million-square-foot hilltop building at 39 Old Ridgebury Road just off Interstate 84 Exit 1 just east of the New York State line in 2009. Converting it to multi-tenant office space and renaming it The Matrix, it enjoyed some leasing success. However, following the death of the owner six years later in an auto accident, the complex began losing tenants and eventually slipped into foreclosure, according to Summit Development.