Moving up: Darien Times relocates Corbin office

Written by Joshua Fisher
Thursday, 22 October 2009 08:14

It was 16 years ago this week that The Darien Times published its first issue and opened its store-front office on Corbin Drive. On Thursday and Friday, The Times will relocate the office to the third floor of the Corbin Building, owned by Baywater Properties, making room for a children-oriented gym.

After 16 years on the first floor, the staff will have a birds’ eye view from its newly renovated offices on the third floor. The entrance is just a few doors down from the 4 Corbin Drive office, at 10 Corbin Drive.

“David Genovese and his team at Baywater approached us last year as our lease was ending and gauged our interest in moving into upstairs office space they planned to renovate,” Martin V. Hersam, chief operating officer of Hersam Acorn Newspapers, said. “They have been fantastic to work with — and fitted us with great new space, and now they can continue their efforts to enhance the retail experience in the Corbin Drive-Post Road neighborhood.”

Baywater just signed a lease with the Little Gym for the space formerly occupied by The Times and Country Living Associates.

“My team and I have worked extraordinarily hard over the past 18 months to find a replacement tenant for the Country Living space on the ground floor of 10 Corbin Drive,” David Genovese, founder of Baywater Properties, said. “And we wanted to find a tenant that not only fit the space but fit the Darien market and add to the mix of tenants in Darien’s downtown. The Little Gym is a high-quality tenant providing a range of activities and classes for the children of Darien, and they will drive foot traffic which will enhance the business of other retailers in the area.”

Genovese added that The Little Gym expects to open in early 2010.

With the signing of the lease with the Little Gym, the Corbin Building is now 100 percent occupied. “In connection with the renovation of the third floor, we signed an expansion of our lease with Alloy Marketing, a firm lead by Darien resident Jefferson Myers,” Genovese said. “We also signed a lease with Desso USA, a subsidiary of Armstrong World Industries, who relocated from another Baywater Properties building in Stamford. The Darien Times space on the third floor was the last remaining office space available in the building at 10 Corbin Drive.”

Baywater Properties acquired the building in 2007, and within six months of the acquisition it repositioned the entire second floor of the building. “We expanded the space leased by DFM Insurance, we signed a new lease with Noroton Capital (an investment manager focused upon distressed corporate situations and lead by Darien residents Bill Seibold and Nigel Ekern), we signed a new lease with Dr. Ann Callahahn, signed a new lease with the Darien Chamber of Commerce (which relocated from 17 Old King’s Highway South) and we expanded our lease with Pinnacle Tax Advisors,” Genovese said.

The Darien Times staff will be moving upstairs on Thursday and Friday, but do not expect to lose any phone or Internet connections. The main phone number, 656-4230, will remain.