Potential Fairfield Hills Developer Pulls Out

By Steve Bigham

Collins Enterprises, LLC of Greenwich announced earlier this month that it no longer intended to proceed with its proposal to build a high-tech park on the 185-acre Fairfield Hills property. The state-owned land is up for sale, and while the town is the leading candidate to become the next owner, large development firms are expected to play a role as well.

The town is currently in the process of preparing a request for proposals from developers that specifies the terms of development of the site.

Company President Arthur Collins had expressed interest in working with the state and town to re-develop the land into a high-tech park for start-up Internet companies. However, that interest has apparently diminished.

In a letter to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, its chairman, Arthur Collins, indicated that “market shifts” had affected his company’s position. In addition, Mr Collins said he was concerned about the processes his firm would need to go through in order to get final approvals from the town.

Over the past year, Mr Collins has twice made presentations to town officials on his plan for Fairfield Hills. It was a plan that Mr Collins predicted could bring in as much as $4-$5 million in revenue to the town annually. He said he could develop a high-tech business park that would eventually house low impact companies in the five largest buildings in the core Fairfield Hills campus.

The park was to have encompassed 85 acres, leaving the remaining 100 acres to the town. Arthur Collins would have owned the buildings, while Newtown retained ownership of the land beneath them. The town would have received land rent generated from the high-tech tenants who would have moved in.

Newtown was to receive real estate and property taxes, as well as a percentage of the revenues raised by Arthur Collins. In addition, Mr Collins told town officials, the state is also assisting towns in their efforts to create these “technology zones,” offering tax breaks, grants, etc.

The cost to develop the buildings was to have been the responsibility of Arthur Collins, with the only cost to the town being the purchase of the land and buildings from the state.

There was no plan for residential development in the Arthur Collins proposal. Mr Collins envisioned Fairfield Hills becoming a hotbed for the expanding telecommunications and Internet industry.

Mr Collins was unavailable for comment this week.

This week, the New Canaan development firm of Becker and Becker indicated that they remained interested in playing a part in the future of Fairfield Hills.

“We’re still interested, although we’re not holding our breath about this,” noted President Bruce Becker Wednesday. “We spent well over a year putting together a plan we believe in; something that’s good for the town. When the time is right, we’d like to be able to discuss that proposal with town leaders, but it’s really in their court at this point.”

Some residents fear the cost to clean up the site may grow too high for the town to handle. Some residents even point to what they consider to be documented proof that Fairfield Hills is just a “money pit.” This fact makes Mr Becker’s proposal that much sweeter, they say.

“I’ve always felt that the environmental costs were far greater than what the town had indicated. Our experts say the asbestos clean up alone will be around a $20 million cost,” said Mr Becker. “If the town does not buy it, we could be selected, or the town purchases it and invites us to partner with them.”

Mr Becker says his plan remains on the table despite the changing economic climate because it is “realistic.” His adaptive re-use plan for Fairfield Hills proposes a sort of partnership with the town wherein both the town and his firm take part in a joint closing with the state. It would be a simultaneous purchase so that both parties are assured of what happens to the site.

Under his plan, Mr Becker said the campus would be conveyed to Becker and Becker at the closing of the deal with the state. Becker and Becker would in turn convey 130 acres and several buildings to the town.

The remainder of the buildings would fall under the ownership of Becker and Becker. Mr Becker’s plan is contingent on his being able to get the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This will make his company eligible to receive historic tax credits, which bring his costs for the preservation project way down.

Becker and Becker’s $160 million development plan relies largely (80-85 percent) on financing by investors, with the remainder put up by the development firm itself.

Mr Becker asked, “I wonder why, if the town does not have a clear plan for the property, why they would intervene and take the responsibility for managing the development if there is another plan they’re comfortable with? It’s one that does not expose them to anywhere near the same amount of risk.”