Prospective Developers Get Their First Look At Fairfield Hills

By Steve Bigham

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal served as a tour guide during a town-sponsored walk-through of the Fairfield Hills campus last Friday morning. Among the 15 or so on hand were representatives from five different companies, all apparently interested in re-developing the site.

The five firms took part in the tour to see first-hand the kind of potential for re-development that the former state mental health hospital offered. They responded to the town’s recent announcement that it was seeking developers to work with the town for the adaptive re-use of the 185-acre campus.

Earlier this year, the Board of Selectmen approved a request for proposals (RFP) document, which outlines the town’s plans, needs, and preferred uses of the campus, which the town is expected to purchase from the state sometime this year. The state has offered to sell the property to Newtown “as is” for $5.5 million. No final deal has been struck, though an agreement is expected soon. In the meantime, the town is seeking to line up developers and is hoping the RFP will help it succeed in doing so. The town sent out 200 letters seeking proposals in addition to advertising Fairfield Hills in various business journals and on the Internet. Mr Rosenthal is hoping that several others will come forward before the April 16 deadline.

“There weren’t as many firms as I had hoped. There were five altogether and a few of them expressed a real interest in doing something there,” said Mr Rosenthal, who speculated that some firms may be interested but did not show up because they had taken a previous tour or because of the inclement weather. Two years ago, before the town expressed interest in buying the campus, the state held a similar tour and 80 prospective companies took part.

Mr Rosenthal hopes to have a plan for the re-use of Fairfield Hills in place before recommending a purchase to taxpayers.

Last Friday, two firms that showed particular interest, according to Mr Rosenthal, were Online University of Texas and Ginsburg Development, LLC. Online University provides students an opportunity to earn their degree on the World Wide Web; however, it is also looking to develop its own campus. Ginsburg specializes in elderly housing development and seeks to partner with a second firm, which would focus on commercial development at the site.

Ginsburg is already familiar with Newtown, seeking to build age-restricted condominiums on Mt Pleasant.

Another company, known only as DMR, was also on hand. DMR, a healthcare firm, is a finalist in the state’s selection of a firms to re-develop the former Seaside training school in Waterford.

There is no word yet on how many firms will ultimately submit proposals, although numerous RFPs have been downloaded from the town’s Web site, while others were mailed out upon request.

In its offer, the state stipulated that Newtown be responsible for any necessary environmental cleanup of the site. Ground contamination cleanup has been estimated to be as high as $1 million, while the removal of asbestos and lead from the buildings could soar as high as $10 million or more. Under town ownership, Mr Rosenthal is hoping a developer might share in those costs.

Mr Rosenthal said he plans to use the RFP process to find out if there is a market for the reuse of Fairfield Hills as envisioned by the residents of Newtown.

“We got a couple of very promising ones. People came up to me and said they were very interested in the site,” he said.

State Rep Julia Wasserman said it is clear that most developers are going to want to build some residential housing. It’s simply a fact, she said, and “the town will have to bite the bullet.”

Mrs Wasserman said the state would be quick to sell the campus to a developer should the town decline its offer. The state could also retain the campus and re-use portions of it for a hospital once again.

“If the town does not buy it, there are legislators out there who would recommend that some of it be used as a hospital again. And it might be difficult to draw other tenants to fill the rest of the buildings,” she said.

 

The Town’s Marketing Efforts

In its letter to development firms last month, the town pointed out that Fairfield Hills is located in the heart of Newtown in Fairfield County within minutes of Interstate 84 and within close proximity of major markets, including New York City, Stamford, Hartford, and Boston.

“Situated in a campus-like setting, the complex consists of numerous structures totaling over one million square feet of building area,” the letter states. “All utilities are available at the site, including hookup to a newly constructed sewer treatment facility.”

The letter indicates that the town will use its conceptual reuse plan as a guide for development teams who respond to the solicitation. The reuse plan envisions a revenue-producing core area with use of some existing buildings for municipal needs and an entry plaza with a potential mix of uses. The predominant use of land within the 185-acre site would be for open space/recreation. Adaptive reuse of a majority of the existing buildings is envisioned to achieve the reuse concept.

Overall, according to the letter, the top priorities are placed on maintaining the open space, vistas, entry plaza, and campus setting to enhance the quality of life in Newtown.

The framework of the RFP is based on the general recommendations of the Fairfield Hills advisory committee. Those recommendations call for town ownership of all 185 acres and mixed uses such as municipal offices, recreation facilities, playing fields, open space, and commercial uses, such as offices and small shops.

The RFP addresses the town’s needs and interests while allowing some flexibility for the creativity of the professional development community. Mr Rosenthal called the document specific and “much more targeted” to Newtown’s interests than the state RFP process of two years ago.

 Specifically, it requires that development not exceed the 1,231,453 square feet of enclosed space currently at Fairfield Hills. No more than five percent of that space should be devoted to retail uses, according to the RFP, and no more than 200 residential units and/or beds should be in the development plan. Council member Ruby Johnson has opposed this idea. She does not want to see any housing at Fairfield Hills.

The proposed RFP also calls for 32,000 square feet of space to be allocated for town offices in addition to a building for recreational purposes.

Outside of these uses, 125 of the 185 acres of the site should be preserved as open space, with 90 acres of that total for passive recreation, and 35 acres for five to seven playing fields.

The RFP also directs potential developers to be sensitive to environmental issues, including protection of the underlying aquifer and limiting the negative impact of traffic on local streets.

The document also sets basic design principles for development at Fairfield Hills to encourage a continuation of the current campus environment at the site. Exterior renovations and new construction should be visually compatible with the existing architecture, according to the proposed RFP, and the “visual relationship” between the campus and the open space should be maintained. The purpose of these design principles is to encourage the preservation of the “sense of place” that Fairfield Hills now enjoys.