Town Receives Letter Of Intent

To Lease Woodbury Hall

By Kendra Bobowick

Phil Clark, managing partner of Woodbury Hall Partners LLC, submitted a letter of intent to the town Friday, March 30, to lease Woodbury Hall on the Fairfield Hills campus. His letter, sent via broker Michael J. Struna of Advantage Realty, proposes to demolish the existing structure and in its place construct a new 30,000-square-foot retail and office building, which would also house Claris Construction Inc, of which Mr Clark is president.

Proposed is an initial 99-year lease with an “Effective Lease Date” of May 1, 2012.

Agreeing to nothing so far other than the process to arrive at a lease arrangement, First Selectman Pat Llodra said that the letter of intent is “the first step of many.”

She said, “I am serious about these things and I want to be precise and clear” as lease negotiations move forward. She said another part of her is also “celebratory,” noting that “it’s an opportunity for the investors and the town to benefit, and I hope we end up with an agreement that is in everyone’s best interest and will serve as a spring board” for future improvements and economic activity at Fairfield Hills. She emphasized, “This is not a lease document — it’s a letter of intent to lease and the only things not subject to change are process; all else is negotiable.”

The letter’s second paragraph stresses an urgency to begin the project as soon as possible. With an understanding that the submission of the enclosed letter would initiate negotiation of a possible formal lease document, Mr Struna states, “I as the real estate broker and facilitator for this project would suggest a meeting as soon as possible with the subcommittee of the Fairfield Hills Authority to discuss in greater detail the additional terms and conditions which would be necessary for the developer to have a financially successful and sustainable development. These negotiated terms and conditions would then be the basis of a formal lease agreement between the Town of Newtown and Woodbury Hall Partners, LLC.”

Mrs Llodra said, “We have a lot of government and checks and balances and all of those take time. We will be understanding of [Mr Clark’s] sense of urgency, but there is a process to follow.”

She said, “Some issues will take time, we have to vet out every piece of this for the best chance of success and in the best interest of everybody involved.”

Among key points in the proposed lease arrangement is a visibility easement. The letter states, “The unobstructed visibility from Wasserman Way to the Woodbury Hall location is paramount to the success of future of the Land Lease Tenant / Developer.”

The letter of intent requests, “The Town of Newtown will agree to create a maintainable ‘conservation/visibility easement’ from Wasserman Way to the Woodbury Hall location …”

Standing in the line of sight between Woodbury and Wasserman Way is Danbury Hall.

The letter states, “The Town of Newtown shall, on or before 6 months after the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the shell of the building to be constructed on the leased premises, cause the removal of the building known as Danbury Hall.”

Firm in her response to this point, Mrs Llodra said, “We are not agreeing to any part of anything other than the process [at this time]. Anything that has economic impact to the town is subject to negotiation, and [demolition] is economic.”

She said, “We have not agreed to a time schedule and [the subject] will be part of negotiations.”

Currently in the town’s capital improvement budget is $400,000 in the fiscal year 2014 for infrastructure, which could include demolition, and $6 million is identified in 2015/2016, specifically for demolition. “So, it certainly could be done in one of those allocations, but we have not agreed to that timing. When demolition takes place remains to be seen,” Mrs Llodra agreed.

The letter also suggests an option to expand. “The Land Lease Tenant/Developer will have the Expansion Option … to add the property known as Newtown Hall and the appropriate amount of additional land for parking to the existing ground lease agreement.” The letter states that when the expansion option expires, “the tenant will then have the first right of refusal to lease the property by matching any prospective offering.”

Among several items described in the letter are terms for dedicated parking. “The Land Lease Tenant/Developer will be responsible for the completion of all dedicated parking lots for a total of 130 parking places, site landscaping and lawn areas, additional parking lot lighting, sidewalks, signage and other installations.

“The Land Lease Tenant/Developer parking lots will be dedicated for the use by the Tenant. Any sharing of these dedicated parking lots will be by arrangement with the Land Lease Tenant.”

Mrs Llodra said, “I am feeling okay about that.” She understands that “having dedicated parking is a critical component” for a commercial retail establishment and its tenants. She is also confident that Mr Clark is willing to cooperate with the town to use parking for special events. “I think we will end up with language for cooperation and recognition that parking there is subject to use of people in the building but at same time the town would have a right to use the parking for large events.” Making an observation, she said, “nobody parks there now.”

According to the letter,  it is also noted that proposed building will be designed to draw on many of the architectural elements currently found on the campus but yet make the transition to energy-efficient and tenant-friendly buildings expected by today’s office and retail tenants.

The letter indicates the advantages this development will bring to the town: “In the current economic climate a project of this scope will provide Newtown with statewide notoriety in addition to providing the Fairfield Hills Campus project with the ‘seed of confidence’ obviously needed to entice future developers and investors.”