Date: Fri 20-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Gordon-Fraser-Ryer-real-estate

Full Text:

Gordon Fraser Building On The Market For $2.4 Million

BY KAAREN VALENTA

The former Gordon Fraser, Inc, property at 173 South Main Street in Newtown is

for sale. The asking price for the 8,700-square-foot building and 8.7 acres of

land is $2.4 million.

Jeff Ryer of Ryer Associates Commercial Real Estate in Danbury is the

exclusive selling agent.

The building includes 32,000 square feet of modern warehouse/industrial space

with 13-foot ceilings and two loading docks/drive-ins. There also is 10,000

square feet of office space. The building is served by water and gas lines.

"The property represents an exciting opportunity for Ryer Associates and area

businesses," Mr Ryer said. "At a point where inventory of this type of space

is very low, the (Gordon Fraser) building offers rarely available expansion or

relocation potential."

Before the Gordon Fraser operation closed, Geoffrey D. Baldwin, president and

general manager, said he thought the Newtown property would be leased rather

than sold.

But Mr Ryer said the British owner of the property decided to sell because it

would be easier than being a landlord.

"But if anyone came in with a proposal to lease, I'd certainly present that

proposal to the owners," he said.

Gordon Fraser closed its warehouse and gift shop in December after Hallmark

Cards, the Kansas City, Mo., corporation which owned the company, decided to

market all of the Gordon Fraser greeting cards, wrapping paper, stationery and

gift items under its British subsidiary, Hallmark Cards Limited.

The Newtown facility, which employed 27 people, had served as the distribution

center for Gordon Fraser products in the United States. The property is owned

by Golden Oak Investments, Ltd, a British consortium which includes Andrew

Bronsword. Mr Bronsword began his own greeting card company in Bath, England,

in 1971 and purchased Gordon Fraser in 1989. The British group became a

Hallmark subsidiary in 1993.

When the Newtown facility was built in the mid-1970s in a wooded tract along

Route 25, an article in The Newtown Bee noted its "attractive wood siding,

beamed ceilings in the gift shop and private offices, and a suite for Mr

Fraser complete with a kitchen and floor-to-ceiling fireplace in the living

room."

Last June attorney Gregory F. Gervodidio of Pullman & Comley LLC of Hartford,

representing Golden Oak Investments, filed a lawsuit in Danbury Superior

Court, appealing the $1,566,550 tax assessment placed on the property by the

town of Newtown. The property had been re-assessed in the townwide revaluation

done in 1996.

The suit contended that the tax assessor had over-valued and over-assessed the

property and that an appeal to the town's Board of Assessment Appeals was

unsuccessful. The suit asked for a reduction in the assessment plus damages.

Tax-assessed values are set at 70 percent of a property's estimated full

market value. A $1,566,550 tax assessed value would place the estimated full

market value at $2,237,929.