Town Poised To Cast Its Net For Fairfield Hills Developers

By Steve Bigham

The Town of Newtown has announced that it will next week begin sending out letters to more than 200 firms that may be interested in developing the Fairfield Hills campus.

On Monday, the Board of Selectmen gave final approval to the town’s request for proposals (RFP), a 60-page document which outlines the town’s plans, needs, and preferred uses of the 185-acre 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.

First Selectman Herb 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.

Interested developers will be asked to contact the first selectman’s office for the RFP package, which will only be sent out upon request and for a $25 fee. Firms can also download the RFP off the town’s home page (www.newtown.org/FHH).

As the letter points out, 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. It also points out that Fairfield Hills once served as a state mental health hospital.

“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.

It also indicated that a pre-submission conference and on-site tour of the property will be held in March. The deadline for the submission of proposals is likely to be in April.

The framework of the RFP, created by Harrall, Michalowski Associates of Hamden, 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 reserved 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.

EDC Supports Plan

Last week, the Economic Development Commission announced its support for the RFP for the redevelopment of Fairfield Hills. It supports the redevelopment of the campus for municipal services and economic growth. It cites the location of the campus, appropriate zoning, and the availability of infrastructure as leading incentives that should help attract a developer who will work with the town.

The EDC said it agrees that the action will improve Newtown’s economic condition and development by increasing its capacity for community services and economic growth. The commission believes that a public/private partnership will allow the diverse interests of the town to eventually evolve and focus on the immediate and long term municipal services and community development needs that have been suggested by various groups. At the same time, the private sector will be able to focus on redeveloping certain elements of the campus with more efficiency and flexibility than the town government.