Letter Of Intent Due This Week—

FHA Planning Panel Gets Glimpse Of Claris Commercial Proposal

By Kendra Bobowick

and John Voket

Claris Construction President and Newtown resident Phil Clark said he would be submitting a letter of intent to the town March 22 to tear down Woodbury Hall and build in its footprint retail and office space. His ambitions became evident during a Fairfield Hills Authority subcommittee meeting Monday, and by Wednesday evening’s full authority meeting he stressed, “I can’t wait; I’ve got to get going, please appreciate my need to move fast.” He aims to break ground by summer, he said, for a tilt-in-place build that should take roughly nine months to finish.

The Fairfield Hills Authority’s Planning Subcommittee Monday morning got a glimpse of what a proposed commercial building on the site would look like.

Mr Clark envisions his company offices relocating from South Main Street to the top floor of a new three-story, 30,000-square-foot structure. The building renderings presented to the authority subcommittee March 19 also illustrate retail space on the first floor, including a bank with a drive-up service window and ATM, as well as a commercial donut shop.

Although the elevation drawing illustrates a Dunkin’ Donuts trade name on the building, the town’s commercial real estate consultant, Michael Struna, said there is no public commitment from the popular retail food chain to open a franchise at Fairfield Hills.

Mr Clark wants to construct his new building on the Woodbury Hall site as soon as possible, he wants dedicated parking, and he wants to include Newtown Hall as a phase II to the project. He also wants “to hear that [the town] will be taking Danbury Hall down,” Mr Clark added. He then asked for a “visual easement” where Danbury Hall had been saying, “I ask that nothing else is built.” Details remain to be negotiated, which begins with the letter of intent. First Selectman Pat Llodra said, “Once the letter is accepted it triggers the negotiation process.”

Mr Clark has estimated the total investment of razing the existing structure and rebuilding on its footprint at $5 million. At the March 19 meeting, Mr Struna told FHA committee members John Madzula, Michael Holmes, and Ross Carley that the developer hopes to expedite getting the development to its groundbreaking phase.

Mr Struna later said tenants on the ground floor of a building that will also house Mr Clark’s Claris Construction Inc offices could include a bank, a coffee shop, and a restaurant. “We’ve had discussions with folks already and we’re feeling confident that we’ll have good occupancy.”

The real estate consultant said the building would be constructed on a slab with no basement level, and that it would have a more welcoming appeal than the existing structure because visitors would only need to negotiate a single step up from ground level, or enter via a low-grade ramp.

Mr Struna also revealed to the FHA subcommittee that the lessee would seek a unique arrangement with the town, not only maintaining the structure within its footprint, but also the grounds around it, including adjacent shared parking areas and public grounds.

In lieu of common charges, Mr Struna said Claris may seek to assist in clearing, plowing, and sanding walkways and parking lots around the proposed building, as well as maintaining landscaping in the area. Claris would also bear the cost of electricity and water required for the building and grounds to be shared on the adjacent campus, including the green, if officials were agreeable, Mr Struna said.

On further questioning from Mr Carley, the agent said that the eventual expansion of parking would likely displace the current farmers’ market site, presumably to a less traffic-intensive area of the campus.

“If [organizers of] the market assume the parking lot will be shared with the market, that will not be the case,” Mr Struna told the committee.

Town Land Use Director George Benson was in attendance at the March 19 meeting and said he always anticipated the farmers’ market would be moved if the current site was developed.

Mr Struna said the developer would request the town fast-track the removal of the abandoned Danbury Hall closest to the campus entrance, to further open up sight lines to the new building, as well as the campus.

The developer also hopes to proceed by completing the lease before a final site plan runs the gamut of town agencies and boards for final approvals. Mr Benson and Mr Holmes confirmed that the project would face a minimum of two public hearings for the lease transaction and the site development.

While the building would not be a certified “green” project, Mr Struna said the developer plans to use whatever green features possible to maximize energy efficiency, including a possible supplemental geothermal heating component.

“It’s all subject to cost,” Mr Struna said. “Economics are tight.”

Mr Struna added that the building would not only be a new home office for Claris, but a “demonstration of what he does — his display case.”

Parking Issue

An outstanding issue on whether the parking at the site will be dedicated rather than open to the public is expected to be negotiated through attorneys and will likely include expert advise to the authority.

Since one resident, Deborra Zukowski, earlier spoke against the concept of dedicated parking, citing public events such as Relay For Life, the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers’ Market, and an upcoming arts festival that would require use of the parking areas on campus, newer authority member Thomas Connors asked Mr Clark, “Is the parking issue a deal breaker?”

“Yes,” answered Mr Clark. Authority Chairman James Bernardi had said earlier at the March 21 meeting, “Is there anyone here who does not like this project?” He continued, “I like it, and I am sure our lawyers can hash out the parking.”

Would Mr Clark be willing to work with the town regarding parking concerns? He said he would, noting, “It’s a [public] campus, I understand that.” He is said that on weekends when his tenants are not on campus, that “of course” the lots would be available.

But both he and Mr Struna are firm that the office spaces will not appeal to tenants if they cannot promise parking. Parking aside, both Mr Clark and Mr Struna were most concerned about getting the project moving, and quickly.

‘An Interest Of Time’

When Mr Struna stressed “an interest of time,” authority member Michael Holmes said, “We’ll address this in a timely fashion.” Mr Struna, on Mr Clark’s behalf, said they hoped to be negotiating as soon as next week.

“We definitely want to keep this moving and don’t want to hold you up on anything that we don’t feel is a crucial issue,” Mr Carley said.

“Hopefully this [project] will bear fruit, and bare it quickly,” said Mr Bernardi.

Mr Connors had several other questions, asking, “If you knock Woodbury down, what about surprises? Do you feel confident?”

“I have my arms around what I will have to pay. I am confident.” Mr Clark has “done” two other buildings on the campus, he said, and is aware pf remediation issues and costs, he said. Claris Construction Inc built the Newtown Youth Academy several years ago. Mr Connors then asked about the phase II — Newtown Hall.

The tenants he would hope to attract to that site would “depend on the tenants” that show interest in Woodbury Hall, he said.

Answering questions about design features in large color renderings he presented Wednesday, Mr Clark said on points of disagreement, “We can sit down over coffee — this is my building, I love it, this is it.”

As a resident and taxpayer he wants to see activity and life at the Fairfield Hills campus, he said, and hopes his new construction will be a “catalyst to other developers” and a “showcase” for all the standards spelled out in the master plan for campus reuse, but “raising the bar,” he told the authority this week.

Mr Bernardi had said, “This sounds like economic development to me, and would be the only development on campus other than the Newtown Youth Academy. I think this would be a good start.”

Background

At a Fairfield Hill Authority meeting last month, Mr Clark first explained his vision to relocate his company’s offices from 153 South Main Street to the upper floors of a 30,000-square-foot, three-story structure with retail space on the first floor. In giving his $5 million estimate for razing the existing structure and rebuilding in its footprint he noted, the teardown, which will involve hazardous material remediation, really drives the costs.

He proposed using the Woodbury Hall footprint saying of the building itself, “It can’t be saved. We’ll rebuild.” Like the Newtown Youth Academy, which Claris Construction built several years ago, and which fits with the current architecture on the campus, Mr Clark said the new office and retail building will also blend in. “We’ll try to save the columns” that stand outside the entrance to Woodbury Hall, he said.

He described the proposed new building as high performance and environmentally friendly. “It won’t be entirely off the grid, but it will be efficient.”

Both business and personal reasons are driving his interest in space at the former state hospital campus. Increasing his Claris office space aside, he said, “As a taxpayer it bothers me that nothing is happening [in terms of Fairfield Hills reuse].”

Since the town purchased more than 180 acres of the state’s land and buildings in 2001 at Fairfield Hills, plans for leasing the buildings and revitalizing the campus have stalled. Although the town refinished one former hospital building into the Newtown Municipal Center and resident Peter D’Amico invested in new construction to build the Newtown Youth Academy, none of the other buildings have been reused. Thinking that his investment might spark others’ interests, Mr Clark said, “Maybe other developers will follow suit.”