Date: Fri 03-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Fairfield-Hills-town-Nuclo

Full Text:

Town Stands First In Line Among Possible Fairfield Hills Buyers

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The state is marketing a 185-acre section of Fairfield Hills which it hopes to

sell intact to a single developer who would redevelop the site, converting

almost one-third of the former mental institution's grounds for some new land

uses.

State and town officials are now talking openly about the possibility that the

Town of Newtown might want to be that single developer.

Before the state can sell the land and buildings at the core campus to a

private firm, state law requires that the state offer to sell the 185-acre

parcel to the town. The price -- at $10 million or less -- may prove to be

tempting for the town.

Should the town go for it?

"I think that's the town's call," said Richard Nuclo this week. "I can't speak

(about) whether that's a good idea for the town."

Richard Nuclo is the director of assets management for the state Office of

Policy and Management. For the past five years, Mr Nuclo has been the state's

point man on the management of Fairfield Hills and the disposition of sections

of it.

The value of the land and buildings up for sale will be based on the specific

new uses which will be proposed for the site, Mr Nuclo said. The cost of

building demolition is a factor in establishing the property's value.

The state is now preparing forms to solicit a "request for proposals" for the

future use of the property, he said. Much information, plus guided tours, will

be provided to developers interested in acquiring the Fairfield Hills site,

which includes about one million square feet of enclosed space, he said.

A cut-off date for accepting development proposals will be set after which a

redevelopment committee will meet to review the proposals.

Fair Market Value

State Rep Julia Wasserman has monitored the state's disposition of Fairfield

Hills for the past several years. She noted this week that when the state

determines the property's market value, it will offer to sell the property to

the town at its "fair market value."

The sale price of the property is very "elastic" depending on whether the

seller or the buyer agrees to do asbestos clean-up within the many buildings

on the site.

Depending on whether the seller or buyer does that clean-up work, the price

could range from $1 million to $10 million, Mrs Wasserman said.

If the state does the asbestos clean-up work, the sale price would be on the

higher side of that range, but if the buyer agrees to do the clean-up job, the

price would be on the lower side of that range.

The state may offer to sell the site to the town later this year, Mrs

Wasserman said.

If the town were to buy the property, it could market the site itself, she

said, noting "There are many possibilities" for Fairfield Hills.

"I don't want to see the campus destroyed," Mrs Wasserman said of the building

layout at Fairfield Hills.

A town decision on whether to acquire Fairfield Hills is "premature," she

added. "This is all conjecture. It's premature," she stressed.

An eight-member selection committee soon will be formed to review the many

redevelopment proposals that are expected to be submitted to the state, she

said.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal and Mrs Wasserman will be members of the

four-member selection committee delegation which represents the town. The

state also will have four representatives on the panel.

Buying A Predicament

Mr Rosenthal said he personally believes that if the town acquires Fairfield

Hills it would put the town in the predicament now faced by the state --

maintaining many old, decaying buildings that no longer are in use and finding

someone to redevelop the property.

The town shouldn't become involved in acquiring Fairfield Hills unless it is

prepared to get into the real estate business, he said.

Although, when the state eventually gives the town the right of first refusal

on a sale of the 185-acre core campus, the town would have to consider a

purchase, he said.

Mr Rosenthal said he doesn't foresee the town taking over the property, unless

someone has a "bright idea" on the future use of the property.

"My initial reaction is `I don't think so,'" he said.

He added, however, he's willing to listen to ideas on the topic.

Arthur Andersen, LLP, the consulting firm hired by the state to outline the

best future uses of Fairfield Hills, has told the state it wouldn't be wise to

sell off its assets there piecemeal, but should instead sell the property

intact for redevelopment, Mr Rosenthal noted.

Without wintertime heating in many of the Fairfield Hills buildings, they will

deteriorate, Mr Rosenthal said, adding it costs the state $1 million to $1.5

million annually to maintain the mostly unused Fairfield Hills property.

If the state should lease Fairfield Hills to a private firm for some

non-governmental use, instead of making an outright sale, it could form the

basis for a court challenge over whether the town's zoning regulations for

Fairfield Hills prevail over a property owned by the state government but not

used for government purposes, Mr Rosenthal said.

Earlier this year, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) modified the

zoning for Fairfield Hills which would take effect in the event Fairfield

Hills is sold to a private firm. Currently, the state-owned property there

isn't subject to town zoning regulations.

Suggested Uses

New uses suggested by Arthur Andersen for the 185 acres include: health care,

office space, retail sales, housing, educational facilities, a hotel, resort,

spa, conference center, golf course and recreational facilities.

In seven mixed-use redevelopment scenarios, Andersen proposes various

combinations of those land uses.

According to Arthur Andersen, for a redevelopment of Fairfield Hills to be

successful, a single sale of the land redeveloped under the terms of a master

plan would be necessary.

In proposing possible new uses for the property, Arthur Andersen sought to

avoid excessive levels of land use and also stay within the constraints of

town zoning regulations for the property. Also, Andersen kept in mind local

concerns about protecting the area's environmental quality.

In analyzing reuse of the property, Arthur Andersen assumes the property's

future master developer will rehabilitate buildings which fit into the

redevelopment program and demolish buildings which aren't needed, instead of

protecting those buildings.

Possible uses include: a shopping center, elderly multi-family housing;

single-family housing; a hotel/conference center; an executive golf course;

corporate business park; educational facility; retail/commercial complex;

pitch-and-putt golf course; ice skating rink; wellness/fitness center;

technology research and development center; assisted living facilities; and an

age-restricted single-family housing complex, according to Arthur Andersen.

Arthur Andersen's goal is to aid the state in finding a single purchaser for

the property.

In engineering a resale of the property, Arthur Andersen is seeking new uses

of Fairfield Hills which: have a minimal economic effect on local spending for

public education; have a low impact on the environment; create positive

economic effects on the town, and have the existing buildings and campus at

Fairfield Hills used to the greatest extent possible.

In assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the Newtown site for the

redevelopment of Fairfield Hills, Andersen found advantageous: the property

has good access to Interstate 84; sanitary sewers are in place on the campus;

a public drinking water supply is available; the town is a stable community;

and the site has flexible zoning regulations.

Disadvantages of the Fairfield Hills site include: it is developed with many

single-purpose buildings; there is one million square feet of existing

enclosed space; cleaning up environmental problems on the site, including

asbestos removal, will be costly; some demolition work will be needed; and the

property is listed on the state's historic registry, placing some limits on

the flexibility of redevelopment.

In its analysis of Fairfield Hills' reuse potential, Arthur Andersen finds

that the complexity of the site requires that there be a flexible marketing

approach, and that the town and state cooperate, coming to a consensus to

realize mutually beneficial and timely redevelopment of the property.

Andersen identified the partial demolition and the mixed reuse of the property

as a more marketable approach to redeveloping the Fairfield Hills than either

the total demolition and single reuse of the site, or the partial demolition

and single reuse of the site.