Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Norwich-hospital-marketing

Full Text:

Marketing Of Norwich Hospital Property Parallels State Efforts At Fairfield

Hills

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Similar to its plan to sell Fairfield Hills for private redevelopment, the

state has begun a marketing effort to dispose of the former Norwich State

Hospital in Norwich and Preston, a state psychiatric institution which closed

two years ago.

The former Norwich State Hospital presents one of the largest redevelopment

opportunities in the Northeast US considering its location in the heart of

Connecticut's tourism region, according to the state Office of Policy and

Management (OPM).

The Norwich property is within 10 minutes driving time of the Mohegan Sun

Casino in Montville and the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Ledyard, said Andrew

Norton, OPM's Norwich project manager. Mystic Aquarium and Mystic Seaport are

also nearby.

For sale are 470 acres and buildings at the Norwich campus which lies on the

east bank of the Thames River, south of downtown Norwich. Possibilities for

development include hospitality, entertainment, retail, industrial, office and

residential uses, according to OPM. The property includes 1.4 million square

feet of neo-colonial and georgian-style buildings.

"The convenient and attractive college-like setting makes this parcel ideal

for hotels, conference centers, corporate office parks and other types of

quality development," according to Mr Norton.

The former hospital campus has a deep-water dock on the river, rail access and

is two miles from the Connecticut Turnpike, he said.

A panel known as the Norwich Hospital Advisory Group has been formed to review

redevelopment proposals for the property. It is composed of state officials

and elected officials from Norwich and Preston.

The state is seeking conceptual plans from developers interested in acquiring

and redeveloping the property. The deadline for submitting a statement of

interest is March 1. Developers are being asked to disclose whether they

prefer buying state assets at Norwich or leasing them.

The list of proposals will be narrowed to a short list from which a developer

or developers will be chosen.

Unlike Fairfield Hills, where the state is seeking to sell a 186-acre core

campus including about 1 million square feet of enclosed space to a single

buyer, at Norwich the state is seeking to either sell or lease the campus in

its entirety to one developer or in smaller parcels to multiple developers.

OPM has mailed brochures about the Norwich facility to 6,500 potential

developers and users across the US.

The state Department of Mental Health closed Fairfield Hills and Norwich State

Hospital as part of its policy of patient "deinstitutionalization." When the

two hospitals closed, patients either were transferred to Connecticut Valley

Hospital, which is a state psychiatric hospital in Middletown, or were placed

in non-institutional settings. Fairfield Hills closed in December 1995.

In March, the Fairfield Hills Selection Committee, a joint town-state panel,

plans to name a group of finalists from among 12 developers who have submitted

preliminary proposals for redeveloping the site in the geographic center of

Newtown. A developer for Fairfield Hills is slated to be chosen in June.