Newtown Hall Developer Earns Business Recognition

By Kendra Bobowick

One prospective Fairfield Hills developer has earned recognition from the University of Connecticut Family Business Program’s Family Business of the Year Awards. Ceremonies were held November 14.

Hawley Companies of Danbury, which includes Hawley Realty, has earned first place in the small business category. Hawley Realty is the developer interested in renovating space at Newtown Hall with the expectation that Danbury Hospital will expand its services to Newtown.

David S. Hawley of Hawley Companies had learned about the contest from a friend and entered for personal reasons. “We did it for my father, really,” he said. He credits his father Ervie “Bud” Hawley with starting a business that now involves family members including David and his brother Gary.

Turning his thoughts to his father who started the business roughly 50 years ago, David Hawley said his father was formerly a milkman before starting what is now the Hawley Companies. He had a vision, his son said.

“He can look at something and see what it can be. He saw a vision of shopping centers at the right time,” Mr Hawley said. According to the family’s website at Hawleycompanies.com, Ervie Hawley, Jr, saw tomorrow in terms of the growth that Connecticut would experience.

Mentioning the company’s first success, David Hawley referred to the Berkshire Shopping Center in Danbury, which was built in 1961.

According to the website, Bud Hawley committed his talents, work, resources, and life to providing the housing, commercial offices, retail, and medical facilities that the people of Connecticut, and especially the Danbury area, would need.

A longstanding relationship with Danbury Hospital has existed since the mid-1980s, David Hawley explained. “We’re familiar with their needs,” he said. “But, their needs are many.” No relocation is the same, he said.

Also earning a first runner-up mention in the large family business category was Curtis Packaging Corporation of Sandy Hook.

At Fairfield Hills

Hawley Realty’s interest in signing a lease for a Fairfield Hills property has not cooled since the November 2 elections, which raised uncertainties about local political support for redeveloping the former state hospital campus.

Incoming First Selectman Joseph Borst, who has vowed to review all the campus redevelopment plans, is replacing First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, a strong supporter of FFH campus redevelopment. In the last year a swell of complaints from key members of the new political party, the Independent Party of Newtown (IPN), continues to challenge the relocation of town and education offices to Fairfield Hills while the taxpayers face hefty capital expenses necessary for school expansion.

In 2001 voters appropriated $21 million to devote to the Fairfield Hills project, the plans for which have only begun to take shape. Schools expansion plans and other school district upgrades have evolved subsequent to that 2001 vote.

Mr Hawley intends to move forward with his plans for Newtown Hall. “Our interest has not waned,” he said. “We don’t know if the current administration means big changes; we plan to proceed as we were.” He maintains his interest in the former state hospital campus.

“It’s a terrific location. The buildings are beautiful, although they will be tough to retrofit,” he said. Optimistic about the project, he said, “It’s a chance for us to expand and a chance for the hospital to expand. The [Fairfield Hills] authority is really trying to bring plans to fruition.”