Authority May Reconsider FFH Marketing Approach

By Kendra Bobowick

The elephant in the room is the economy, said Fairfield Hills Authority member John Reed.

Inactivity in the real estate market is feeding that elephant. As authority members consider revising their approach to marketing the former state hospital buildings for lease, Mr Reed admitted, “It is a challenge to rehabilitate those buildings.” Several of the roughly 80-year-old brick structures seated within the parklike campus are viable for reuse. “It’s a special situation,” said Mr Reed. “Someone really needs to want business in the location Fairfield Hills has to offer.”

With little luck marketing the spaces to potential businesses to enter into 30-year lease contracts with payments made up front, authority members are considering another approach to attracting prospective tenants.

“We’re looking at an exclusive broker agreement,” said authority Chairman Bob Geckle. Maybe with exclusivity will come the incentive to work harder, he said, rather than the nonexclusive marketing that now exists.

Mr Reed added, “We have never had an exclusive agreement with one broker.” Contemplating “going out for proposals,” he is willing to see who might be interested. The advantage would be the incentive to put in work on marketing Fairfield Hills, he said.

Another change may be in the terms of lease. As the potential deal now stands, a 30-year lease would be prepaid with funds going toward campus infrastructure work that remains, he said. Maybe a lease deal could see partial payment up front with the balance coming in over time. The approach could be “more attractive and easier” for lessees to come in.

In the back of his mind since the economy’s activity dropped sharply, Mr Geckle has been thinking: “We should look at different ways to move this property forward.” With a difficult year of 2009 nearly past, he said, “I don’t think 2010 will be much different.”

Although the idea for a new approach does not conflict with any specifications for campus reuse stated in the master plan, the plan itself could also be “revisited,” Mr Reed said.

Director of Economic and Community Development Elizabeth Stocker supports the recommendation to consider approaching a professional real estate broker. “We have been marketing it on our own for a couple of years now, and I think that in a tough economic climate we should try alternative methods,” she said. With a property of “this size and this magnitude,” she feels that Fairfield Hills will appeal to “a very specific type of client.”

“It’s worth trying” a professional broker, Ms Stocker said. Stratford Hall is currently undergoing remediation with the help of a $200,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant. Although it is viable, remediation will make it more desirable, she said. “It’s such a difficult climate, that any environmental issues are complications or expenses for the tenant and ultimately the town,” she said.