Waiting For Bids On Fairfield Hills: Will They Come?

By Steve Bigham

These are anxious days for town officials as they await the arrival of the mail next week. The dark thought has certainly occurred to some of them that the Monday deadline for responding to the town’s request for proposals for developing Fairfield Hills may come and go and the mailbox will be empty. None had arrived at press time this week.

 “I’m hoping we’ll get some good proposals. I’m kind of anxious,” admitted First Selectman Herb Rosenthal. “We haven’t heard a lot. We’ve had some questions, but nobody at this point has indicated anything. Often, we put RFPs out and we don’t know until the RFPs are due. We really have no way of knowing.”

A total of eight firms did pick up the RFP form from the first selectman’s office earlier this year and still others may have downloaded it from the town’s Web site. However, town officials will not know the full extent of companies’ interest until Monday.

Two months ago, the town sent out letters to more than 200 firms that may have been interested in developing the Fairfield Hills campus. The 60-page document outlined the town’s plans, needs, and preferred uses of the site. The town is expected to purchase Fairfield Hills from the state sometime this year. The state has offered to sell the property to Newtown “as is” for $5.5 million. No final deal has been struck, though an agreement is expected soon. Mr Rosenthal said he plans to use the RFP process to find out if there is a market for the reuse of Fairfield Hills as envisioned by the residents of Newtown.

Last month, Mr Rosenthal led a tour of the 185-acre campus and only a handful of interested firms showed up. The first selectman speculated that some firms may be interested but did not show up because they had taken a previous tour or because of the inclement weather. Two years ago, before the town expressed interest in buying the campus, the state held a similar tour and 80 companies took part.

Mr Rosenthal hopes to have a plan for the re-use of Fairfield Hills in place before recommending a purchase to taxpayers.

Two firms that showed particular interest, according to Mr Rosenthal, were Online University of Texas and Ginsburg Development, LLC. Online University provides students an opportunity to earn their degrees on the World Wide Web; however, it is also looking to develop its own campus. Ginsburg specializes in elderly housing development and seeks to partner with a second firm, which would focus on commercial development at the site.

Ginsburg is already familiar with Newtown; the firm already has plans before local land use agencies for the construction of age-restricted condominiums on Mt Pleasant.

Another company, known only as DMR, was also on hand. DMR, a healthcare firm, is a finalist in the state’s selection of firms to re-develop the former Seaside training school in Waterford.

For more than two years, Becker and Becker Associates of New Canaan conducted a vigorous campaign in Newtown, hoping to forge a partnership with the community at Fairfield Hills. But this week it has become apparent that such interest has since waned.

President Bruce Becker had proposed a joint venture wherein the town and his firm would take part in a joint closing with the state. It was to be a simultaneous purchase so that both parties were to be assured of what happens to the site. At the closing, Mr Becker said the campus would be conveyed to Becker and Becker, which would in turn convey 130 acres and some buildings to the town.

This week, however, Mr Becker seemed less interested and declined to say whether or not he would submit a proposal on Monday. There are some who believe Mr Becker is hoping that Newtown decides against buying the campus, opening the door for him to deal directly with the state.

“We’re sort of observers right now,” Mr Becker said.

Legislative Council Chairman Pierre Rochman predicts Mr Rosenthal’s mailbox will be empty come Monday.

“I’m a bit pessimistic on that. I’m not holding my breath for that date at all. I really don’t expect any one developer to come forward and propose something that the town would be happy with,” he said. “I’d be surprised if anything came out of those bids that would be helpful. At that point, I’d like to sit down with Mr Rosenthal and see which way we would like to proceed.”

Mr Rochman said he has not been happy with the notion of a single developer.

“So if we don’t have single developer, I would like to see the town come up with its own plan and bid it out over time on a project-by-project basis,” he said. “I wouldn’t be upset at all if a developer didn’t come up with a plan that the town really liked.”