Date: Fri 15-Jan-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Fairfield-Hills-Development

Full Text:

Panel To Review Proposals For Fairfield Hills Development

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Firms from New Canaan, Newtown, and Pennsylvania are among 12 companies which

have outlined their concepts to the state on the private acquisition and

redevelopment of Fairfield Hills, the sprawling state mental institution which

closed three years ago.

A joint selection committee of state and town officials will now review the

submissions and determine which proposals are viable ones in reducing the pool

of semifinalists to a group of finalists.

Bruce Becker, an architect, planner and developer with one of the competing

development firms, Becker and Becker Associates of New Canaan, said Wednesday

"We envision a plan that addresses a wide range of community needs as well as

provides market rate and affordable housing."

The firm has a background in the reuse of historic buildings and would take a

preservationist approach in redeveloping the property, he said. The firm's

"mixed-use residential community" redevelopment concept would cost about $50

million to implement, he said. Such a complex could include 400 to 700

apartments.

The redevelopment project would include luxury apartments, as well as

affordable housing, addressing a wide range of income levels, according to Mr

Becker. Twenty-five percent of the units would be designated as affordable

housing, he said.

If chosen as the firm to redevelop the property, Becker and Becker would

create a master plan for the property taking into account the needs of the

community, he said. The firm is involved in real estate development,

architectural design and master planning.

Becker and Becker has the financial ability to redevelop properties with the

assistance of Avalon Bay Communities, he said.

Creating dwellings in existing buildings at Fairfield Hills would be the

dominant use of the property, he said. Demolition and new construction would

only be minor parts of the redevelopment plan, he said.

The complex could include a health club, clubhouse, retirement housing, adult

congregate housing, artists' housing, and day care facilities for young

children and the elderly, he said.

Becker's concept includes a town school, town offices, a community center,

cultural facilities such as a museum and library. Surface parking areas would

be expanded.

"We feel we will only be successful if we meet and exceed the community's

expectations," Mr Becker said. "It's a public asset. It should serve public

purposes," he said.

"Our firm has done a lot of mixed-use planning and development projects," he

said. "The property has a lot of potential for reuse," he said.

"We do a lot of different things. I don't think the site is going to be served

by a single purpose," he said. Redeveloping the property would take two to

three years, he said. The environmental contamination problems at Fairfield

Hills can be corrected in redeveloping the property, he said. Asbestos and

lead paint contamination problems exist at the property.

Fairfield Hills is large site where it would be beneficial to preserve open

space, he said

PBC

Patrick Cragin of Bear Hills Road in Newtown, a spokesman for an organization

known as PBC, said Wednesday the Waterbury-based group of investors is

interested in creating a nine-hole golf course and conference center, among

other facilities at the 185-acre site in the geographical center of Newtown.

Mr Cragin said PBC's proposal for the property includes a banquet facility,

fairground, agricultural center, theater and arts center. Under PBC's

proposal, five major buildings at Fairfield Hills would be adapted for new

uses -- Newtown Hall, Woodbury Hall, Shelton House, Bridgeport Hall and

Stratford Hall.

Mr Cragin declined to disclose the identities of those involved in the

proposal under the name PBC.

The contents of an upcoming environmental study into contamination problems at

the site will be a determining factor in whether PBC's proposal is a

financially viable one, Mr Cragin said. "The environmental study will make it

or break it," he said.

PBC's concept would require the use of maintenance and utility buildings at

Fairfield Hills, Mr Cragin said. Those facilities aren't being offered for

sale by the state.

PBC has no desire the redevelop the property for residential uses, he said.

"It is by far one of the finer pieces of property in Fairfield County," he

said.

Toll Brothers

Toll Brothers, a Pennsylvania-based development firm, is a major builder of

luxury homes nationwide.

Kira McCarron, a Toll Brothers spokeswoman, said "It's a little premature to

give you specifics." Toll Brothers is excited about the opportunity offered at

Fairfield Hills and hopes to prevail, she said. The company is well-suited to

creating new housing at the site, she said.

"We look forward to the potential that Fairfield Hills holds," Ms McCarron

said.

The primary redevelopment of Fairfield Hills would involve new residential

construction, plus other uses, she said.

Other firms which have submitted an interest in buying and redeveloping

Fairfield Hills are:

Baker Companies of Pleasantville, NY;

Newtown Technology Park Associates, LLC, of Bridgeport;

ETA Properties of Westport;

Kevin Fox Interest, LLC, of Farmington;

Archstone Communities of Bellevue, Wash;

Community Builders of New Haven;

SBC Associates, LLC, of, Greenwich;

York Hunter, Inc, of New York, NY;

Wilder Balter Partners, LLC, of Elmsford, NY.

For sale at Fairfield Hills as a unit are 16 major buildings, plus others,

including one million square feet of enclosed space. The buildings occupy

about 100 acres of the 185-acre parcel being marketed. The remaining 85 acres

have forests and fields. That land is available for new uses. No sale price

for Fairfield Hills has been set by the state.

Richard Nuclo, director of assets management for the state Office of Policy

and Management (OPM), declined to provide details on the submissions from the

12 firms interested in redeveloping Fairfield Hills.

The selection committee that is reviewing the proposals hopes to narrow down

the list by March, he said. "We're going to move aggressively," he said.

The semifinalists will be asked to provide more detailed descriptions of how

they would redevelop Fairfield Hills. The selection of a developer for the

property is scheduled for June.

OPM has said that while the sale price of Fairfield Hills is a consideration,

greater weight will be given to evaluating redevelopment proposals based on

their economic impact on the town and state, as well as the proposals'

sensitivity to environmental and historical issues.