A picturesque residential town anchored by major educational institutions, corporations and a host of luxury automobile dealerships, Fairfield faces the challenge of attracting new businesses. Abandoned industrial buildings and vacant properties on Commerce Drive fail to contribute tax dollars, and space is limited for new projects.
But in recent years, the economic landscape has changed. With the addition of a third train station in eastern Fairfield, the town is now pushing for a multimillion-dollar economic development project by demolishing old factories and studying creative ideas for how to utilize another 36-acre site on the east side of town, the former home of Bullard, a metalwork company.
Decades ago, the Bullard site was home to a factory that made cast iron and brass during World War II, said Mark Barnhart, Fairfield economic development director.
- An artist”™s rendering of what the Fairfield Metro train station will look like with a mixed-use concourse building.
Part of the factory was converted into retail and a multiplex cinema. BlackRock Realty Advisors Inc., which owns nearly 10 acres of the site, plans to build office, hotel and conference facilities and an ancillary retail space by the station in the years to come.
Ten acres is reserved to maintain open space and create a walking trail. The remaining 10 acres will be set aside to create parking spaces for the Fairfield Metro station.
“With the new rail station coming in, we”™ve seen a lot of new investments in the area,” Barnhart said. “The former property of Syms-Filene”™s clothing retailer went through a bankruptcy proceeding and the property was sold as part of the reorganization plan. It was purchased by Orthopaedic Specialty Group, and they”™re building out medical offices and an urgent care center in the 40,000-square-foot building.”
He said the construction project is slated to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
Lacking large tracts of land zoned for commercial use, the town has welcomed adaptive reuse of its properties. Sportsplex@Fairfield, 85 Mill Plain Road, was built on the site of Fairprene, the sheet-rubber division of DuPont. The Fischel Properties-owned building was retrofitted for indoor recreational use.
The former home of Handy & Harman Ltd., a precious metals processing business, off Grasmere Avenue and Kings Highway was torn down and redeveloped into a Whole Foods retail plaza.
“You have older vestiges of manufacturing heritage that dates back many years,” Barnhart said. “A lot of these properties have had environmental challenges associated with them.”
Fairfield commercial tenants are choosing to stay in the area for an extended amount of time. The town has one of the lowest rates of office vacancy and lowest number of underutilized properties, Barnhart said.
- Fairfield Theatre Co. at 70 Sanford St.
Wanting to establish long-term relationships with small businesses, Fairfield sought resources from universities and businesses to open up a co-working space for startups.
“One of the things we were involved in this past year is starting up a business incubator with Fairfield University and Kleban Properties,” Barnhart said. “The Fairfield Accelerator and Mentoring Enterprise, or FAME, is identifying new and emerging businesses and providing office space, tech support and other resources for startups to flourish and grow and remain a strong part of the local economy.”
The incubator, which launched in late 2013, is at 1499 Post Road in the Fairfield Center Building. A group of small-business tenants occupy the workspace.
“We have lot of folks who had a corporate career and for one reason or another decided to strike out and start a business on their own,” Barnhart said. “We help people in the process, connect them with resources both through the university and outside of that and hopefully give them an opportunity to grow and sink their roots here and hope they continue to flourish in Fairfield.”
Fairfield”™s theater scene is exploding in the transit center next to Fairfield station. Fairfield Theatre Co. approached the town asking to use the underutilized industrial building next to the train station and convert it into a 150-foot theater stage.
Not only was the space acoustically sound for music, but it changed the landscape of the theater and live-music culture, which began to boom in the downtown, Barnhart said. He said the company is now moving into an adjoining warehouse space and creating a second theater that will seat 600 people.
“The capital campaign to build out that space into two performing arts venues is underway and it”™s an opportunity to attract different artists,” Barnhart said. “They also do films, lectures and children”™s programs ”” not just live music. In terms of its impact on the downtown it”™s immeasurable. Restaurants and businesses in the downtown will feel the impact of the Fairfield Theatre Co.”™s expansion.”
In an era when technology can drive a business”™s decision to move into a city or town, Barnhart said he wants to expand his industrial technology department and revamp the town”™s website and use multiple channels of communication to provide businesses with additional resources.
“We”™re struggling constantly with ways in which businesses are seen as no different compared to any others to consumers,” Barnhart said. “We”™ve got to use a variety of different mediums to provide information to the business community to help them grow their social media presence. We need to keep our website updated because consultants who help businesses select sites to move into are basing their research on the town or region”™s website. The challenge for us is to make sure our website is well designed as a good marketing tool. That”™s an area we”™ll focus on making improvements to this year.”
