Greenwich budget committee approves up to $50,000 to hire consultant for Habenmeier Building RFP review

At a special meeting of the Town of Greenwich budget committee, members voted to approve a request for up to $50,000 to hire an outside consultant to evaluate proposals for the redevelopment of the Habenmeier Building and to support negotiations with potential developers.

Mark Johnson, representing the Habenmeier RFP review committee, told the budget committee the panel’s charge is to evaluate responses to RFP No. 7871 and make recommendations to the first selectman. "The town is looking for a developer who will provide a high quality vision and commercial proposal for the redevelopment and long term use of the property," Johnson said, reading from the RFP language posted by the town. He said the committee has asked respondents to present proposals that balance economic activity, meaningful community uses and preservation of the building’s historic character.

The committee described the property as roughly 2.7 acres and said the building contains about 53,787 square feet including basement and attic. A recent assessment cited in committee remarks put the land value at about $32,400,000 and the building at $12,500,000; committee discussion noted a combined figure of about $64,000,000 after adjustments described by presenters. Committee members said they need a consultant with expertise in property valuation, leases, buyouts and financial analysis to compare proposals that range from long-term leases with annual payments to cash-upfront offers.

Johnson said the review committee has interviewed three consultants and, if the appropriation is approved, would solicit proposals from those consultants and aim for a short selection period so negotiations with top developer proposals can proceed. He described a tentative timeline in which consultant proposals would be returned within about four weeks and negotiating with selected developer proposals could proceed thereafter. The committee also noted confidentiality rules from the town purchasing department that prevent the committee from disclosing the number of RFP responses or interview details.

Kate Bush, Town Administrator in the Office of the First Selectman, said she supported the request and that the committee represents a range of town interests, including Board of Education members who will ultimately review any outcome affecting school facilities. "I would certainly add that I'm one of the seven votes that's affirmative," Bush said, noting the committee includes people with experience on the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Board of Education.

Committee members raised questions about zoning and the potential scale of redevelopment, including references to the Central Greenwich business district floor-area-ratio and whether historic-overlay mechanisms would apply to any proposed expansion. One budget committee member asked whether the RFP process considered noncommercial town uses for portions of the building (for example, relocating town programs), and presenters said the RFP was intentionally open to solicit developers’ ideas rather than predefining alternate municipal uses.

The committee noted a tabulation posted on the town website listing respondent entities, including names posted as List Design LLC, Havemeyer LLC, Ferrari Associates, HB Hinton Group, LCV Senior Living LLC and RT Havemeyer Partners LLC. Presenters said the committee will have the consultant review a limited number of proposals (without naming respondents) to assess the highest and best use and the financial comparability of competing offers.

The budget committee recorded an earlier internal vote by the RFP review committee to request the appropriation: that committee voted 7–0–0 to ask the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Representative Town Meeting to approve funding for consultant work. At this special budget committee meeting a motion was made to move the appropriation forward; the motion was moved by Eric Fisher and seconded by Perry Fisher. Those in favor were recorded as "Aye;" one committee member, Leslie, said she would abstain and indicated she wanted additional information on details such as FAR calculations and capital-lease accounting before casting a full vote. The motion to approve the request for up to $50,000 was recorded as approved and will be forwarded to the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Representative Town Meeting for action.

Committee members said the consultant’s work would focus on financial due diligence — for example, estimating what a long-term lease of specified length could reasonably pay for a property of this size and location — and on providing negotiating leverage so the town can compare cash offers with long-term payment proposals. Presenters emphasized the committee’s intent to avoid a redevelopment that would fail financially after a few years and to seek proposals that also consider public parking and community benefits.

Next steps described by the committee are selection of a consultant from those interviewed, delivery of a consultant analysis to the RFP review committee, and then further negotiations with top-ranked developers. The committee said later stages would include legal review of any contract or lease terms and public hearings as part of the town’s normal approvals process.