Newtown puts former police station up for sale
Main Street site also housed town offices
NEWTOWN — The Main Street building that housed the town’s police department for decades until last year is looking for a buyer.
“Someone is going to need to invest some money to conform the building into what they want to do with it,” Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said this week. “For a commercial application, it is not a big piece of property, but it does have some value to it.”
Rosenthal is speaking of a one-story 1950 building at 3 Main St. that was known as both Newtown police headquarters and Town Hall South. In addition to the police department and the 911 dispatching center, Newtown’s recreation department and social services department were in the same 22,000-square-foot building.
Since the construction of the new $15 million police headquarters on South Main Street was completed in 2020, and the $15 million community center opened at the Fairfield Hills campus in 2019, the flat-roof building is no longer needed by the town.
“I don’t think there is anyone who is going to say we need the building,” Rosenthal said during an interview this past week.
Rosenthal and the Board of Selectmen took the first step in marketing the property earlier this month by voting to sell the building and the 1-acre site, sending the matter to the Legislative Council.
“The council is the one that can limit the use of the property,” Rosenthal said during an Aug. 16 meeting. “[W]e would encumber the property to try to control its future use — be it commercial or a single-family use — so we wouldn’t have it turn into something that nobody” wants.
After the Legislative Council acts, Newtown would likely put the building on the market.
“There has been some local interest in the property, and should we find a buyer, we would negotiate something that is a satisfactory use,” Rosenthal said during an interview on Tuesday. “There is no buyer at the moment.”
The plan to find a buyer for the former police headquarters is part of a larger trend of commercial activity in Newtown. Last week, town leaders agreed in principle to sell a 14acre property to a developer who proposes to build up to 200 age-restricted apartments.
In July, a developer won the bid to convert two Fairfield Hills buildings into apartments and commercial use. That same month an Ohio distributor announced it would renovate the former Hubbell factory off Route 25. And in April, an RV dealer with plans to renovate a former warehouse was granted a tax-break package as an incentive.
At the same time, Newtown is in the midst of a rebranding campaign to attract new businesses.
“I am pleased with the marketing efforts our town is undertaking as we continue to work with our businesses,” Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal suggested it was a matter of time before formal offers came in for the former police headquarters.
“We’ve had tire-kickers and folks locally interested in the property,” Rosenthal said during the Aug. 16 meeting. “I am hoping one of those (offers) comes to fruition, but I certainly don’t want to wait, either.”