Groton's Land Savers
Nov 14, 2004

By CHRIS GAMBON, Lowell Sun Correspondent

GROTON The nine-mile drive from Route 40 exit off Route 3 to Groton Center can feel like a time machine.

Pressure-cooker gridlock gives way to industrial sites, then small office parks and suburban homes increasingly spread apart. Finally, as one approaches Groton's archetypical New England town center, the road rises and falls through wooded conservation areas and open fields.

But this pleasant drive would be much less bucolic if not for the intervention of Groton residents Steven and Nancy Webber.

Four years ago, 500 acres of farmland known as Gibbet Hill were on the brink of being sold to developers. But the Webbers interceded, purchasing the land and placing more than 90 percent of it under conservation restriction.

Steven Webber helped found Geotel Communications, an optical networking company that grew from Webber's front porch to occupying 10 floors inside Lowell's Cross Point towers. The company went public in 1996, and was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1999 for about $2 billion. Webber retired from Cisco in 2002.

More recently, the Webbers, including children Josh, Jed and Kate, reached another milestone. On the small block of land that the family reserved for development or commercial use, they opened The Gibbet Hill Grill, a brand new restaurant in a renovated barn. Adjacent to it is The Barn at Gibbet Hill, another 100-year-old barn that has been converted to a large function hall.

The opening of these facilities is the final step in an enterprise that began as an effort to preserve the rural character of Groton center.

Steven Webber recalled how four years ago, time had run short to stave off more widespread development by Modern Continental, which was about to buy the property and had already received approval to build 78 homes on it.

"Many residents were concerned about this amount of growth happening in a single burst," Webber said. "People were worried about development so close to the center of town, a center that has retained its traditional New England character."

In response to the pending sale, a community consortium emerged. The group consisted of the town Conservation Commission and the state's Trustees of Reservations. The consortium attempted to develop an alternative to the sale.

Eventually, the consortium worked to raise enough money to purchase the property. As part of this effort, the group approached Steven Webber and his wife Nancy, a Groton native. The Webbers agreed to contribute to the fund.

"During the period when it seemed likely that the land would be sold for development, we'd be driving on the road to Groton Center, and it really struck me what a loss this would be to our community," Nancy Webber said. "Each time we drove Route 40, the threat of losing the rural character of our town became more painful."

But while the consortium was working doggedly to raise the $15 million required to purchase the property, it became apparent to Steven Webber that time was running short.

"The point came where we realized that, with or without our family's support, the consortium was probably not going to be able to get it done in time," Steven explained. "We made a cash offer, which the property owner accepted."

In 2000, the Webbers bought the more than 500 acres of land for $10.2 million. The property consisted of two major parcels a 338-acre working farm and a 188-acre orchard adjacent to it.

But the Webbers were just getting started.

Having prevented developers from buying the land, the family next went to work on securing the open space from future development.

In 2001, Steven and Nancy's son, Josh, was working as an investment banker in Manhattan. But by the fall of that year, Josh returned to Groton and took on the work of putting the Gibbet Hill property into permanent preservation.

"When we went before the Groton Planning Board, the land was already approved for significant development," Josh said. "When my parents asked me to step in and help plan for the future of the land, our No. 1 priority was to find a way to develop as little of it as possible. At the same time, we had to ensure that the investment was financially acceptable for the family and acceptable did not necessarily mean profitable."

Using his Wall Street experience in mergers and acquisitions, Josh structured a deal that protected the land from development, provided the public with access to the farm and orchard via hiking trails, and eased the financial burden on the Webber family.

There are now conservation restrictions on 250 acres. This was achieved, in part, by the town's purchase of development rights to the property. Funding to preserve those development rights was contributed by the town ($3 million), the state ($1.2 million), the town Conservation Commission ($500,000) and Lawrence Academy ($250,000), a private school.

"I think what Josh pulled off is a model for how communities can pull together to secure and preserve their land," Steven Webber said.

The land having been secured from development, the Webbers next turned to how the farm and five-acre developable parcel should be utilized.

"The conservation agreement was signed in 2002," Steven explained. "It was only then that we could think about how best to utilize the land."

The farm at Gibbet Hill had been a breeding farm for Black Angus cattle since 1949. When the Webber family purchased the property, Steven and Nancy had no intention of maintaining a working farm. But their intentions changed.

"Nancy and I were walking the farm over the summer, climbing the hill, enjoying the views, admiring the animals," Steven Webber recalled. "Together we came to the realization that the cattle had to stay. They're a part of what the town loves about this farm."

That said, the Webbers don't get too involved in that aspect.

"The farm is managed by a very knowledgeable team, the same folks who have run it for years," Steven said. "The only time I have to get involved is when one of the cows goes off the property."

Steven noted that similar to the purchase and preservation of the land, profit has not been the objective in keeping the cattle.

"The cattle farm has always lost money," he said. "Our goal has been to lose less. It seems like we have that part figured out."

Josh Webber noted that like the farm, the restaurant and function hall were also not part of the original plan.

"As we thought about how best to use these buildings, the notion of a restaurant seemed like a good idea," he said.

But with no real experience in the restaurant business, Josh decided to call in industry expertise. The Webbers engaged experts like Niemitz Design Group (designers of Boston's Capital Grille and Legal Sea Food), Lexington-based architects Bechtel, Frank & Erickson, and restaurant consulting and development company, Restaurant Solutions.

"The demographics showed us that within a 10-mile radius of Gibbet Hill there was a population base of 176,000 people," according to John Nessel, principal of Restaurant Solutions.  "We felt optimistic about a restaurant that offered steakhouse-quality meats, like Black Angus beef. And what a happy coincidence that the property was a Black Angus breeding farm."

The restaurant opened in mid-October and the first function in the banquet hall occurred 10 days later. Now some 30 events are booked in the banquet hall, and according to Josh Webber, the most desirable dates in 2005 are filling up fast.

"The restaurant is a classic American Grill, like a steakhouse," Josh Webber said. "We've tried to make it a place that works for a diverse group of people. We have some premium steaks and a good wine list, yet it's also a good place to come for a burger and a beer."

According to Nessel, this all bodes well.

"Anytime you open a restaurant in an area where there's never been one, it takes a leap of faith," said Nessel. "But any concerns we had were allayed that first week when the customers came walking through the door. You can collect all the data in the world, you can do all the analysis you want, but there's nothing that makes the business case quite like cars pulling into the lot and hungry guests walking through the doors."