Norwich — The sale of the nearly 50-acre Norwich portion of the former Norwich Hospital property to a private developer for $300,000 was completed Wednesday — with the transaction signed by state officials and the developer, and recorded in Norwich land records.

Developer Mark Fields of Colchester, who signed documents as the manager of the development firm Thames River Landing LLC, which first reached a deal to buy the Norwich portion of the hospital property in 2012.

Fields said Wednesday he has no definite plans for the property he has been pursuing since 2004, both the Norwich and Preston portions of the former state hospital site.

“Now that we got title, we have to pursue all possibilities and give it a lot of thought on what we're going to do, and then start the application process,” Fields said Wednesday. “I've been talking to people for years, but until I had title to the property I couldn't have any serious talks.”

Thames River Landing LLC paid a $30,000 deposit on the Norwich property when it was approved as the purchaser in 2012, and paid the remaining $270,000 Wednesday, state Department of Administrative Services spokesman Jeffrey Beckham said.

Thames River Landing took out a $450,000 mortgage on the property from Castanho Development LLC of East Hartford.

The sale involves a 40.95-acre parcel on the east side of Route 12 at the Preston line that includes a former residential subdivision for hospital employees along with institutional buildings.

On the Thames River side of Route 12, the developer would purchase an 8.7-acre parcel that borders Preston — and includes a tiny portion of one building, the Mitchell Building, which is 90 percent in Preston.

The parcel also borders the former Brewster farm owned by the Mohegan tribe.

The Norwich property is zoned for a variety of commercial uses, including hospitality, resort, hotel and retail businesses, but residential development is not allowed under the city's current regulations.

Fields said he might consider mixed use developments, with a combination of residential and commercial uses, but agreed with the prohibition on purely residential development.

“That property is just too valuable for just residential use,” he said.

Mayor Deberey Hinchey said she learned of the sale from a DAS official Wednesday. She hopes to organize a joint meeting with Norwich officials, Preston officials and Fields to discuss his plans for the property.

Unlike Preston, which took over ownership of the 393-acre former hospital property in that town, Norwich declined to take ownership of its portion, leading the state to sell it as surplus property with the developer to take responsibility for the environmental cleanup and demolition of the decaying buildings.

To date, the Preston Redevelopment Agency has demolished 49 of the 57 structures targeted for removal. But the agency could not pursue funding for the Mitchell Building until the sale of the Norwich portion to Thames River Landing was completed.

“Now that we know it's official, we can try and set up a meeting (with Fields) to discuss it,” Nugent said.

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday