Significant housing projects in development across CT

Those who put their name in the lottery get placed on a list that determines the order of who gets an apartment. The list is valid each year as leases end, said Steve Olvany, chair of the town Planning and Zoning Commission.

Eligibility for the affordable units is restricted to households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the statewide median income. Since the statewide median income may change, the rents can also change.

The second mixed-use building is expected to be finished in early 2023. That building will contain 64 units total – 36 one-bedroom and 28 two-bedroom units. Of those, another eight will be affordable. 

Newtown

Mt. Pleasant Road apartments

Among the big developments pending in Newtown is a proposal by a New York builder to convert a former farm into 220 townhouses. The plan by Farrell Building Co. to cluster 220 units and a clubhouse with a pool and tennis courts on Mt. Pleasant Road in Newtown’s Hawleyville neighborhood would be just east of Interstate 84’s Exit 9.

The townhouse proposal on 33 acres has attracted a small but vocal group of residents opposed to the plan. Farrell, which completed a 74-unit apartment complex  south of downtown Sandy Hook in 2021, argues that townhouses are a good fit for the Hawleyville property, which was approved for “a vastly larger project” in 2018 that was never built. The townhouse proposal was being reviewed by Newtown’s Planning and Zoning Commission in mid-December.

Shelton

Clock Tower at Petremont Lane

Good Guys Development is in the process of developing Clock Tower at Petremont Lane.

The project calls for 100 units at the site off Petremont Lane, which is just off River Road. The developers had received Planning and Zoning Commission approval for a 47-unit, 93-parking space plan in March 2021. Seven months later, the developers purchased an abutting property on the corner of Coram Road, which increased the lot size to some 4 acres, allowing for the expanded development plan.

The developers have stated that the plan is for a “high-end luxury apartment building with parking below the building.”

Among the amenities would be a lobby with a gym, golf simulator, Amazon package room, and a computer/study room along with a dog park and two rooftop lounges that would overlook the Housatonic River.

The parking will be on the ground level, with four stories of apartments above — 40 studios, 32 one bedrooms, and 28 one bedrooms with an office.

Bellis said the developers are designating 10 units as affordable under the state statute 8-30g. Bellis said each unit will have two parking spaces. 
The site is bounded by Petremont Lane to the west, an undeveloped, wooded area to the east, commercial development to the south, and Coram Road to the north.

Riverview Park Royal

Shelton resident and Primrose Companies owner John Guedes’ next step in Canal Street revitalization is construction of a new building with retail and 92 apartments, some of which are classified as affordable.

The Planning and Zoning Commission approved Guedes’ plan to build a five-story structure, dubbed Riverview Park Royal, at property listed as 113-123 Canal St.

The building will have 11,000 square feet of retail or commercial space and 92 apartments, with, according to the commission’s resolution, no less than nine units set aside as affordable under state statute 8-30g, the state’s affordable housing law.

The commission, in its approval, affirmed its stance on nine affordable units, further recommending the units be reserved in a “mix that corresponds generally with the overall mix of the proposal, such as three studios, two one-bedroom and four two-bedroom.

Overall, there would be 28 studio apartments, along with 16 one-bedrooms, 44 two-bedrooms and four three-bedroom apartments. 
Structured parking will be provided on a deck at street level, at the rear of the commercial space and under the apartments, with a lower level of parking at the basement level. There will be 205 on-site parking spaces, with one designated for each apartment.

The site, tucked between the railroad tracks and Veterans Memorial Park, consists of 2.57 acres and was originally part of the former industrial development along Canal Street but is now owned by the City of Shelton. 

Stamford

East Main Street

In Stamford, developer Wellbuilt is turning a block of East Main Street into an apartment complex with retail space lining the street.

Wellbuilt pitched the first iteration in 2018, and the project grew as the developer purchased more of the abutting property.

Besides the 130 new apartments — 18 of which are designated for low-income residents — there is just over 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

An earlier plan for 85 units had 10 set aside as affordable. But according to city zoning regulations, the developer must provide more affordable housing units than traditionally required for new projects because it demolishes pre-existing housing. Since the plan razed 17 apartments with rents below market rate, the company must build an additional deed-restricted unit affordable to someone making 65 percent of Stamford’s median income for every two it removes.

Construction is expected to take place during 2023 with completion in mid 2024. 

True North

True North was approved in 2016, originally to construct a 220-unit, seven-story apartment building on a church’s parking lot on Atlantic Street in downtown Stamford.

Approval for the project came after the property owner, next-door neighbor Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, struggled for nearly two decades to lease the empty lot to a developer. Money from the development was used to immediately repair and update the church and rectory.

The high-rise apartment project later got approval to up the number of units – and stories – by about 70. The 11-story high-rise building at 245 Atlantic St. will include a garage, retail space, amenities and a Life Time Fitness gym.

The completion date is set for 2023.

The Smyth

The Smyth is a 414-unit structure that takes up the entire block on Washington Boulevard between Bell Street and Tresser Boulevard in Stamford. It also boasts 19,333 square feet of retail space.

First approved in 2019, The Smyth replaced one of the three St. John’s Towers — built as an affordable housing complex during Stamford’s urban renewal era in the 1960s.

Construction stopped and started after issues with its contractor and The Smyth’s developer, Lennar Multifamily Communities, ultimately hired another to finish the project.

Heading into 2023, the studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment homes at 885 Washington Blvd. are available for pre-leasing

Hartford

Arrowhead Gateway

A planned 43-unit complex made up of 25 percent affordable units is scheduled to break ground in 2023. The development, part of the broader Arrowhead Gateway redevelopment, aims to invest in the neighborhood just northwest of Dunkin’ Donuts Park. Local officials see the initial structure as the first step in a broader development that will completely reshape the area with housing and retail space.

The city got a $6.3 million grant from the state to put toward the project, then got the San Juan Center and Carabetta Development LLC on board to move forward. Officials have said it will take about a year and a half to complete construction once it gets underway.

East Hartford

Concourse Park

East Hartford in September approved its first new apartment complex in the last 50 years, called Concourse Park. It is scheduled to include 470 units, with a “highly amenitized” complex that will include a pool and dog park. Concourse Park is part of a larger plan to revitalize the Silver Lane Plaza area.

“It’s part of a larger mosaic,” East Hartford mayor Mike Walsh said. “We just can’t take these things as one-offs and feel like we had a good day. East Hartford has a lot of work to do, and Silver Lane is an example of just how good East Hartford can be.”

Hamden

455 Sherman Ave.

The Planning & Zoning Commission in June approved a developer’s plan to construct 32 townhouse-style units at 455 Sherman Avenue, a plot of land that sits right next door to Quinnipiac University and across from the Farmington Canal Line.

At least 30 percent of the units are expected to meet affordability guidelines.

The plan was approved on the condition that the developer would extend the sewer line to the property.

Madison

Wellington at Madison

Two nonprofit agencies, Hope Partnership LLC and the Caleb Group, hope to begin construction in early spring 2023 on The Wellington at Madison at 131 Cottage Road.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority recently authorized $560,000 in 10-year federal tax credits for the project, which will provide $3.7 million in funding over the 10-year period.

New Haven

340 Dixwell

In New Haven’s Dixwell neighborhood, developers connected to a nearby city church broke ground Aug. 9 on a project to build 69 units of housing — including 55 affordable units — on the triangular former “Joe Grates” property off Dixwell Avenue and Orchard Street in the heart of the Dixwell neighborhood.

When construction is complete in the Spring of 2023, the four-story building will be the first environmentally friendly “mass timber” affordable housing project in the nation, said Darrell Brooks, chief operating officer of Beulah Land Development Corp., a non-profit company formed years go by the nearby Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church.

Of its 55 affordable units set aside for low-to-moderate income families, 20 will be reserved for those experiencing homelessness.

Beulah Land Development Corp. teamed for the project, located at 340 Dixwell Ave., 316 Dixwell Ave. and 783 Orchard St., with New York City-based non-profit developer HELP USA and Spiritos Properties, also of New York.

ConnCAT Place

The City Plan Commission in September unanimously approved plan changes for the $200-million-plus ConnCAT Place development to revitalize the deteriorating Dixwell Plaza shopping center in the heart of the city’s Dixwell neighborhood.

The City Plan Commission approved an earlier version of the plan in December 2021 and the Board of Alders approved a $750,000 deal to sell two key properties to ConnCORP in February.

The plan’s Phase 1 calls for ConnCORP, the for-profit subsidiary of the nonprofit ConnCAT, to demolish the existing Dixwell Plaza and the former Elk’s Club on Webster Street and replace them with a new headquarters for ConnCAT, 184 apartments, 20 percent of which will be “affordable” with below-market rents, a food hall, a 20,000-square-foot grocery store, 5,600 square feet of retail space, a health care clinic, daycare center and public plaza.

The recent changes included eliminating an underground parking garage that proved too expensive. Getting rid of the parking garage in favor of a larger temporary surface lot in the project’s first phase and adding a third deck to another parking structure to be built during the second phase will lower the price of the project by “tens of millions of dollars,” ConnCORP President and CEO Paul McCraven said.

Attorney Carolyn Kone said the parking garage proved to be too expensive when the applicants actually priced it out as prices rose during the pandemic.

78 Olive Street

Philadelphia-based PMC Property Group, won Board of Alders approval in April to build a 13-story building with 136 apartments, including 14 affordable units, on what previously was a parking lot next to the Strouse Adler “Smoothie” building. The alders approved by a 24-1 vote a zone change to allow denser development than would otherwise have been allowed.

The Olive Street development will be the tallest building on the Wooster Square side of State Street and the railroad tracks — nearly twice the height of other apartment buildings approved in recent years and months. The 2.48-acre site is bounded by Olive, Chapel and Court streets and the railroad tracks that run behind the State Street Rail Station.

Now-former East Rock alder Charles Decker, D-9, chairman of the alders’ Legislation Committee, which recommended approval, called it “a much better deal” than the original design, which was for 44 units with half as much affordable housing, because of the additional affordable housing it would provide.

Middletown

In Middletown, there are several developments underway or in the planning stages on and right off Main Street to build hundreds of apartments that also incorporate affordable housing, a recent focus of city officials. Once built, these flats will allow residents to enjoy Middletown’s walkability.

Former Bob’s Stores

A 48-apartment affordable housing project at 339 Main St., a space vacated by Bob’s Stores years ago, involves a proposal for the 135-year-old building. The plan calls for 46 loft apartments as well as two two-bedroom units.

The Village at Riverside

The Village at Riverside, proposed by Spectra Construction & Development Corp., would be situated on a 228,000-square-foot lot behind the police station and bordered by Main Street and deKoven and Dingwall drives.

The concept calls for 277 market-rate apartments and townhomes, with 45 studio, 156 one-bedroom, 57 two-bedroom and 19 three-bedroom units. 
Another downtown living project includes a $65 million luxury apartment complex proposed on Newfield Street, near the Cromwell line. It would be built on the grassy field at the rear of 494 Newfield St., and consist of 414-unit one- and two-bedroom apartments constructed with eco-friendly and energy-efficient materials.

Produced by Derek Turner.