🔒69-unit, 55-plus housing development proposed in South Windsor

The head of a prominent Ellington-based demolition, abatement and environmental cleanup company is proposing a 69-unit housing development in South Windsor for people aged 55 years and older. James Newbury, president of Bestech Inc. of Connecticut, said he hopes to begin work this winter on a “walkable” community of 24 units in duplex-style buildings, 42 single-family houses and a single three-unit home on 32.5 acres off Oakland Road. All will be a single story. Most will have a front porch. The units will range from 1,200 to 2,400 square feet each, with two to three bedrooms. Eleven homes will be sold at “affordable” prices, Newbury said. Newbury, 71, said he could have pursued a far denser development with multistory buildings, but preferred a design that fostered a community of connected neighbors. The “Estates at 100 Oakland” will cater to, among others, empty nesters who are downsizing from larger homes, but still wish to remain in South Windsor, Newbury said. Newbury will be a neighbor to the Estates. He has lived in an antique, 3,948-square-foot house on 13 acres at 15 Petersen Way for the past 45 years, and plans to carve off a portion of that property for the development. Newbury plans to supplement that property with three neighboring properties he has gathered over the past 25 years, including: • 80 Oakland Road – a 0.6-acre property with a 1,340-square-foot cape-style home completed in 1946. A limited liability company headed by Newbury – 90 Oakland Road Associates LLC – acquired the property for $290,000 in 2018. • 90 Oakland Road – an 18.6-acre property with a 1933-vintage, 1,347-square-foot cape-style house. • 100 Oakland Road – a 0.9-acre property with a 1930-vintage, 547-square-foot ranch-style house. This property and 90 Oakland Road were acquired by 90 Oakland Road Associates for $195,000 in 2001. Construction would disturb 4.2 acres of upland review area, according to a recent wetlands development permit sought by Newbury. The project would fill 1,350-square-feet of wetlands and utility work would “disturb” another 1,560-square-feet of wetlands – all of which would be replaced, according to Newbury’s wetlands application. Newbury noted Monday the entire area was farmland decades ago. Newbury said he has developed or refurbished around 400 to 500 housing units during his career, but this is the first development he had pursued in about two decades. This development will include walking trails and is a block away from Town Hall, the public library, medical offices and a shopping plaza. He plans to finance the development with a bank loan, but has not yet settled on a lender. “I always thought I would like to build something nice there that would be an asset for the town,” Newbury said.