🔒Conversion of former Waterbury Catholic school into apartments targeted to launch this fall
Rendering of the completed first phase of the conversion of four buildings on the former St. Mary Grammar School campus in Waterbury into 47 apartments. Contributed
The transformation of the shuttered Catholic school on the eastern edge of downtown Waterbury into 47 apartments could begin before Thanksgiving.
City officials have proposed selling the former St. Mary School – five brick buildings on a 2.2-acre property off Cole Street – to a Kaybar Development Corp. for $1.6 million. The city’s Board of Aldermen, this week, set an Aug. 11 public hearing on the proposed sale.
KaBar principal Joseph Gramando said he hopes to close the sale in September, setting the stage to launch a roughly $15 million transformation of the St. Mary buildings into 47 apartments before Thanksgiving. The project, which will cater to medical workers, should be substantially complete and ready for tenants in about a year, Gramando said.
“It’s a really exciting project,” Gramando said. “We are going to take these buildings and repurpose them into high-end, middle-income apartments for healthcare workers.”
The site plan for the conversion of the former St. Mary Grammar School campus in Waterbury into apartments. Contributed
Gramando said he has applied to the state Department of Housing for a share of a $20 million grant program designed to encourage housing development for healthcare workers.
He expects a decision in September.
The first phase would deliver five studio apartments, 27 one-bedroom apartments and 15 two-bedroom units, according to plans.
It’s a really exciting project. We are going to take these buildings and repurpose them into high-end, middle-income apartments for healthcare workers.
As renovation work gets underway this fall, Gramando plans to also begin designing a new, ground-up apartment building on an undeveloped portion of the St. Mary grounds fronting East Main Street.
He hopes to begin construction of this second phase in late spring of next year. He expects to add around 40 to 60 apartments. The size of the building would depend on how much state funding is allocated for the project, he said.
Gramando, working with financier Louis Forster, has completed three of the most ambitious redevelopment projects in downtown Waterbury over the past decade, earning goodwill and confidence from local officials.
