The state of Connecticut’s two main housing promoters are providing more than $60 million to 14 affordable-housing projects statewide, authorities say.
The Department of Housing (DOH) and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) announced the investments Thursday to build or rehab 851 affordable apartments and 246 market-rate units in 11 cities and towns.
Wethersfield’s town-owned Westfield Heights and a planned remake of Stafford’s Avery Park housing are among the recipients.
Authorities said the awarded projects competed successfully in either the sixth round of the state’s Competitive Housing Assistance for Multifamily Properties (CHAMP) initiative or the federal 9 percent low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) round.
Investments include more than $60 million in state capital funding, a projected $84.6 million in federal 4 percent and 9 percent LIHTC credit equity, and $19.4 million in permanent CHFA tax exempt bond financing. Administered by DOH, CHAMP helps owners and developers of multifamily rental developments to expand or rehabilitate affordable and supportive housing.
The CHAMP recipients are:
- Brookfield Village, Brookfield – DOH will provide up to $4.5 million and CHFA will provide $4.6 million in tax exempt bond financing and $2.5 million in 4% LIHTC net proceeds to Brookfield Village LLC to assist in the creation of a 48-unit mixed-use, mixed-income development in Brookfield. Forty-three of the 48 units will be restricted as affordable housing; the rest will be rented at market rate.
- Essex Place, Essex – DOH will provide up to $3.83 million to assist in the development of Essex Place, a newly constructed 22-unit affordable elderly apartment building. Essex Place will be located adjacent to the existing 36-unit Essex Court elderly housing development.
- Norfolk Town Center, Norfolk – DOH will provide up to $3 million to assist in the development of 10 affordable apartments for families in Norfolk. The units will be created on three sites in the heart of Norfolk Village.
- The Lofts at Ponemah Mills, Norwich – DOH will provide up to $4.97 million and CHFA will provide $8.25 million in tax exempt bond funding and $1 million in 4 percent LIHTC net proceeds to assist in the rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of a portion of the historic Ponemah Mills, dating from the 1860s, located in the Taftville section of Norwich.
- Metro Green 3, Stamford – DOH will provide a loan of up to $5 million to assist in the construction of the 155-unit Metro Green III project in the heart of Stamford’s downtown south end.
- Westfield Heights, Wethersfield – DOH will provide up to $3.5 million to assist in the substantial rehabilitation of Westfield Heights, which is owned and managed by the Wethersfield Housing Authority. Westfield Heights contains 132 apartments for families within 82 separate buildings on 20 acres in the heart of Wethersfield.
- Brown Building, Waterbury – DOH will provide up to $5 million to assist in the redevelopment of The Brown Building, located in the heart of downtown Waterbury. The Brown Building was constructed in 1930 and is in the Waterbury Downtown
- Schoolhouse Apartments, Waterbury – DOH will provide up to $3.85 million and CHFA will provide $6.55 million in tax exempt bond financing and $8.3 million in 4% LIHTC net proceeds to assist in the redevelopment of the Schoolhouse Apartments in Waterbury. .
The developments receiving 9 percent LIHTCs are:
- 515 West Avenue, Bridgeport; Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust – CHFA has awarded $8.2 million in LIHTC equity and DOH will provide up to $1.6 million in state capital funds to construct this 48-unit mixed-income development. 515 West Avenue will be located within a half-mile of an existing mass-transit station.
- Avery Park Revitalization, Stafford; Stafford Housing Authority – CHFA has awarded $11.1 million in LIHTC equity and DOH will provide up to $6.5 million in state capital funds to build a new complex with 79 one-bedroom apartments for elderly residents.
- Crescent Crossing Phase 1B, Bridgeport; Bridgeport Community Renewal Associates, LP – CHFA has awarded $19.1 million in LIHTC equity and DOH will provide up to $5 million in state capital funds and $2.8 million in Superstorm Sandy Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to build Crescent Crossing. The new mixed-income development is the second phase of housing to replace units at Marina Village that were damaged beyond repair by Superstorm Sandy, as well as units at the former Father Panik Village development. There will be four buildings with a total of 84 units.
- East Street Apartments, New Milford; Dakota Partners Inc. – CHFA has awarded $6.2 million in LIHTC equity and DOH will provide up to $4.2 million in state capital funds, for new construction and renovations at East Street Apartments. The development will be a combination of new construction and gut renovation of an existing historic home on the property, creating 38 apartments.
- The Mill at Killingly Apartments, Killingly; Women’s Institute for Housing & Economic Development – CHFA has awarded $5.6 million in LIHTC equity and DOH will provide up to $4.9 million in state capital funds to develop The Mill at Killingly Apartments. The project will be an adaptive reuse of a brownfield site and will require extensive remediation.
- Spruce Ridge/Meadows, in Stonington’s Pawcatuck section; Mutual Housing of South Central CT – CHFA will provide $10 million in LIHTC equity and DOH will provide up to $5 million in state capital funds. Previously the department awarded $3.5 million for the development. Spruce Ridge/Meadows will combine two adjacent sites for the construction of 86 new apartments, with 67 tagged as affordable.
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