A new quasi-public state agency armed with $90 million to promote high-density housing in Connecticut downtowns and near mass transit is poised to sign off on its first low-interest loan agreement with a developer this week.
The Connecticut Municipal Development Authority’s Board of Directors is scheduled to vote Thursday on a $9.36 million, 3% loan to support a $53 million redevelopment of a 3.8-acre portion of the former Bigelow-Sanford carpet mill site in Enfield’s Thompsonville neighborhood. The project, led by Avon-based Honeycomb Real Estate Partners and Windsor-based Grava Properties, will deliver 156 apartment units adjacent to the Connecticut River and near the planned Hartford Line passenger rail station.
“The most important thing about telling the story about our first project is it’s now going to be real for a lot of folks and we want to make sure that they know how to get to us if they have a project that aligns with our mission,” said CMDA Executive Director David Kooris, who has spent the past 18 months establishing the agency, enrolling municipalities, and creating a framework for developer partnerships.
So far, 43 communities have agreed to take part, 14 of which have finalized development districts in which the CMDA can help with planning, infrastructure and developer financing.
Kooris anticipates a “cluster” of additional projects coming before the board in the next two months, with each ultimately requiring state Bond Commission authorization.
The Connecticut General Assembly has signed off on up to $90 million in bonding authorization for CMDA, the final $30 million of which becomes accessible as of July 1. Based on early responses, Kooris said most or all of that funding will be “mobilized” in projects by the close of fiscal 2027.
The “Enfield Station” project at 33 North River St. aligns with CMDA’s mission, Kooris said, especially with the nearby construction of a passenger rail station on the Hartford rail line. Together, the two projects will help inspire additional investment in a once-thriving village center, he said.
The Thompsonville section of Enfield had boomed as a manufacturing jobs center for more than a century before the industry began to shutter in the early 1970s. Since then, many businesses moved away and former industrial sites sat unused.
“It’s a quaint little place on the Connecticut River,” Kooris said. “This project — and it’s the first of potentially multiple phases — really has the potential to move the needle in increasing opportunities in Thompsonville.”
The Honeycomb-Grava project has additional government backing, including a 12.5-year tax-fixing agreement from the town. The state has pitched in with a $4 million brownfield cleanup grant, and the Federal Housing Authority is backing a first mortgage on the development.
CMDA’s loan is structured on a 40-year term, to match the FHA loan term. Twenty percent of the project’s units will rent at “workforce” rates, meant to be affordable for households earning 80% of area median income.
CMDA’s backing is the last piece of the financing puzzle, said Lewis Brown, managing member of Honeycomb. Once that is secure, Brown said, the partnership will be able to acquire the property and begin construction, events he expects to happen in June or July. He aims to complete the project in the spring of 2028.
Thompsonville is a quaint area with a lot of potential, within commuting distance of Hartford and Springfield and close enough to Storrs to draw renters from that area, Brown noted. But the post-industrial hamlet’s rents still lag behind much of Connecticut, making state and local support essential, he said.
“But for the partnership, collaboration and confidence in our team and vision from state and local leaders, this development would not be realized,” Brown said.
Brown said his development, coupled with the new train station, could help catalyze other investments in Thompsonville.
The CMDA Board of Directors will meet Thursday at 12 p.m. Information about that meeting and the agency’s offerings can be found at wearecmda.com.
