🔒Site of long-vacant Waterbury school building, destroyed by fire, proposed for apartment redevelopment

A nearly half-acre lot in Waterbury where a blighted former school burned in 2024 could soon be the site of a $2.75 million apartment development yielding up to a dozen low-income rental units — that is, if city officials are willing to sell it for $25,000 and offer deep tax breaks over 15 years. A proposal to sell the property to Shelton-based Laing Capital Partners LLC and offer a 15-year-tax break in support of its development will be presented to the Board of Aldermen at its Jan. 5 meeting. The proposed buyer responded to a city request for proposals in June, in which the city sought a housing developer for the 0.43-acre property at 36 Welton St., which is located just northeast of the central business district. The site hosted a 7,944-square-foot building that was built in 1922 as the Welton Center School and, later, served as the city’s welfare office. That office closed in 1998 and the building became vacant and blighted. A fire broke out in 2005 and another, more damaging one in early 2024. After that, the building was demolished and the city set out to find a housing developer. A proposal by Laing Capital Partners LLC — which is operated by Kevin Laing and Regina Gordon-Laing, who share a Shelton address — was favored by the city’s selection committee. Attempts to reach a Laing representative were not immediately successful. The plan calls for a three-story walkup of 10 to 12 rental units of about 1,000 square feet each. Each would have three bedrooms and one bathroom with “Home Depot-grade finishes” throughout, according to the proposal. The building would be slab-on-grade, with electric hot water heaters and electric mini-split HVAC systems. The building would have 15 to 18 parking spaces. The project would be funded through a combination of low-income housing tax credits and a Connecticut Housing Finance Authority mortgage, along with developer equity. Rents would be restricted to $1,375 monthly. A pro forma from Laing, assuming 10 units, shows a positive cash flow of only $6,340 in the project’s first five years and only $340 in the next 10 years. This, according to city Finance Director Michael LeBlanc, demonstrates the need for a tax break. The proposed tax abatement would exempt 100% of the added property value from the development from city taxes for five years, then 85% of the added value for another 10 years. “The reduced taxable assessment is deemed critical in making the development of the property feasible and sustainable with restricted affordable rents,” reads a portion of a memo LeBlanc shared with the Board of Aldermen.