A proposal to build six two-story buildings with a total of 54 affordable multifamily residential units in West Hartford was unanimously approved Tuesday night by the Town Council.
The council voted 9-0 to approve the application from Avon-based Honeycomb Real Estate Partners LLC, which sought to rezone two adjacent vacant properties in the Elmwood section of town to build the housing units under Section 8-30g of the state’s General Statutes.
Section 8-30g promotes the development of low-cost housing with long-term affordability protections, while also preventing municipalities from denying a proposal unless there is a specific significant health or safety concern.
The new development, to be called Madsen Acres in honor of the former Madsen Dairy Farm that once operated in the area, will be developed on 2.49 acres that fronts Newington Road.
The combined properties include 0.63 acres at 230 Newington Road, which is currently zoned R-6 for single-family residential, and 13.78 acres at 60 Brook St., part of which is currently zoned
for industrial enterprise and general industrial.
The council approval will allow the entire property to be zoned for residential multifamily development, as well as for a special development district overlay to allow the affordable housing.
Honeycomb Real Estate Partners has an agreement to acquire 230 Newington Road from West Hartford-based developers David Raisner and Ronald Webber. Last May, they paid $86,000 for that property and $2.41 million for 60 Brook St., which previously was home to manufacturer Holo-Krome. Honeycomb plans to secure a drainage easement for the Brook Street property.
The 54 units will consist of 38 one-bedroom units and 16 two-bedroom units.
According to Robin Pearson, an attorney representing Honeycomb, all 54 units will be for sale and 100% of them will be deed restricted as affordable. She added that the development will move forward only if it receives funding from a homeownership financing program offered by the state Department of Housing.
In his presentation about the development during a public hearing prior to the council meeting, Lewis Brown, founder and managing principal of Honeycomb, said the program is intended for individuals and families earning at or below 80% of area median income and allows them to build equity while ensuring “the homes remain perpetually affordable.”
He said the state financing program helps reduce the amount potential buyers need to borrow.
Brown said Honeycomb will screen applicants and offer homebuyer counseling through the nonprofit Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, plus financial literacy support to help families maintain homeownership.
“Madsen Acres is about more than housing,” Brown said. “It’s about stewardship of public resources, neighborhood stability and opportunity.”
Honeycomb also will provide “several hundred thousand dollars” for a homeowner’s association “so people are set up for success.”
The development, which is located just south of the Elmwood Plaza shopping center and a CTfastrak station on New Park Avenue, will include 71 parking spaces, storm drainage infrastructure and landscaping.
Madsen Acres is not the first affordable housing project developed by Honeycomb in West Hartford. The Camelot, a 100% affordable housing development, opened in May on the former site of the West Hartford Inn at 900 Farmington Ave.
The housing complex features 44 one- and two-bedroom deed-restricted apartments for a mix of income levels.
