A development team has secured key funding to create a townhome development containing 56 rental apartments along with community amenities in New Haven, Connecticut.
A collaboration involving The NHP Foundation (NHPF), the city of New Haven, and WRSHIP is behind the MLK Boulevard/Tyler Street development, which recently received a $1.3 million reservation of 9% low-income housing tax credits by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and additional funding from the Connecticut Department of Housing.
Units at the development will be reserved for residents at different income levels up to 60% of the area median income (AMI). Through a partnership with the Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH), a portion of the townhomes will receive rental subsidies to support formerly homeless families and individuals earning below 30% of the AMI.
WRSHIP, incorporated in 2001, is the New Haven "SHIP" of a national movement of self-help investment plans (SHIPs) active since the 1960s and organized by African-Americans who pooled resources to undertake development in their communities, not having been able to gain access to capital through traditional banks and financiers.
“The project represents the first new housing to be constructed on a vast stretch of land in New Haven that has been vacant for over four decades,” according to Anthony Dawson, president of WRSHIP, and a native of New Haven, “It is also a major step for the inclusion of New Haven’s African-American community in major economic endeavors.”
The project is made possible via NHPF’s Affiliate Program, which provides expertise to mission-aligned affordable housing developers/owners and municipal and community organizations in need of resources to renovate existing assets or to develop new properties.
“Bringing much needed affordable housing to New Haven in partnership with WRSHIP, a community and faith-based organization advancing the participation of African-Americans in Connecticut development projects, embodies everything the NHPF Affiliate Program stands for,” said Jamie A. Smarr, NHPF senior vice president, Affiliate Program.
The organization’s resident services subsidiary, Operation Pathways, will be staffed within the community center/club house. Operation Pathways focuses on youth development, financial self-sufficiency, education, and health and wellness.
Located adjacent to the New Haven United Nations International Peace Garden, the proposed development has been designed to achieve certification with Passive House standards for energy efficiency and conservation of resources. It also includes, to the maximum extent possible, solar energy installations for additional energy efficiency, according to NHPF.
NHPF has developed 13 affordable housing communities via the Affiliate Program, with the New Haven development becoming its first in Connecticut.
