Nearly $30 million in grants have been approved to build four new affordable multifamily housing developments in Connecticut.
The $27.9 million in funding will build developments with 93 affordable rental homes in Bridgeport, Hamden, Hartford and Manchester. Of these, 51 apartments will be set aside for veterans and child welfare-involved families that are currently homeless, at risk of being homeless, or chronically homeless.
The grants were approved by the Interagency Committee on Supportive Housing (ICSH) under the state's Permanent Supportive Housing Initiative (PSHI). The ICSH is a collaboration of public and private organizations, including the Office of Policy and Management, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing.
To be eligible for a PSHI grant, a development must have a minimum of 10 new apartments, either new construction or rehabilitation of existing units that were not fit to be occupied. Grant recipients may also apply for tax credits and other funding to leverage the PSHI funds.
The 2014 PSHI award recipients are:
Milestone at Stratford Avenue in Bridgeport
Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust will receive $8.7 million for new construction of a development with 30 units of supportive and affordable apartments. Eight apartments will be set aside for veterans ineligible for Department of Housing and Urban Development—Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers and two apartments will be set aside for youth aging out of foster care. Milestone at Stratford Avenue is expected to contain a grocery store on the ground level, and the apartments above will all be affordable to households with incomes up to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI).
Sanford Commons in Hamden
New Haven Home Recovery will receive $7.6 million in PSHI conditional grant funding. The new building will have a total of 33 apartments, with 10 apartments set aside for chronically homeless individuals, including veterans ineligible for HUD-VASH, and six units for young adults aging out of foster care. Sanford Commons will be handicap accessible, and 16 apartments will be affordable to households with incomes up to 50 percent of the AMI, with 17 units affordable to households with incomes of between 50 percent and 80 percent of the AMI.
Liberty Gardens in Hartford
Chrysalis Center Real Estate Corp. will receive a $4 million grant to rehabilitate a vacant historic apartment building. The building will include 10 apartments for child-welfare involved families as well as related office space and family-activity rooms on the first floor. All units are affordable to families with incomes of 25 percent to 50 percent of the AMI. The development is located on a bus line providing access to transportation. An additional $400,000 in financing is provided by the city of Hartford HOME funds.
Center Street Apartments II in Manchester
CHR Capital will receive $ 7.6 million in PSHI conditional grant funding. The new apartments will be built next to the Center Street Apartments, also owned and operated by CHR. Center Street II will have 10 units of supportive housing—two units for adults with special needs, three units for veterans, and five units for child-welfare involved families. The first floor of the building will have office space for CHR and all units are affordable to households making up to 80 percent of the AMI.
