Connecticut Housing Partners, a nonprofit affordable housing provider, is gutting and rehabilitating the four buildings at Yale Street Commons, a 44-unit townhouse-style complex in Bridgeport built in 1998, at a cost of $19.5 million, according to Renee Dobos, the organization's president. The complex, in the city's Lindencroft Historic District, houses about 125 residents earning low to moderate incomes who pay no more than 30% of the area median income, according to the Fairfield County Center for Housing Opportunity.
Connecticut Housing Partners starts $19.5 million rehabilitation at Bridgeport's Yale Street Commons
Connecticut Housing Partners, a nonprofit affordable housing provider, is gutting and rehabilitating the four buildings at Yale Street Commons, a 44-unit townhouse-style complex in Bridgeport built in 1998, at a cost of $19.5 million, according to Renee Dobos, the organization's president. The complex, in the city's Lindencroft Historic District, houses about 125 residents earning low to moderate incomes who pay no more than 30% of the area median income, according to the Fairfield County Center for Housing Opportunity.
The work will upgrade building interiors and exteriors, with new doors, windows, bathrooms and kitchens installed, and the apartments will become more energy-efficient, Dobos said. "The whole skin of the buildings are being replaced. The walls are going to stay intact unless they need some repair, but there'll be new paint, new flooring, brand new kitchens, brand new bathrooms," she said. The units will also get dishwashers and central air conditioning, she said.
Rents will not increase because of the upgrades, Dobos said. "Most of the residents are paying the capped rent already, so they likely will not feel a change in rent, and the IRS releases the annual rent cap annually," she said. "We just follow that. They really won't see an impact to their rent at all." For the Bridgeport area, 30% of the area median income amounts to about $104,000 annually for a single-income household, according to the Fairfield County Center for Housing Opportunity.
The rehabilitation is being done building by building and will temporarily displace residents, who will move to available apartments at Park City Place, another affordable complex in Bridgeport run by Connecticut Housing Partners in a former Holiday Inn. "That's better than putting them in a hotel because each building is going to take about three months, so this way they'll be able to be comfortable," Dobos said. "They'll be able to cook their own meals, and their furniture will go with them."
A housing tax credit will be applied toward the renovations, which are expected to be completed next fall, according to the article. Additional funding came from the state Department of Housing, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and $4 million in bond financing.
Connecticut Housing Partners has two other affordable apartment complexes in the works, a 47-unit development in Terryville and a 91-unit project in Southport, Dobos said. The organization recently purchased Clinton Commons, an 8-unit affordable housing complex in New Haven, and plans to expand into New Haven County. "Our focus right now is expanding our portfolio, since most of our assets have already been rehabilitated," Dobos said. All but one of the group's existing affordable housing complexes have recently been upgraded, she said.
- The source does not state the month or calendar date on which the rehabilitation work began.
- The source does not state the size of the housing tax credit applied to the renovations.
- The source does not state how much rent residents currently pay at Yale Street Commons.
- The source does not state the terms or repayment details of the $4 million in bond financing.
- The source does not state whether the project's completion date carries a specific month beyond "next fall."
- The source does not state a completion date for Connecticut Housing Partners' purchase of Clinton Commons in New Haven.
Read the original at CT Public