New Haven Independent

The first blow came when the Housing of Authority of New Haven (HANH) recently learned that it did not receive a federal HOPE VI grant for its West Rock re-development plans. HOPE VI grants made possible the construction of Monterey Place and the reborn Quinnipiac Terrace.

Still hopeful that substitute financing can be found, HANH is moving ahead with the demolition preceding construction of 455 new units of affordable housing in the shadow of West Rock.

Now the sewer line problem has raised its head. While it’s not going to cost $20 million, there’s a price tag to fix it.

The HOPE VI grant had represented approximately $20 million of a total $144 million project envisioning rental apartments along with some 90 home-ownership units.

“Without Hope VI funding,” Karen DuBois-Walton (pictured above), HANH’s executive director said in an email message, “we are nevertheless forging ahead. The early phases of West Rock are not dependent upon HOPE VI.”

Jimmy Miller, HANH’s former executive director and now the executive in charge of projects such as West Rock, said that the primary source of funding for West Rock was the sale of low-income housing tax credits through the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. That’s problematic, too. Because major purchasers have historically been Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Miller suggested that, “The collapse of the subprime hosing market means that the two biggest buyers of credits may no longer be in this market.”

Miller added that his concern lay more with such financial uncertainties than the denial of HOPE VI funds or the sewer line problem. He predicted that since HANH’s score for the HOPE VI grant was a highly respectable 100 out of 120, a reapplication might be in order and produce better results.

In the meantime, shovels are in the ground in West Rock. Some 13 buildings of the old Brookside Apartments have recently been razed in the first phase of the demolition of the project.

During the removal of underground oil storage tanks as part of the demolition, crews found that a 24-inch sewer line was passing perilously nearby. Due to the large volume the sewer line handles, the Water Pollution Control Authority has asked for a bypass so that the remaining demolition and construction won’t threaten a major rupture or spill.

“We went back and forth with them,” said Jimmy Miller, “but because there are large patches of wetland nearby, they convinced us that risking a million gallons of sludge escaping wasn’t wise. I think this qualifies as just bad luck.”

In dollar terms, it means an additional $442,0l4.48 of additional costs — $200,000 for labor and the balance for pumps and other equipment to construct the bypass. That change order to the West Rock project was approved at the last HANH Board of Commissioners meeting.

Dubois-Walton is unfazed. “We’re prepared to handle this,” she maintained. “What the HOPE VI denial means in terms of the funding is that what might have been a five-year redevelopment for the entire project will likely take longer, but the work goes on.”

In addition to the demolition process, the zoning process for the West Rock development has also been moving apace. The Board of Zoning Appeals and City Plan Commission have approved construction of the first 100 structures of the new development on the site of the soon to be completely demolished Brookside and Rockview apartments.

Eva Goldman, one of the principals in Michaels Development of New Jersey, West Rock’s main contractor confirmed, that the HOPE VI disappointment won’t affect at least the initial phases of the project. “We were selected,” she said after a recent BZA presentation, “because we are results oriented.”

Miller was open to what he called reconfiguring the project, if need be, without reducing its scope. The way to do that, he said, is through what’s known in the trade as value engineering. “In a project the size of West Rock there are always unknowns and uncertainties. Until we get detailed drawings and detailed pricing, however,” he added, “it’s not possible to say ultimately how many units and what types can be developed.”

What concerns Dubois-Walton more is not finding the substitute construction funds, but “the bigger impact of not getting HOPE VI on the community service support dollars that would have been leveraged by the infusion of HOPE VI. This is funding for job training, social services, GED help, services of this nature. These dollars are scarcer and more difficult to replace.”