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State’s $4M May Rescue “Winchester Lofts”
by Thomas MacMillan | Aug 6, 2012 9:07 am
(12) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: Housing, Newhallville
With a multimillion-dollar boost from the state, an Ohio developer is finally poised to resurrect a long-abandoned rifle factory as mixed-income housing.
That optimistic prediction comes as a result of a promise of support from Gov. Dannel Malloy, announced late last week.
As part of a statewide package of affordable housing “investments,” the state plans to put up $4 million in grants for the completion of Winchester Lofts, a housing development planned for one of the old Winchester rifle factory buildings not yet refurbished amid Science Park on Winchester Avenue.
Until Malloy’s announcement, the project had stalled.
Abe Naparstek, vice president for east coast development at Forest City, said the money from the state is the final piece that was needed to make the project a reality. He said design of the new apartments had been put on hold “because the deal didn’t work.” Forest City wasn’t able to make the financing come together, he said.
But with the grant, the project can go forward, Naparstek said. The project “couldn’t really make economic sense without additional support from the state,” he said. “We’re trying to put this thing back in motion.”
“I think we’re there,” said Kelly Murphy, the city’s director of economic development. “The state’s put us over the top.”
Once the economic engine of Newhallville, the sprawling Winchester gun factory complex has lain dormant for years, falling into disrepair. In recent years, the Science Park high-tech incubator has gradually grown up in the complex with the goal of transforming the area into a new economic engine. The transformation reached the main factory building at the corner of Winchester Avenue and Munson Street this year, when student financial services company Higher One moved into a rehabbed portion of the building, now its new corporate headquarters.
Next door to Higher One is a decrepit still-abandoned hulk eyed for Winchester Lofts.
With the state’s $4 million, developers hope to continue the building’s transformation by creating 158 new apartments right next to Higher One. The $53 million project is to be done by Forest City Residential Group, working with Carter Winstanley, the developer behind major portions of Science Park, the downtown 300 George St. biomedical building, and the soon-to-be-built 100 College St. tower as part of the Downtown Crossing project.
Of the 158 one- and two-bedroom apartments envisioned for Winchester Lofts, 20 percent would be affordable housing.
“As Soon As We Can”
While the final details remain to be worked out, the state at this point plans to offer $4 million in grants to the project, said Nick Lundgren, the director of housing and community development at the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). The money will come through the Competitive Housing Assistance for Multifamily Properties (CHAMP) program.
The money from the state will make other investors more confident in investing in WInchester Lofts, Kelly Murphy predicted.
“Everyone’s always waiting for the first guy to go in,” she said.
“The goal is to start construction next spring or summer,” Murphy said.
Naparstek was more circumspect, declining to estimate when the renovations might begin or be completed. He said he aims to have a groundbreaking “as soon as we can.”
“The timetable for all of these is hurry up and get moving,” said the DECD’s Lundgren. “We’re targeting a closing date of before the end of the calendar year.”
Naparstek also declined to say how expensive the rents might be in the new building. He said they will be “not dissimilar” to comparable apartments in town.
The affordable units will have rents set as a function of tenant income, with income requirements on who can rent them, Naparstek said.
The apartments will have a “loft” feel, said Murphy. They’ll have high ceilings and will feature the building’s original wood flooring, Naparstek said. The project is “running through the state and federal historic program,” which ensures preservation of the building’s historic character, he said. The building has “a lot of really neat features, like the old fire doors we’re going to retain.”
The building will have amenities like a gym and a “video room,” where tenants could get together to, for instance, watch the Super Bowl, Naparstek said.
“I think it’s a really unique project,” he said. It’s not often that you see mixed use like this in a 110-year old building, he said. The building went up near the turn of the 20th century, Naparstek said.
“It takes a dilapidated building and puts it back to good use,” Naparstek said.
Tags: Forest City, Abe Naparstek, Kelly Murphy, Winchester Lofts, Science Park, Carter Winstanely
Post a Comment
Comments
posted by: random on August 6, 2012 9:37am
31 will be “affordable”. And how exactly is “affordable” defined?
posted by: robn on August 6, 2012 10:23am
RANDOM,
Wait, let me Google that for you.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0539.htm
By law, a housing unit is affordable if it costs an occupant no more than one third of his or her annual income, where the income is less than or equal to the area median income (AMI) for the municipality where the housing is located, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
posted by: Threefifths on August 6, 2012 10:36am
posted by: random on August 6, 2012 9:37am
31 will be “affordable”. And how exactly is “affordable” defined?
You are on the money.The people better wake up.Again the Two Party System is selling out the people.They are trying to sneak Gentrification in.Look at the Gentrification of Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.The people were told the same thing.That they would get affordable housing. What the powers that be did was base geting a apartment on your income.They also use Housing Lotteries to see who will get a apartment.Look at what you have to make in income to get a apartment
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/ADAM-CLAYTON-POWELLAD.pdf
Check out the apartments in Brooklyn New York.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/15-Dunham-Place.pdf
Read Dr.Mindy Fullilove book.
Root Shock
How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do About It.
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/57036/root-shock-by-mindy-fullilove
People you better wake up.Notice the developer is from New York.
posted by: DingDong on August 6, 2012 11:26am
Naparstek’s brother is a leading advocate of walkable development in New York City. Let’s hope Forest City does a better job on this score than recent development projects in town!
posted by: DingDong on August 6, 2012 12:09pm
This is a question— how do you build affordable apartments?
Ideas:
1. Build smaller units with fewer amenities.
2. Get subsidies from the government.
3. Mix smaller units with bigger units and have the bigger units pay higher rent to subsidize the cheaper ones.
4. Just build more apartments; supply and demand means the price will fall.
Knowing 3/5, I bet he is against number 2. Which of the other options is not being implemented here but should be?
posted by: Stephen Harris on August 6, 2012 1:07pm
This is a great development. Once this project is up and running the city should rezone the other side from heavy industrial to something like light industrial/residential.
posted by: robn on August 6, 2012 1:35pm
ALL,
Wait let me do that math for you.
According to the last census, New Haven’s median household income is $38,963.
Divided by 3 is $12,988.
Divided by 12 is $1,082.
posted by: anonymous on August 6, 2012 2:48pm
There are different income guidelines for various grants and programs and it often depends on family size. The income limits are typically consider economic factors in the region as a whole, not just economic factors within the city limits. For example if the guideline were 80% AMI (which is considered limited income, or perhaps “workforce” income, but not necessarily “low income”), then a family of three people would need to make approximately $58,000 or less to qualify for the housing.
You can read about 360 State Street’s “workforce income” housing at http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/EconomicDevelopment/Press/ReadMore.asp?ID={C9BD3226-90D3-40FB-B598-B9B773F2C211}. Hopefully there will be similar programs here.
posted by: Threefifths on August 6, 2012 3:44pm
posted by: DingDong on August 6, 2012 12:09pm
Knowing 3/5, I bet he is against number 2. Which of the other options is not being implemented here but should be?
I am not subsidies from the government due to the fact that it is the peoples money.Second maybe you or someone else can answer this question for me.How come in the state of connecticut then don’t have the following housing programs.
Mitchell Lama
http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/mitchell/mitchell.html
Rent Control and Rent Stabilization.
http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/faq/rentcontrol.html
Last as far as Winchester Lofts.I bet any of you they will not be taking any section 8 and a one bed room will start at 1,500.00 a month.
posted by: random on August 6, 2012 3:54pm
In other words….Let’s not go blindly into another one of the city’s out of state investment deals until we have read and clearly understand all the fine print.
posted by: HhE on August 7, 2012 2:38pm
If one wants this section of Winchester to thrive (and I do, but I recognize that some people don’t), then this project needs to go forward. So New Haven gets four million from the state, which given the burden New Haven carries so people in the ‘burbs can live on the cheep, is a start.
While I don’t see free markets as a cure all, I am opposed to rent control.
I have heard people object to this project because it will drive apartment rents down. I have heard people object to this project because it does not have enough subsidized apartments. Whatever.
