Erik Johnson Seeks To Salvage NeighborWorks Deal

Hamden’s new development chief is proposing giving a nonprofit developer three extra months to get started on a long-delayed promise to renovate the abandoned former Hamden middle school and its surrounding property.

Erik Johnson, who has been serving as the town’s acting planner and economic development chief for three months, made that pitch Monday night to the Economic & Development Committee of the Legislative Council on Monday. He asked for permission to give the current developers more time to prove themselves before their contract expires, and give Johnson himself more time to learn about the project’s past and potential future.

Three out of five committee members voted in favor of Johnson’s suggestion. The full council is set vote next week to decide definitively whether or not to give the developer a second chance.

Hamden originally hired the nonprofit Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut — also known as NeighborWorks New Horizons — six years ago to convert the deteriorating school’s gymnasium into a community center and to construct 87 apartments on the site, which would include both market-rate and affordable housing units.

The New Haven Register reported in June on some of the reasons why the plan hasn’t gotten off the groud: The site, located at 560 Newhall St., turned out to be contaminated and required remediation. Recently retired Economic Development Director Dan Kroop told the Register that the state refused to review applications for funding of the project until land remediation was completed. And then, of course, a pandemic happened.

During Monday’s meeting, however, Johnson and other council members stated there had also been a history of poor communication on the part of Neighborworks. 

Now the town’s contract with Neighborworks to develop the property is set to expire on July 22. Johnson’s idea is to give Neighborworks until Oct. 22 to come up with a revised project proposal and timeline.

Given further deterioration of the building and newly discovered environmental concerns, Johnson said, there’s reason to believe Neighborworks’ new course of action might look different from how it did before.

“It’s Mutual’s burden to figure out how they’re going to move forward,” Johnson stated. If the organization does not come up with a plan that Johnson deems fit, the town will go back out to bid with other developers.

Town Attorney Sue Gruen asserted that three months is an extremely short period of time within the broader context of this project. Going out to bid would add considerable time to the already lengthy process of redeveloping the site.

However, other council members remained skeptical that Neighborworks os the right fit for the job given their seemingly static six-year history.

Councilman Justin Farmer, whose district includes Newhall Street, said that he property has long been treated like a dump, and ​“we don’t want to continue to be dumped on.”

He said he was concerned that this would be ​“another High Meadows project where we’re going to spend more time talking, talking, talking about it.”

“I think this is prime real estate,” he continued. ​“There are plenty of developers that will be knocking down our door for the opportunity to build there … I say no harm in going back out to bid.”

Aaron Hoffman, director of real estate development with Neighborworks, joined the conversation to say that ​“we are committed to the project. We really want to move forward.”

Farmer suggested that Neighborworks had postponed the project out of their own financial interest.

“We are a developer of affordable housing,” Hoffman responded. ​“We believe in building communities, and we’re not in this to make money out of it.”

Johnson added that extending the contract would not only mean allowing Neighborworks the chance to rethink next steps, but would also give him additional time with which to understand the complex history of the site and consider what development decision would best suit the area.

While the majority of the committee gave Johnson the go-ahead to give Neighborworks a second chance, the next council meeting will officially decide the developer’s final fate.