The opening of Phase Three of Soundview Landing ”” a mixed-income housing development on the former Washington Village site in Norwalk ”” was attended by Gov. Ned Lamont, the Norwalk Housing Authority and Trinity Financial on Sept. 20.
Phase Three consists of 108 apartments and marks the completion of all phases of the Washington Village redevelopment.
The former 136-unit Washington Village public housing project has been replaced with 273 new, modern apartments over course of the three-phase development, inclusive of a one-for-one replacement of the 136 public housing units that previously existed.
“You want a community where people can afford to live,” the governor said at the event. “You want a community where your kids can afford to live. You want a community where the carpenters who built this with their hands every day can afford to live.
“Every time I am trying to get another business to come to the state, they always ask me about housing, and I say you ought to see what we”™re doing up in Norwalk,” he continued. “You ought to see the amazing housing we got, where each and every one of your folks who want a job can live near where they work, where they can walk to the YMCA, where they can get right down to the train if they have to get to the train. That”™s what I mean by doing it right.”
“This is truly a transformative day for the City of Norwalk and for this particular area,” said Mayor Harry Rilling. “This is something that is really going to give people a place where they can live, a place where they can have dignity, a place where they can have something they can be proud of. And there is no better feeling than pride in where you live. And the amenities in the building are many, things that people didn”™t have before.”
Trinity Financial, the Norwalk Housing Authority and the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency worked with residents, local and state agencies to develop a design for the new buildings.
Washington Village was the oldest public housing site in the state of Connecticut and experienced significant damage and flooding during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Phase One of Soundview Landing was completed in July 2018, while Phase Two was completed in September 2020.
Apartments in all three phases were created to offer multiple floor plans and include generous spaces to live, work and socialize. Amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center, a resident lounge and roof deck, gourmet kitchens with quartz countertops and in-unit laundry with energy- and water-saving features.
“We at Trinity, we really like the tough projects,” said Michael Lozano, Trinity Financial vice president of development. “We like challenges, but this one took the cake ”¦. But every member of our team stepped up, pulled through, and got the job done.”
