Bridgeport uses federal Sandy funds for affordable housing

Bridgeport is tapping nearly $7 million in federal Superstorm Sandy relief for the construction of six buildings of affordable housing containing 93 new units.

The Bridgeport Housing Authority at Crescent Crossing will receive $6.975 million to create the 93 units. The buildings, constructed on a portion of the land of the former Father Panik Village, will consist of 37 one-bedroom units, 46 two-bedroom units and 10 three-bedroom units.

The proposed site is billed by the city as “an underutilized approximately 4.3-acre lot that sits vacant in the city”™s East Side.” Low- and moderate-income tenants will fill the addresses.

Additionally, Bridgeport Community Renewal Associates will receive a $100,000 federal planning award to investigate a marina initiative.

Last year, the state was awarded $71.8 million through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development”™s Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery  program. The money went to the state, which is allocating it through its Department of Housing.

Gov. Dannell Malloy and state Sen. Anthony Musto, D-Bridgeport, made the announcement recently along with state Department of Housing Commissioner Evonne M. Klein.

“As it becomes apparent that major weather events will be hitting Connecticut’s shoreline more frequently than ever before, we must strengthen our communities to be more resistant to them,” Musto said. “Funds to help rebuild damaged properties will bring great new opportunities for Bridgeport residents, and assistance with planning will ensure that we are better equipped to withstand the storms and preserve Connecticut’s coastline.”

“Given that extreme weather events like Sandy that were considered once in a century events have now become annual occurrences, it”™s not a matter of if, but when that next storm will hit Connecticut”™s shoreline communities,” Malloy said.