As the Norwalk Housing Authority looks to assemble financing for an overhaul of the city”™s Washington Village development, it will seek a share of $72 million in federal storm-related aid Connecticut is set to receive.
But even if it is successful in securing a portion of those funds, housing authority officials acknowledge that there would be a long road ahead for the redevelopment of the state”™s oldest public housing community.
The housing authority has proposed to replace the community”™s 136 apartments with 273 new one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The proposed changes are part of a transformation plan for Washington Village and South Norwalk that is being finalized with the help of a $250,000 Choice Neighborhoods Initiative planning grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Other components of the transformation plan ”“ which must be approved by the city and is likely to be submitted to HUD in June ”“ call for crime prevention activities and educational components to help individuals become economically secure. The total budget is $106 million.
To help pay for the first phase of the plan, the housing authority has said it would apply for some of the $72 million in Community Development Block Grant funds that Connecticut will receive as part of a disaster relief package of funds for the states affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Of the $72 million in funds, which have yet to be released to the state from the federal government pending approval by HUD of the state”™s distribution plan, about $26 million will go toward multifamily housing, including public housing developments.
The housing authority will also likely apply for additional Choice Neighborhoods Initiative funding from HUD, said Candace Mayer, deputy director of the housing authority.
Mayer said the housing authority”™s ability to secure Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grants ”“ which she said are highly competitive ”“ could hinge on the authority”™s success finding other sources of financing beforehand.
“While we think we”™re the best and our project is the best, in all honesty, there are four or five projects funded in a year nationwide (through the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative), so you can see how highly competitive it is,” Mayer said. “Within the state on the other hand, there”™s only a few developments that would qualify for the Sandy disaster relief. So we”™re optimistic that might be a way to jump-start the redevelopment.”
If the housing authority receives some of the $72 million in funds for the Washington Village redevelopment, “it could make us more competitive in the Choice Neighborhoods implementation grant phase because they could see that the first phase of the development was already funded,” Mayer said.
Because the development is in a flood plain, state officials have speculated that the housing authority could encounter difficulty in securing funds.
However, Mayer said, the plans call for all apartments to be built above the flood plain.
“The buildings will be raised above the flood plain, so the parking will be at grade level and then the units will be above that,” Mayer said.
