$89M housing debut for Stamford’s West Side

City and state leaders sat in a heated tent Dec. 10 on Taylor Street in Stamford for the dedication of the city’s new assisted-housing facility, the HOPE VI Taylor Street Apartments.

By its infusion of over $89 million into Stamford”™s West Side, the development is part of a push to increase commercial activity, bring an upswing in property value and improve quality of life in the neighborhood. The 24 units integrate supportive services and occupational initiatives to increase the economic self-sufficiency and independence of residents. .

Built as part of the federal HOPE VI assisted-housing revitalization program, the brick Taylor Street Apartments represent the initial phase of the Fairfield Court revitalization. The program is replacing the 144-unit public housing development owned by the Stamford Housing Authority with new on-site and off-site housing units.

“I”™m glad to be back at this spot, not the beginning of construction, not the access of fund or the will of the community, but actually to be celebrating the building of more and better housing in the city of Stamford,” said Mayor Dannel Malloy. “We”™re taking all of the lessons we”™ve learned over the last 10 or so years and are applying them place by place, home by home, and making far more sustainable far better places for people to live and get the help they need in the case of assisted housing. The reality is there are very few communities in the United States that do for housing what this community is doing.”

Of the new Taylor Street units; 16 will be rented at special affordable rates according to qualifying income levels, and eight units will be affordable owner-occupied condominiums.

Lt Gov. Michael Fedele expressed appreciation and gratitude for the HOPE VI assisted-housing program. Fedele grew up on Taylor Street in a house two doors down from the new apartments.

“This wasn”™t just the typical, you get out you fix it up and then you see someone else living in these units,” said U.S.  Rep. Christopher Shays.

“Economic development is not just about business and jobs, it”™s about the basic need for housing,” said Moira K Lyons, director of communications and government relations at Norwalk Community College.

“We”™re grateful to the many partners, associates and believers ”“ locally and nationally ”“ who have helped and supported us as Taylor Street moved from paper to groundbreaking and now, today, to a high-quality housing facility ready for its new residents,” said Richard D. Fox, executive director of Stamford Housing Authority.