STAMFORD – The $60 million Stamford Manor low-income public housing community refurbishment is set to get into full swing starting next month, according to Charter Oak Communities (COC) officials and Mayor Caroline Simmons.
The mayor joined COC officials Monday, March 16 on a tour of the 215-unit 26 Main St. elderly and disabled housing project to show the 61-year-old building’s current condition and allow some residents to describe what changes need to be made. Stamford Manor’s comprehensive renovation, beginning last year with structural restoration and continuing soon with the replacement of the building’s mechanical and electrical systems, will follow COC’s established practice of a phased approach to major housing revitalization projects.
“We’re here to celebrate after a very long period of time that Charter Oak Communities having gone through all of development in its portfolio in the last 30 years to redevelop them, replace them, refurbish them is now getting to Stamford Manor,” said Vin Tufo, COC’s CEO. “It’s the last one to get a major redo.”
Located adjacent to Mill River Park, Stamford Manor was developed in 1965 under the federal Low-Income Public Housing Program. According to a 2025 Needs-Based Affordable Housing Assessment sponsored by the City and COC, Stamford is short approximately 4,000 units affordable to extremely low-income households.
“About 30 percent of senior renters meet (Housing and Urban Development) HUD’s definition of extremely low-income,” Tufo said. “One-hundred-fifty of the 215 Stamford Manor units are currently occupied by senior households, making the preservation of Stamford Manor essential to this population.”
Two residents who spoke to the press Monday gave their wish list for the renovations they would like to see completed at Stamford Manor.
“I have been a resident at Stamford Manor for 26 years,” said Maria Medina through a translator. “I hope the mayor and City of Stamford can help improve our building. We need windows and upgrades in our bathrooms and kitchens. We would greatly appreciate any help the city could provide to make our homes comfortable and the building more beautiful, like we see in Stamford.”
Tyra Wallace, Stamford Manor property manager, told people on the tour that residents will be relocated within the facility while the construction takes place.
“We need to relocate the residents in the building,” she said. “We are going to stop leasing so we have a stack of units where we can locate residents temporarily while we prepare the rooms. There’s going to be phases.”
The renovation is taking place in three phases over the next three years, Tufo said.
“The maintenance phase will start with the structure of the building, structure of the stairwells, the exterior balconies, the elevators,” he said. “There will be a complete mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrade. Finally, we’re going to do the top to bottom renovation of the building and the interior of all the apartment units, including new windows, walkways, landscaping, façade, entries.”
Additionally, the security office and community room will be renovated. That will include a new storefront system for the community room as well as new appliances and kitchen layout.
COC has requested $2 million in city capital funds, a key funding component that signifies Stamford’s support for this important project.
“This year in our FY 2026-2027 capital budget, we proposed $3 million for affordable housing and $2 million will go to the project Vin (Tufo) has been talking about,” Simmons said. “This is also a part our administration’s goal of increasing affordable housing. It’s not just about new buildings and new units going up but it’s also about upgrading our existing housing stock.”
The funding for the renovation includes $5 million from COC; grants; private funding; low-income tax credits, which are sold to private investors; and a small amount of debt, according to Tufo.
“The main thing is the affordability for the residents who are here today will absolutely stay as affordable as it will be into our conversion,” he added. “We’ll able to use a HUD program, which has now just become available, to convert what is called affordable housing into a multi-family, more Section 8 public housing. It converts to a much higher subsidy level, which helps us do financing to do the work on the building.”
A linchpin for the COC’s plan for Stamford Manor is getting the City of Stamford to sign off on the $2 million in funds in the FY2026-2027 capital budget, Tufo said.
“That $2 million will enable the other funding to come together,” he said. “We have a lot of sources that are attracted to this kind of a deal. One of the first questions they ask is ‘what kind of support are you getting from the city?’”
Mayor Simmons wasn’t just on the tour to see the conditions of Stamford Manor, but also to reach out to the Stamford Board of Representatives and Board of Finance to keep the funds in the budget.
“Today’s call to action is to help us advocate throughout this budget process,” she said. “This $3 million has to be approved by our Board of Finance as they are able to make cuts. Please urge them not to cut this out of our budget. And then urge our Board of Reps to approve it as well.”
