The groundbreaking for the $30.4 million Parkside Village 1 redevelopment project took place recently in Branford, Connecticut. Branford Housing Authority(BHA) owns this 50-year-old property, which currently holds 50-unit housing for seniors and disabled adults. Now BHA intends to transform the property into a new 67-unit apartment building, and Beacon Communities will be the project’s developer.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and several other elected state officials were present at the event. Bysiewicz, pointed out that building affordable housing like Parkside Village 1 is one of the goals of the administration. According to the governor, many people started to notice the beauty of the shoreline town during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it has become necessary to build more affordable housing to increase accessibility and attract more people to the community. She also said the project would provide 20% more affordable housing than the previous apartment building.
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Development plans for the Parkside Village 1 project
Beacon Communities will have to demolish the existing structures at the Parkside Village 1 complex to move forward with the project. The developer will build a new building with bigger apartment units, along with accessibility measures, parking and other additional amenities. After the construction phase is complete, the existing residents will be able to move back into the redeveloped property.
The developer expects the new 67-unit Parkside Village 1 building to be ready for occupancy by December 2023. However, the age and disability restrictions will no longer apply to the new building. Instead, about 90% of the newly built units will be reserved for households earning less than 60% of the AMI. The project’s funding will come from the state’s $4 million housing trust funds and the $200,000 in national housing funds.
The Partners of the Parkside Village 1 project include Bradford’s Housing Authority, Elm City Communities, and Connecticut Department of Housing. Others include the Connecticut Department of Housing, Connecticut Finance Authority, Citizens Bank and Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.
