Three small houses of God are making way for houses for senior citizens at the West Rock public-housing development in-progress.
It’s noot quite a freewill exchange: Each of the three churches was paid a $20,000 displacement stipend by HANH and provided with moving, relocation, and broker assistance by the authority.
Reverend Alice M. Echols (pictured) of the True Vine Church, leader of one of the displaced congregations, was on hand at at this week’s Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH) Board of Commissioners meeting to thank the authority and express gratitude. The commissioners approved the expenditures by a unanimous vote.
True Vine and the two other churches, Mount Moriah Tabernacle of Praise, and the Cathedral of Worship, were the last remaining tenants located in separate spaces within the building at 122 Wilmot Rd. HANH will be converting the bulding into 37 units of senior housing and 11,000 square feet of commercial space, as part of the ambitious 475-unit West Rock redevelopment.
The $144 million undertaking is replacing the closed-down Brookside and Rockview houses nearby. It is modeled on the mixed income, homeownership model of Monterey Place and the recently rebuilt Q Terrace in Fair Haven. West Rock’s master developer is the Michaels Development Company of New Jersey, which was chosen last summer by HANH with the active involvement of a committee of local residents.
Historically, the absence of stores in the bucolic West Rock area, tucked between the backyard of Southern Connecticut State University and the fenced-off Hamden town line, has contributed to the community’s sense of isolation. 122 Wilmot, conceived as housing not only senior apartments but also commercial units, will seek to remedy that, as will the renovated community center farther down Wilmot Road.
HANH purchased 122 Wilmot in December 2007 for $750,000 from its private owner, 120 – 122 Wilmot Road, LLC. As part of the closing, it was agreed that the churches would be out by next week. In the interim, HANH has helped with relocation assistance, including offering the churches use of the authority’s moving vans and its broker.
According to HANH’s attorney, Rolan Joni Young, while the churches do not technically qualify for the relocation stipend under the applicable federal law, the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisitions Policies Act of 1970, the authority determined to treat the churches as qualifying displaced nonprofits.
“We were under no obligation,” said Young, “but we negotiated this settlement with the churches, and this will result in no more ongoing obligation.”
Reverend Echols said that her church, a non-denominational congregation, has ten regularly participating members, primarily residents of West Rock.
HANH is providing $36 million for the project. The balance of the $144 million is to be provided by the developer through its own tax credits, abatements, revenue sources