Ex-Hill Co-op, McConaughy Tax Breaks OK’d

The Board of Alders approved two tax breaks for two different affordable housing projects across town — including at a former Hill co-op, which will see 32 apartments knocked down and 64 built up as part of a first phase of redevelopment.

Local legislators took those votes Monday night during the latest bimonthly meeting of the full Board of Alders, which was held in-person in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall.

One of the tax abatements awarded by the alders on Monday will allow for the demolition of part of the former Hill Central Community Co-op and the creation of eight new buildings with double the number of apartments to rise there instead.

Westmount, the project’s Branford-based developer, ultimately plans to knock down and rebuild all of the former co-op buildings on Washington Avenue, Howard Avenue, Dewitt Street, and Putnam Street. 

Those buildings were originally constructed in 1980 and operated as an affordable housing cooperative up until June 2017, when the current owners purchased the property for $3.7 million. The ex-co-op property currently has 72 three and four bedroom apartments, all of which are covered by a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD.)

Construction has been planned in multiple phases, with the first phase focusing on the cluster of apartments closest to Howard Avenue — including all of the former co-op buildings located to the north of Hill Central School. The 17-year tax abatement approved by alders on Monday night applies to that cluster only.

According to Westmount Vice President Rick Ross, the 32 apartments targeted in the first phase of construction have already begun to be demolished. Over the next two years, Ross said, Westmount plans to build 64 apartments in their place.

Fifty-one of those new units will rent at below-market rates, for households making between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). (As of 2022, for instance, a two-person family making between $27,030 — 30 percent AMI — and $54,060 per year — 60 percent AMI — would qualify for those apartments.)

The tax deal reached with the city would discount taxes to $1,000 a year for each of the 51 affordable units, an amount that will increase annually by 3 percent for the 17-year period for which the agreement lasts.

For the remaining 13 market-rate apartments in that first cluster of redevelopment, Westmount will contribute the full amount of taxes each year.

According to Ross, this agreement ​“means that we’re going to be able to provide case management services, resident services, coordinator services for the residents at the property. It will support our ability to support the community.”

Current residents will be able to move into the new units, Ross said.

Hill Alder Evelyn Rodriguez, whose ward includes the forthcoming development, expressed enthusiasm for the project on Monday. ​“They’ve done good work,” she said of Westmount. She added that she’s seen little turnover at the apartment complex from her perspective as alder. ​“They really try to keep their families. That’s one thing I like about the owner.”

39-Year McConaughy Ter. Deal OK'd

Alders also approved on Monday night a 39-year tax deal that would help finance the rehabilitation of McConaughy Terrace, a public housing complex run by Elm City Communities/the Housing Authority of New Haven at 436 Valley St. and 2 South Genesee St.

McConaughy Terrace currently comprises 196 family housing units. Elm City Communities (ECC) aims to add to those existing apartments by building 26 new units across six two-story buildings.

Of the 222 units planned for the complex in total, 196 will be set aside at below-market-rate rents — and taxed at a lower rate than the market units. Those units will be reserved for households making between 20 percent AMI ($20,280 per year for a two-family household, as of 2022) through 60 percent AMI.

The city and alders agreed to an annual tax of $450 per each of those 196 affordable units, with a 3 percent annual increase until the agreement expires after 39 years.

Both projects will include a mix of one, two, three, and four-bedroom apartments.

After Dwight Alder Frank Douglass, who chairs the alders’ Community Development Committee, presented the details on Monday. All but one alder voted in favor of the agreements, which were bundled together in one vote.

East Rock Alder Anna Festa voted against the agreements because ​“there’s no criteria or policy behind the monthly [taxes] that they’re going to pay.” Festa called for a more transparent and systematic approach to reaching these deals. ​“Why is someone paying $1,000 and someone else paying $450?”

Several years ago, Festa and former alder Abby Roth had proposed a hearing on how the various tax breaks for developers are determined, but their colleagues haven’t acted on the proposal. 

“I am not against affordable housing. I am against the fact that it affects the taxpayers of this city. The very residents we are trying to help, we’re actually hurting even more because there’s no criteria,” Festa said.