9 Homes Emerge On Long-Vacant Lots

Nine new two-family homes have sprouted atop formerly vacant lots in Newhallville — raising with them neighbors’ hopes for a rejuvenation of a two-block stretch of Winchester Avenue and Thompson Street.

Those new houses are located at 15, 23, and 27 Thompson St., and at 523, 531, 532, 535, 539, and 575 Winchester Ave.

As part of Thursday’s bimonthly full Board of Alders meeting, government’s Livable City Initiative (LCI) — which oversaw the development of these new homes in conjunction with local builder Concrete Creations — submitted a proposed order to local legislators that would authorize the city to negotiate and enter into contracts of sale for the publicly-funded properties.

“The City as Owner/Developer has carried out the construction work at the Properties,” LCI Acting Executive Director Arlevia Samuel wrote to the board in an Oct. 22 letter, ​“and it is intended that the Properties will represent the cornerstone of continued residential revitalization within this portion of the Newhallville neighborhood, by way of commencing a revival of the neighborhood’s original character as a mixed income homeownership neighborhood.”

The new construction represents the culmination of LCI’s latest efforts to turn vacant city-owned land into new affordable homeownership opportunities, as it recently did on Judith Terrace in Fair Haven Heights.

In an October 2019 neighborhood management team presentation, former LCI Executive Director Serena Neal-Sanjurjo described the Winchester-Thompson housing project as part of a larger strategy ​“to build equity back into neighborhoods that have been disinvested.”

$170K-$215K Each

The proposed order, which can be read in full here, states that the city will sell seven of the new two-family homes at a purchase price of $215,000 for homebuyers earning no more than 100 percent of the area median income (AMI), or $92,800 for a family of four.

The remaining two new homes will be sold for $170,000 each to homebuyers earning no more than 80 percent AMI.

The home sales will also come with covenants that require that the properties be occupied for the next 30 years by owners earning no more than 100 percent AMI. That income restriction and covenant length is a requirement associated with the state Neighborhood Renewal Program 2 grant that helped fund the project, the proposed order reads.

The order states that the city acquired the nine properties through tax foreclosure, and that each of those lots have been vacant for over 10 years.

“[T]he construction of the Properties is due to be completed on or before January 1, 2021,” the proposed order reads, ​“and the Properties have been aggressively marketed, however, it is easier for potential purchases to obtain funding from a lending institution when a sales contract contains no other approval contingency on the part of the Seller.”

A fiscal impact statement associated with the proposed order anticipates that the city will bring in a total of roughly $1.7 million in revenue through the sale of these properties. It states that that money must be used to develop Phase 2 of the Thompson/Winchester homeownership buildout project.

The fiscal impact statement also projects that the nine new homes will contributed a total of $52,500 in new property taxes to the city each year.

The communication now advances to an aldermanic committee for a public hearing before returning to the full board for a final vote.

Housing’s Great. What About Jobs?

Neighbors of the nearly-completed homes greeted the new construction with praise for replacing formerly vacant lots.

Some also raised concerns about the availability of enough good-paying jobs around town that would allow future owner-occupants to have enough money to pay their mortgages and maintain the properties.

Eva Smith (pictured) surveyed four of the newly built Winchester Avenue homes from her front porch across the street as she ate lunch Friday at noon.

She said the new houses represent an improvement over the formerly vacant lots, though she never much minded that empty land, since the city mowed the grass and kept the area clean.

Smith has lived in her Winchester Avenue home since 1956. She has seen Newhallville change dramatically over the past half-century-plus. The biggest change? A massive loss of jobs with the closing of nearby factories like Winchester Arms—and with that job loss, a parallel out-migration of residents leaving the neighborhood.

She said the new houses are nice, but wondered whether the homeowners will be able to afford keeping them up. ​“If they ain’t got no jobs,” she asked, ​“how are they gonna pay for it?”

She nevertheless said she loves living in the neighborhood. Seated in the shade amidst a half-dozen potted plants, she said she regularly chats with all different kinds of people walking up and down the block — to work, to school, doing chores, or just out for a stroll.

“As I always say, it’s not where you live, it’s how you live,” she said with a smile.

Dalonna Jackson (pictured) walked by four of the new Winchester Avenue homes as she headed home from work for a midday break. She said she’s lived on Winchester for four years, and is also looking forward to living next to new houses as opposed to vacant land.

“It’s pretty cool, pretty decent,” she said about the newly built homes. She said she’d like to purchase and live in one of the new houses some day. Asked what she thought of the $215,000 sale price, she said, ​“I’ve got to start saving up.”

And David Blanks (pictured) sat on the front steps of one of the newly built Thompson Street houses, shielding his eyes from the midday sun.

The Hartford native, a trained burner technician, has been helping the plumber on the project finish fitting out some of the new houses. He praised Concrete Creations for ​“putting me on the payroll.” He’s looking after the almost-complete homes, making sure no one steals anything, and occasionally sweeping up inside.

“They’re helping a Black man in the community,” he said.