Habitat for Humanity homes proposed
Leaders consider development on town-owned land
EAST HARTFORD — East Hartford’s redevelopment agency is to consider a proposed Habitat for Humanity development focused on first-time homebuyers.
The proposal for 10 single-family homes on vacant, town-owned land at 550-60 Burnside Ave. is on the panel’s March 4 agenda.
An apartment complex on the 3.16-acre site was demolished in the 1990s, town development Director Eileen Buckheit said. Town assessor’s records show the town bought the property in 1998 for $2.2 million from Sandalwood Ltd. Partnership. The vacant land is assessed at $128,070.
The RDAhad received two proposals for the site. One proposal also included townowned land at 590 Burnside Ave., site of the former Daley Court senior housing complex, which was torn down about two years ago.
The collaboration of Censere Consulting, LLC, Paul B. Bailey Architect and Vase Management proposed a total of 74 units, 80% of which would be affordable. The units would be split between two buildings at 550 and the 1.4-acre site at 590 Burnside Ave., according to minutes of the RDA’s February meeting.
Habitat for Humanity, partnering with F.A. Hesketh & Associates, is proposing 10 homes for first-time homebuyers at 550-60 Burnside. RDA members liked the lower density of the Habitat proposal, Buckheit said. They also liked the focus on first-time homebuyers, and ideally, if the project is approved, East Hartford residents would move in to the new homes, she said.
RDA members also discussed the difficulty with developing 590 Burnside, an irregularly shaped, rear lot, according to the minutes. Nothing is final, Buckheit said, but that site could be left as open space, or become a site for a community garden.
The Habitat for Humanity proposal, if approved by the RDA, also would need approvals from land use officials and a final green light from the town council.
Agency meeting minutes over the past several years show several proposals or concepts for 550-560 Burnside Ave. that went nowhere, including a YMCA and a grocery store. But the Habitat for Humanity proposal appears to be a good fit, Buckheit said.
“We’re excited to partner with an established, successful organization,” she said.