Pacific House has plans for 18 more ‘deeply affordable’ units
STAMFORD — Deeply affordable housing — an industry term that means housing affordable to people with extremely low income — can be extremely difficult to finance, officials say.
But Pacific House, one of Stamford’s leading nonprofits addressing homelessness, was back before the Planning Board Jan. 9 with plans to build 18 more deeply affordable units on the city’s West Side. The apartments would be in a building at 66 Stillwater Ave., which is now a vacant lot.
“I think you’ve got the board in your pocket on this one,” Theresa Dell, the board’s outgoing chair, joked to Larry Kluetsch, a consultant working with Pacific House. “I think we all agree this is a very necessary project. And we all concur and feel the site is a perfect site for it when you drive down that area.”
The board unanimously recommended Pacific House’s new multifamily building proposal to the Zoning Board for approval. The homes, a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, would be spaced throughout the top three floors of the fourstory structure.
The nonprofit needs local officials to approve a special permit, site and architectural plans, as well as a coastal site plan review to build on the narrow and overgrown site, which is approximately 9,347 square feet in surface area. There was previously a structure on the site before it was razed, said Ray Mazzeo, the consultant representing Pacific House.
According to the development application, most of the 18 households “will earn not more than 30 percent of the (area median income).” All units would
serve families making 50 percent or less of the AMI, which, as of 2021, was about $152,738, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“It fits really well within the context of the neighborhood. And obviously, supportive housing is a difficult and important endeavor and is something we should strive for when we have the opportunity to do it,” Mazzeo said.
In addition, the proposed site is only about 300 feet from 41-45 Stillwater Ave., where Pacific House is building its new headquarters. The building will also include 39 deeply affordable apartments with case management services for tenants. The Stillwater Avenue block includes a recent market-rate development, The Stillwater, making the block an emerging mixed-income area.
“This site in particular is strategic for Pacific House because it is so close to what will be their main office and a larger hub of services,” Mazzeo said.
The 66 Stillwater Ave. building would also have a full-time case manager on the property’s first floor, said Lindsey Cohen, an associate planner in Stamford’s Land Use Bureau.
Architecturally, the building would have a brick-patterned concrete block as its base, Mazzeo said. It would also have an articulated, flat roofline.
Mazzeo said the building would include parking for nine cars with overflow at the nonprofit’s headquarters.
“But the reality is that, at this income level and the population that they’re serving, the vehicle ownership is pretty low,” he said.
Kluetsch said the nonprofit isn’t “shovel-ready” yet, still needing to apply for funding from the Department of Housing and do some additional architectural and engineering work. In four to five months, he said, the team will be able to request building permits.
“That’s not a bad timeline,” Kluetsch said. “Usually, it takes us a couple of years to get to this point.”