Fairfield looks to purchase another Quincy Street property
FAIRFIELD — The town is planning to buy another property on Quincy Street as part of a redevelopment plan to build duplexes and triplexes.
In a meeting of the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, Mark Barnhart, the director of the town’s office of community and economic development, said the housing trust fund would be used to purchase the property at 376 Quincy St.
The TPZ eventually voted to recommend the purchase, a part of the process for the town buying property. Barnhart said the
Affordable Housing Committee and the Board of Selectmen have approved the purchase, noting that the Representative Town Meeting will need to vote on it as well.
Barnhart said the land is adjacent to other properties the town owns, adding it is part of a town plan to acquire four or five lots in order to redevelop the site for duplexes or triplexes.
Barnhart said the property was once part of a U.S. Navy site purchased by the town and subdivided into individual building lots.When the town later sold the property, he said, it mandated that any buildings on the property be affordable housing. Now it is purchasing the lots once again.
So far, Barnhart said, the town has purchased the properties at 350, 362 and 385 and 409 Quincy Street after they were made available for purchase. He said this new property is different because it is in foreclosure, and the process was delayed because of bankruptcy proceedings. He noted that the town is one of the creditors on the property, and is owed money for it.
“We’re interested in acquiring the property when it is made available at auction,” he said. “Our attempt is work with the other investors to make sure we can reacquire the property.”
Barnhart said the sale date for the property is January 2023. He said it would remain affordable housing, and while they will be rebuilt to be more resilient to coastal flooding and storms, the intent is to keep them congruent with the rest of the neighborhood.
Barnhart has said in the past that the goal of a larger project would be to demolish the existing units and build ones that are flood resistant and energy efficient. He said the town
worked with a collection of homeowners and nonprofit developers in a similar process a few years ago, but was not able to secure financing for the project.
After that, the town created a housing trust fund, Barnhart said. He noted
that if they could not redevelop the site, they would sell the property for the purchasing price, while keeping the affordable mandate in place.