Board gets 1st peek at Phase 3
Members see designs for largest part of Soundview Landing apartments
NORWALK — Housing Authority commissioners have had their first look at the Phase Three designs for Soundview Landing, the redeveloped Washington Village project.
Phase Three is the largest portion of the project, with 108 total apartments split between two buildings. Fifty-four of the units will be public housing replacement units. The buildings contain a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, ranging in space from about 650 to 680 square feet for a one bedroom to just over 1,300 square feet for a three bedroom.
Phase One, which is just about fully occupied, according to Housing Authority officials, consisted of 80 apartments split between two buildings, of which 40 are public housing replacement units that are fully occupied. Phase Two, which is currently under construction, calls for 85 total apartments, of which 42 will be replacement public housing units.
In total, the site will contain 273 apartments, of which 136 will be replacement public housing units for the former Washington Village.
Phase Three will also contain an outdoor amenity area with barbecues, benches and a kid’s playground, Alberto Cárdenas, an architect from DHK Architects, a firm out of Boston which is designing Phase Three, told the board on Wednesday.
Cardenas explained that all of the apartment units would begin on the second floor of the buildings to avoid any waterrelated issues that could arise from the flood-prone Water Street area. Parking will be on ground level.
Still, commissioners emphasized that they wanted to make sure as many flooding-related issues were taken care of upfront instead of dealing with them down the line.
“Our residents are going to be dealing with this day in and day out,” Cesar Ramirez, the Housing Authority chairman, said.
Adam Bovilsky, the Housing Authority executive director, said that they made sure there were no first-floor units to prevent flood-related issues.
“None of these units have low living space,” he said.
The goal is to get phase three construction under way late this year, with a target completion of March 2021.
Bovilsky also told the authority that the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority had approved $10.28 million in total federal low-income housing tax credit awards to help finance seven affordable housing developments across the state. According to the authority, the credits are expected to generate more than $100 million in equity from private investors to finance the project. The Washington Village project received almost $2.2 million in 9 percent LIHTCs, according to the authority. The tax credits will generate over $22 million in equity to help fund phase 3, according to the authority, which has a total budget of $59 million.
The Washington Village replacement project broke ground in 2016 and aimed to provide residents with larger and improved living spaces, while preserving affordable units, bringing market-rate housing to the neighborhood and attempting to address flood-related issues. The project is funded in part by a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.