State Funds OK'd For Mansfield's Eagleville Green Housing Development

MANSFIELD, CT — A total of $4 million in funding was approved at Friday's State Bond Commission meeting for the new Eagleville Green Housing Development in Mansfield.

Eagleville Green is to be a 42-unit mixed-income development that State Rep. Gregg Haddad and State Sen. Mae Flexer said will "provide sorely needed affordable housing options for low-income and moderate-income individuals and families."

The design of the new development will be under rigorous sustainability and energy efficiency standards.

Eagleville Green is owned by the Mansfield Nonprofit Housing Development Corporation and will be situated near the south end of the University of Connecticut.

"The Eagleville Green will positively impact families in the Mansfield community. We are enhancing residents' ability to live and work in Mansfield by providing quality, affordable housing even for those with limited means," Haddad said. "I've been increasingly concerned that, as UConn has become an attractive college destination and enrollment has increased, the market for family housing has become much less affordable. The cost of housing has skyrocketed for both rental and homeowner options. This project will help disrupt these trends."

The importance of this state funding for Eagleville Green, "becomes obvious when you consider that the average list price for a home in Mansfield right now is about a third of a million dollars and that less than seven percent of all housing in Mansfield is considered affordable," Flexer said.

She added, "We need to be able to have young people live in the town where they grew up. We need senior citizens to be able to remain in the town where they have spent their entire life. And we need teachers and childcare workers and nurses and grocery store clerks and restaurant chefs to be able to live where they work. So this state investment in Mansfield residents is essential and very welcome."

Kathy Ward, President of the Mansfield Nonprofit Housing Development Corporation, said the organization, "has been working for many years to help bring affordable housing to the Mansfield community."

She added, "We are appreciative of all the support we have received from our town, our legislators, the State, and the Mansfield Housing Authority. We are thrilled to partner with the Department of Housing to make our Eagleville Green project a reality. Decent, affordable housing is a human right, and we will continue to do all we can to have a positive impact on the lives of our residents."