Norwich Among Communities Awarded $23 Million for Affordable Housing

HARTFORD, CT – Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced Thursday that nearly $23 million in state funding is being awarded to support the development of affordable housing in six communities across Connecticut as part of the latest round of funding under the state’s Competitive Housing Assistance for Multifamily Properties (CHAMP) program.

These awards will play a role in helping to create, rehabilitate, or preserve more than 200 units of affordable housing and greatly expanding access to mixed income and supportive housing units. These new units are essential in the state’s work to prevent and end homelessness, according to a release. (To sign up for Norwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

“We have done more in affordable housing over the past several years than Connecticut has in decades – and this is yet another step in that direction,” Malloy said in a release. “These units will help hundreds of families, support municipalities, attract talented workers, contribute to our economic growth, and create the communities that will be more competitive in today’s business climate.”

The CHAMP program, which is administered by DOH, provides developers and owners of multifamily affordable housing the necessary gap financing to create more affordable units in their developments.

Since 2011, the state has created, rehabilitated, and preserved 9,636 affordable housing units. An additional 3,235 affordable units are under construction, and funding commitments are in place to create approximately 5,200 more units.

The state’s investment in affordable housing totals about $1 billion dollars – a testament to the high level of commitment that is being made to prevent and end homelessness, while ensuring every resident has a place to call home.

This investment in the housing industry has spurred another $2.5 billion in direct economic activity across the state. As part of this initiative, Norwich was awarded money for The Lofts at Ponemah Mills Phase 2.

DOH will provide up to $6,100,000 to assist in the second phase of the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic Ponemah Mills in the Taftville section of Norwich.

Ponemah Mills was originally constructed in the 1860s and was one of the largest textile mills in the United States but has laid fallow and underutilized for decades. Restoration of the Ponemah Mills is a focal point in the city’s revitalization and economic development efforts.

The city is supporting the development with a 15-year tax abatement through its “Mill Building Enhancement Program.” In addition to the state financing, the project will utilize both federal and state historic tax credits as well as federal low income housing tax credits and financing from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, pending board approval.

Phase 2 of this project will create 121 new units of mixed-income family housing, including 74 affordable apartments and 47 market rate apartments. The first phase is currently under construction.

A designated bus stop for Southeast Area Transit is located in front of the site, which is within a half mile of a neighborhood grocery store, bank, post office, and elementary school, and also has easy access to I-395. The development is also part of the Shetucket River Greenway, designated in 2012 by the Connecticut Greenways Council.

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