Over 100 Apartments Proposed For Center School Site In Stratford

STRATFORD, CT — The former Center School property could be reborn as a residential complex with over 100 apartments.

Stratford’s Town Council held a special meeting Thursday via GoToMeeting to hear a presentation from Xenolith Partners LLC on the company’s plan to redevelop the 4-acre town-owned property at East Broadway and Sutton Avenue.

“We see this being a very successful project,” said George Perham, chair of Stratford’s Redevelopment Agency, which recommended Xenolith out of three developers interested in the site.

Xenolith is proposing a combination of new construction and historic preservation for the complex, called Stratford Walk. A home on the property built in 1789 would have office space on the first floor and two apartments above, while the school board office building, constructed in 1885, would be reconfigured to accommodate 12 residential units, according to Xenolith Founding Principal Andrea Kretchmer.

The rest of the lot, once home to the now-demolished Center School, would include four low-rise duplex-style structures along Sutton Avenue with a total of 18 apartments, a five-story building with up to 80 apartments, and 128 parking spaces. Units would range from studios to two-bedrooms. Residents would have access to amenities and a pedestrian connection to the neighboring businesses.

“It will bring more feet on the street,” Kretchmer said.

The Center School property is in Stratford's transit-oriented development overlay district near the downtown train station, which allows for larger scale projects than would typically be permitted in town.

Xenolith is asking Stratford to sell them the site for $1 and for the town to grant the developer a 17-year property tax abatement, with no taxes for the two-year construction period and 15 years of 2 percent annual escalations starting at $900 per unit, according to Founding Principal Terri Belkas-Mitchell. With the requested tax breaks, the project would generate $1.7 million in tax revenue during its first 15 years after completion. The development is expected to cost more than $30 million to build and could be finished by 2024.

Market rate rents for the complex are expected to be as high as $2,100, but 80 percent of the apartments will be affordable units, priced specifically for renters with an income of $62,000 per year or less, Belkas-Mitchell said. Rents for the affordable apartments will not exceed $1,400.

The council members who spoke Thursday had a generally positive response to Xenolith’s presentation. Councilman Greg Cann, D-District 5, and Councilwoman Laura Dancho, R-District 10, asked about the possibility of adding retailers to the project. Perham and the developer cited parking and traffic issues, and low visibility for businesses among reasons retail was not included in the proposal.

“I think this is a beautiful presentation,” said Councilman Ken Poisson, R-District 6. “… We’ve been waiting a long time for something to happen here.”

Xenolith is still many steps away from putting shovels in the ground. As the project progresses, the town will seek public feedback and the proposal will require council and zoning approval, as well as input from Stratford's Redevelopment Agency and Architectural Review Board, according to council Chair Chris Pia, R-District 1. The project likely won't return to the council for a vote for several months.