West Hartford Housing Authority Project Benefits From State Grant

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A mixed-income apartment project in West Hartford will benefit from its share of a massive state funding package announced by Gov. Ned Lamont this week.

Lamont Wednesday, Dec. 4, announced he has approved a series of state grants totaling $20 million to support the remediation and redevelopment of 21 blighted properties in the state.

Those properties consist of 150 acres of contaminated land in 18 municipalities across Connecticut, including one property in West Hartford.

Lamont said a $660,096 grant was awarded to the Town of West Hartford for the remediation, abatement, and partial demolition of a 1.83-acre vacant site owned by an affiliate of the West Hartford Housing Authority.

The site will be redeveloped into a 49 mixed-income rental apartment complex.

The grants are being released through the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s Brownfield Remediation and Development Program.

These state investments, state officials said, will leverage approximately $530 million in private investments and facilitate the creation of 1,392 units of new housing, as well as the growth of new businesses.

“All of these blighted properties have been vacant for years when we should be using them to grow new businesses and support the development of badly needed housing,” Lamont said in a statement.

“This series of state grants enables us to partner with developers who will take these zombie properties and bring them back from the dead, cleaning up contaminated land and bringing life back to these neighborhoods.”

“Under the leadership of Gov. Lamont, Connecticut continues to make impactful investments in our communities that are building vibrancy, creating jobs, and improving the lives of our residents,” said state Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe.

“This latest round of brownfield investments is noteworthy for the high amount of private investment it is leveraging and for how it is helping to address one our state’s most pressing needs – increasing the supply of quality housing.”

For more information on Connecticut’s Brownfield Remediation and Development Program, visit ctbrownfields.gov.