Big Renovations/Expansion Planned At WH Disabled/Senior Housing Complex

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The town council is mulling a new lease for a large, nonprofit elderly/disabled housing complex and, in doing so, it will help the facility expand and improve existing services.

The West Hartford Town Council voted 8-0 Nov. 30 to schedule a public hearing next month for West Hartford Fellowship Housing Inc. regarding property at 10-50 Starkel Road.

The council will have a public hearing Jan. 10, 2023 on the proposal at 7 p.m. at West Hartford Town Hall.

The council approval of the hearing date also represents a referral to the West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission, which will also address the proposal next year.

At 10-50 Starkel Road, the nonprofit WHFH operates a 169-unit affordable rental housing campus for elderly and mobility-impaired individuals.

It's been doing that for more than five decades and is currently operating on a 75-year lease that dates to November 1968.

But, WHFH has plans to expand the amount of units there by 50 percent, as well as update the existing units by improving accessibility, creating program areas and program spaces and improving security and safety there.

In order to get grant funding for this, however, WHFH needs to create a new corporate entity — the WHFH Development Corp. — and secure a new, long-term lease with the town.

As a result, with town approval, WHFH would extend its current lease by 99 years, with multiple conditions, including:

• The WHFH Development Corp. must be a nonprofit and maintain tax-exempt status.

• WHFH must continue to offer housing for the elderly and the mobility impaired.

• 80 percent of that housing must be rented to qualifying, low-income clients.

For the minutes of the Nov. 30 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.

For a draft of the approved lease resolution, click on this link and scroll to Page 529.