
Pictured is a rendering of one of the three types of homes being built at Eaton Row, the newest part of a mixed-income development replacing Elm Haven’s 500-plus-unit public housing complex, which was demolished in the late 1990s.
Downtown New Haven may get most of the attention for its successful revitalization over the last few years, but the city lately has been focusing on some of the neighborhoods beyond the tall buildings of the central business district. The city’s Housing Authority, along with Habitat for Humanity and Katonah, N.Y.-based developer Jonathan Rose Cos., broke ground late last month on the last phase of a mixed-income housing development that is taking the place of a public housing complex.
Eaton Row – a development of 30 affordable and market-rate single-family homes – is the last phase of the Elm Haven HOPE VI Revitalization Program, which began in the late 1990s after the city received a $43.5 million HOPE VI grant, according to Nick Torneo, director of planning and development for the New Haven Housing Authority. HOPE VI grants are intended to help local housing agencies make physical and managerial improvements to public housing and to help social and community services address residents’ needs, according to the Web site of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which administers the grants. Elm Haven was a large public housing development of more than 500 units, Torneo said.
So far, the public housing complex has been replaced with a variety of new housing, Torneo said. Now in New Haven’s centrally located Dixwell neighborhood there are public housing units, developments for the elderly, market-rate rentals and owner-occupied, single-family homes. There is also a recently built elementary school in the neighborhood, the Wexler/Grant Community School on Foote Street, and a community center.
“It looks like a very suburban setting,” Torneo said. “It’s beautiful.”
‘Heart of the City’
The Eaton Row homes are the newest addition. Half of the three- and four-bedroom houses – those built by the Housing Authority and Habitat for Humanity – will be affordable, Torneo said.
“Obviously, we’re targeting individuals at or below 80 percent of the median income for at least half [of the Eaton Row homes],” he said. Those 15 homes are priced to be affordable for those earning less than 80 percent of the area median income and the other 15, although selling at market rates, also are priced to be affordable for the New Haven market, according to a release from Jonathan Rose Cos.
The Habitat for Humanity and the Housing Authority homes will cost between $136,000 and $140,000. The three Habitat houses will also be accessible for people with disabilities.
Prospective homeowners will be able to take advantage of several programs that could cut their mortgage payments. The homes will be designed to be energy efficient by Norwalk-based Steven Winter Assoc., a leading green-building architecture firm. Developers hope the green design – in addition to being better for the environment – will help homebuyers in two ways. The design will not only reduce long-term housing costs, but also help homebuyers qualify for Fannie Mae’s Energy Efficient Mortgage program.
“The EEM is one of the most innovative products in the marketplace,” said Bob Kantor, director of Fannie Mae’s Connecticut Partnership Office in a prepared statement. “Homebuyers who purchase a home using an Energy Efficient Mortgage can afford to spend more on their housing expenses because they will likely spend less on their energy costs. The EEM can also allow a family to purchase more home for their money as a result of the energy savings.”
The Energy Efficient Mortgage recognizes the savings value of the conservation during the loan evaluation process and allows lenders to use the savings to qualify borrowers for a larger mortgage, according to Fannie Mae’s Web site.
Some homebuyers also will be able to use a program called Family Self-sufficiency, which is offered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Torneo said. The program is meant to wean people off of Section 8 rental vouchers by giving them a reduced rate on their mortgages.
The new homes will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, Torneo said. Buyers will need to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. Some people have already begun the process of purchasing a home, he said, but Torneo doesn’t expect much interest until a couple of the homes are built. But he expects them to sell quickly when they are built – and probably sooner – because of New Haven’s strong housing market.
The houses, which have front porches, garages and basements, will be located on a new street called Frances Hunter Drive, in memory of a community activist who helped with the revitalization of Elm Haven, according to a release.
Citizens Bank financed about half of the $7.4 million project through its Citizens Housing Bank initiative, according to a release. Other financing came from other groups and city, state and federal sources.
“New Haven invests in projects like Eaton Row because we know that our neighborhoods are the heart of the city,” said Mayor John DeStefano Jr. “This projects will allow more New Haven residents to become homeowners. Efficient and affordable neighborhoods like theses are the key to building a vibrant, sustainable community.”
The redevelopment of Elm Haven has also helped revitalize some nearby neighborhoods, Torneo said.
“It’s obviously had an impact on surrounding areas,” he said.
The Housing Authority also has plans to develop a piece of land adjacent to the Eaton Row houses, formerly the site of a dilapidated school, Torneo said. The Housing Authority tore down the school and will soon begin putting together proposals for more mixed-income housing on that land, he said.