Photo courtesy of Saint John Urban Dev. Corp

The last of Stamford’s Saint John Towers, built for a “Jetsons”-like future that never came to pass, would be demolished under a proposal filed with city officials.

In their place, the Saint John Urban Dev. Corp. hopes to build an affordable housing block that reflects the pedestrian-oriented reality that actually came true.

The three futuristic, cylindrical 120-unit Saint John Towers were built in 1971 as affordable and market-rate housing and were supposed to be connected by a series of podiums and bridges topped by patios, pools and green space – since demolished – hiding ground-floor parking below.

One was sold to Lennar Multifamily Communities and torn down in recent years to make way for a market-rate building called The Smyth. In its application, Saint John Urban Dev. Corp. wrote that the two remaining, slowly decaying towers – once housing 240 units of affordable housing – are now mostly vacant and no longer have affordability restrictions.

The new proposal for the 109 Tresser Blvd. site would hold 305 units in an E-shaped, 12-story mid-rise that includes two levels of parking in a podium hidden behind a double-height amenity space. One parking space per unit would be provided, plus 68 bicycle parking spaces. Plans also show two third-floor amenity courtyards.

The unit mix would be 101 one-bedrooms, 100 two-bedrooms and 104 three-bedroom units, priced for households making 30 percent to 80 percent of Area Median Income. To fund such a large amount of affordable housing, the application states, the project will, in part, use fees paid by The Smyth and Atlantic Station, also in downtown Stamford, in place of including affordable housing units.

The development will need a special permit and coastal site plan review from city officials.