A Connecticut builder next year plans to start constructing the first phase of a new residential complex that will ultimately bring 160 apartments to northern Wethersfield.
Over the next five years, Joseph Calafiore, a Hartford-based builder, intends to construct three mid-rise buildings on the roughly 10.7-acre site where the long-closed HealthBridge nursing home now stands.
Even though some municipal officials wanted a bigger share of affordable housing in the mix, the town last week approved Calafiore’s proposal to set aside just eight units for tenants with lower-than-average incomes. The other 152 will be leased at market rates.
The project would add significantly to the housing base in northern Wethersfield near the Hartford line and would redevelop the abandoned, deteriorating nursing home that’s been attracting vandals and other trespassers for years.
Calafiore’s 341 Jordan Lane LLC proposes to demolish the 83,000-square-foot former nursing home and replace it with a three mid-rise apartment buildings.
The development plan for a new 160-unit apartment complex planned on Jordan Lane in Wethersfield. (Courtesy of Town of Wethersfield)
The property at 341 Jordan Lane has been problematic since HealthBridge shut down its 210-bed facility in mid-2012. Chain link fences haven’t kept vandals away, and the building is now largely ruined. The grounds are so deteriorated that it’s not immediately possible to determine how many parking spaces existed, consultant Jim Cassidy told the planning and zoning commission last week.
“The site is in disarray, at this point there’s no white striping left. The existing structure has been vandalized over the years and not been kept up,” said Cassidy, an engineer with Cromwell-based Halliday, Pearson & Cassidy. “People have been breaking into it.
“The structure would be completely demolished along with the paved parking area,” Cassidy said.
Construction would then begin with the first building, a three-story structure closest to Jordan Lane. It would have 34 apartments, and a smaller one-floor building next door would provide a gym for tenants along with office space.
The developer estimates construction would start in the summer and be finished a year to a year and a half after that. Afterward, two four-story buildings would follow, each with 63 apartments.
A rendering of one of the four-story apartment buildings planned for Jordan Lane in Wethersfield. (Courtesy of Town of Wethersfield)
“We’re going to start environmental abatement and demolition in the next 30 to 45 days, then hopefully have plans ready for construction and permitting by late spring or early next summer. Then it’s about 18 months (for construction),” Calafiore told the commission.
“Once we reach income stabilization for the first building, we’ll have the ability to move forward with the second building,” he said.
In all, he projected a five-year schedule.
“I’d love to shorten the time frame but it’s all dependent on the banks and getting enough apartments rented, stabilizing the revenue stream,” Calafiore said.
The proposal sets aside 5% of the apartments for affordable housing. Eight units would be priced for tenants earning no more than 80% of the area’s median income, or roughly $71,000 a year for a single person or $81,000 for a couple.
There will be a 1,400-foot-long walking trail around the perimeter of the project with connections to the Jordan Lane sidewalk as well as a walkway system between the buildings.
Calafiore also plans a dog park and outdoor amenity area with fire pits.
