Affordable Senior Housing Tax Break Advances

A plan to build 50 new affordable apartments for seniors in West Rock took a key step forward, as alders endorsed a 39-year tax-break deal for the housing authority development to-be.

The Board of Alders Tax Abatement and Community Development Committees advanced that tax break for the proposed senior housing development at 34 Level St. during a joint meeting at City Hall last Wednesday.

The building currently at that site has been abandoned for about 14 years. It once housed a nursing home, which the state shut down after uncovering​​“deplorable” conditions and practices there. A private developer then tried to build housing on that site, but the plan fell through.

The Housing Authority of New Haven and its nonprofit affiliates bought the 43,000 square-foot property in 2020, with plans to build 50 housing units — 47 one-bedrooms and three two-bedrooms — reserved for tenants over the age of 62.

All of the units will be set aside for tenants making a maximum of 60 percent of the Area Median Income (or $48,780 for a one-person household in 2024).

Housing Authority President Karen DuBois-Walton stated last year that the project, referred to as The Heights at West Rock, is expected to cost $20 million in total. The project will be funded with the help of private investors and $4 million from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 202 program, a funding source specifically for senior housing.

To help finance the project, the Housing Authority, its development nonprofit affiliate known as the Glendower Group, and the city are proposing a tax relief agreement for the project that would set initial property taxes at $450 per apartment. That amount would increase by 3 percent annually for 39 years, the duration of the agreement. (The 39-year, $450-per-unit, 3‑percent-annual-increase proposal is the same as other recent tax relief agreements approved by the alders for housing authority projects, including for the redevelopment of McConaughy Terrace.)

Glendower Vice President Edward LaChance told alders on Wednesday that the project will incorporate aging-related features and programs, including a ​“full-time social services person,” accessible interior designs including A.D.A.-compliant bathrooms, and dedicated spaces for medical professionals to provide on-site care.

The development, LaChance said, will ​“give elderly persons a way to age in place” — to stay in their homes as they get older, rather than having to relocate to a higher-support environment such as a nursing home.

The joint committee unanimously voted to favorably recommend the tax agreement, which will next go before the full Board of Alders for review and a potential final vote.

Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez praised the development for allowing seniors to remain in their community as they age. ​“As our seniors age in place, they have lots of history,” she said, and will ​“have this area be vibrant.”