New London Housing Authority hires new executive director

New London ― Inside the New London Housing Authority's Walden Avenue offices late Tuesday morning, the group’s newest executive director was just starting to familiarize himself with his latest work space and responsibilities.

“I’ve been here about 10 hours,” said Norbert Deslauriers, the West Hartford resident who on Monday succeeded Betsy Gibson-Pierce, the group’s interim leader. “But I’ll be going out soon to visit our properties and introduce myself to residents.”

Those residents reside in 210 units spread across the four affordable housing complexes overseen by the housing authority. They are open to tenants ages 62 or older, or who are 100% disabled.

Deslauriers, 58, said he’s spent the bulk of his career in the mortgage lending and affordable housing fields, serving from 2013 to 2018 with the quasi-public Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), which works to finance first-time homeowners and aid low- to moderate-income residents in obtaining multi-family housing.

Deslauriers most recently worked as a vice president and retail lending manager for the Guilford Savings Bank, but said he had a yen to start working again in the affordable housing field.

“You get to help people who otherwise might not be helped,” he said.

In his new role, Deslauriers is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of the three 60-year-old state-overseen housing complexes the authority owns and operates: Gordon Court, the George Washington Carver Apartments on Colman Street and Riozzi Court.

The authority also owns and manages the federally subsidized Williams Park Apartments on Hempstead Street, a high-rise-style building with 99 units.

The housing authority’s Board of Commissioners this month finalized a three-year contract with Deslauriers that includes an option for two, one-year renewals. The details of Deslauriers’ salary were not provided to The Day, which then submitted a Freedom of Information request for the information on Tuesday.

Commission member Willie Quiñones said Tuesday that Deslauriers’ background in finance made him a particularly attractive job candidate.

“His time with CHFA is huge for us, along with his financial background,” Quiñones said. “We want someone there who can track of money, to do their due diligence and not overspend.”

Deslauriers was hired amid planning for a massive, $65 million housing authority project that calls for demolishing and rebuilding its state-overseen housing complexes.

“It is a daunting task, taking down and rebuilding three properties and we’re still exploring the financing and tax credit availability for the work,” he said.

Deslauriers, who said he is familiar with New London from his stint at CHFA, said he’s able to draw on the relationships he’s built with the state Department of Housing and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“There’s not a lot of Norberts out there,” he said. “So, they know who I am when I’m making a call.”

j.penney@theday.com