As published in the Record Journal Tuesday January 15, 2013
By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ
WALLINGFORD - More than six years after a special permit was approved for the development of condominiums on the site of the former Simpson School, construction has yet to begin on the affordable-housing portion of the project.
The Town Council voted in 2005 to sell the site to LaRosa Building Group LLC of Meriden for $100,000. LaRosa planned to turn the area into condominiums for adults 55 and older. As a condition of the sale, 30 percent of the units must be designated as affordable.
While construction of the market-rate units has been completed, the affordable units haven’t been built yet.
“It’s very frustrating that the project is a stalled project,” said Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Jim Seichter, “to have a project near the center of town sitting there without any progress.”
Robert LaRosa, chief executive of LaRosa Building Group, did not return a message left Monday seeking comment.
In 2011, the state legislature amended statutes to give contractors nine years from the date a site plan is approved to complete the project instead of the traditional five, in part due to the struggling economy. LaRosa’s plans were approved in 2006, so the company has until 2015 to complete the work.
Seichter said he understands that many projects have slowed in the tough economy, but said the town is willing to work with LaRosa. In July 2011, the Town Council modified the town’s contract with LaRosa to allow him to complete building all of the market rate units without constructing the shells of the affordable housing units.
Corporation Counsel Janis Small said she was in contact with LaRosa’s attorney in 2011 when the contract modifications were approved but she hadn’t heard from the firm since.
“It’s terribly disappointing,” said Democratic Town Councilor John Sullivan. “I was against changing the builder’s contract. I saw it just as a legal avenue to delay building any affordable housing.”
Sullivan said he is aware that LaRosa had until 2015 to complete the project, but is disappointed that the section of the site facing Center Street remains empty.
“It’s ugly,” he said. “I’d almost rather have the building back than what I see there now. I think we all expected a little more from Mr. LaRosa.”
LaRosa appeared before the Town Council in 2006 and asked for the affordable housing unit requirement to be waived, but councilors refused.
The Simpson Village project came up during discussions on a proposed Incentive Housing Zone at a joint workshop of the Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission last week. The Incentive Housing Zone would require 20 percent of new dwellings built in the zone, which is located in the lower downtown, to be designated as affordable.
The town has two developments classified as “affordable” under state statute. Simpson Village would be the third. At the 2011 council meeting, LaRosa said Simpson Village would contain 25 units with seven designated as affordable, meaning someone earning 80 percent or less of the area median income would pay 30 percent or less of his or her annual income toward housing.
Wallingford’s median household income in 2009 was $71,117.
Republican Council Chairman Robert Parisi said he didn’t believe the delay was a mark against LaRosa’s firm. He said when the developer last appeared before the council, LaRosa noted that it was harder to secure mortgages on affordable housing units.
“I’m not going to condemn the developer at this point,” Parisi said. “I feel he’s making an effort. If he’s having a problem, I’d like to hear it.”
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