By Kevin Mcnabola
Orange Board of Finance
Kevin McNabola
As you travel around Connecticut, you quickly notice the massive redevelopment and adaptive reuse opportunities taking place literally overnight within many of the state’s cities.
Many of these redevelopment projects include constructing massive market-rate apartment complexes which often include a 10 percent low-income affordable housing component.
I was recently in New Britain and noticed that the city is converting an old manufacturing plant, which back in the 1960s built electric appliances, into a new 154-unit apartment building. The redevelopment, which includes 79 one-bedroom, 59 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom units, targets young middle-income professionals and fixed income seniors.
Recently we have seen similar developments in New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, East Hartford and Meriden targeting young professionals. Most of these developments are located within a transit oriented district, which includes a rail system and shopping centers for young professionals to commute easily to Stamford or New York while having the convenience of walking to the grocery store and restaurants.
The goal of transit-oriented development is to use transit centers to enhance economic development, job accessible housing, retail amenities and quality of life in many of Connecticut’s walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. Responsible growth is a strategy to accommodate future development in a way that reinforces existing communities, uses resources efficiently and protects the environment.
The real question is whether this housing plan is sustainable, particularly since now many of the recent expansions include apartment complexes outside of the transit-oriented districts. The massive, rapid expansion of market-rate apartments eventually comes with a price tag for cities and towns that house them.
What is the long-term plan for these apartment complexes? It might seem like a great plan today, since many young professionals like the apartment style living. But what happens when the young middle-income professionals move out and buy a new house in the suburbs? The reality of apartment-style complexes is that over time there is tremendous budgetary pressure put on city resources in the areas of education, police, fire, EMS, public utilities and social services when the young professionals migrate to the suburbs for the purchase of their first home and vacant apartments are then backfilled by transients.
This same exact scenario played out in real time back in the 1980s in West Haven. The politicians in West Haven struck deals with developers and changed the zoning regulations so that developers could construct multiple apartment complexes and three-family homes throughout the center district, thus requiring huge increases in funding for city, sewer, water and education services.
Will Connecticut’s transit oriented district and apartment strategy pay off economically in the future and lead to vibrant communities? Or will the economics revert back to the basics in that the growing demand for more housing will be be met with a growing supply of housing – ultimately leading to growth in city services and city funding requiring additional taxes. In the end, time will tell which scenario actually plays out.
Kevin McNabola is the chief financial officer for the city of Meriden and a member of the Orange Board of Finance.