HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—With a joint ribbon-cutting and groundbreaking ceremony, Connecticut officials and Hartford residents celebrated the transformative redevelopment of a neighborhood that housing officials deemed functionally obsolete a few years ago.
The Village at Park River is a redevelopment of a former 40-acre public housing site known as Westbrook Village.
After housing officials determined that the area needed restoration, Westbrook Village residents in 2018 were relocated with $9 million in State Department of Housing funding.
Westbrook Village was demolished in 2019, making way for a new and improved neighborhood.
On Wednesday, Governor Ned Lamont, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, state and city officials, state legislative officials, project development team members and several others cut the ribbon on the completion of the first two phases of this redevelopment project.
The first phase included 75 townhouses. According to officials, 80% of the units were set aside for low and moderate income families and the other 20% were leased at market rate.
The second phase included an additional 60 units, of which 75% were set aside for low and moderate income families and the remainder set at market rate, officials said.
With the groundbreaking of phase three, construction is now underway for approximately 75 additional units and a new community building, Executive Director Annette Sanderson of The Housing Authority of the City of Hartford (HACH) said.
However, it's going to take years until the project is fully completed, she said.
"We're building it in phases, and the funding comes at various times," Sanderson explained, "so for each individual phase, we need to apply for funding."
The project is currently funded to cover four phases, she said, and an application to fund phase five will be submitted soon.
By the end of construction, which includes seven residential phases, the village will have over 400 units of mixed-income townhouses, about 100,000 square feet of office and retail space, a community building, and many community recreational areas including a central park.
The project has revitalized the community, Sanderson said, especially those members that had to be relocated.
"We had residents that had lived in Westbrook Village for decades. It was traumatic for them when we worked with them to move them out and we promised them that they would have the opportunity to come back if everything fell in line," Sanderson said, "So, for those people that are back, it's a wonderful opportunity. They love it."