Work underway on Stamford apartments for unhoused families

The site of a previously boarded-up and abandoned apartment building will see new life. It will become home to Fairfield County’s formerly unhoused population.

Work is underway on Rotary Commons, a 39-unit apartment complex for previously homeless families and individuals. Homeless shelter and service provider Pacific House recently began construction on the Stillwater Avenue project.

The former apartments were demolished and the land remediated before construction began, said Carmen Colon, Pacific House's chief executive officer and president.

While the new apartments are market rate, residents will pay a portion of their income toward rent. The amount will be based on the area median income (AMI), Colon said.

“It's all market rate, and this is affordable housing,” Colon said. “When we're talking about market rate, we're talking about that the units are all built to be for 30% through 40% of AMI.”

Eighteen of the apartments, which consist of two- and three-bedroom units, will be reserved for families who’ve experienced homelessness in Stamford and the surrounding area. The remaining 21 apartments are for formerly unhoused individuals, Colon said.

Rotary Commons will include on-site case workers and supportive services. Pacific House’s headquarters will also be relocated to the new building.

“We all know that with poverty comes depression,” Colon said. “With poverty, there are many, many other factors that do come in as the result of not being able to make ends meet, and those support services are going to be in place to make sure that we assist the families and be able to take care of any issues that may arise so they can stay stably housed.”

The focus on supportive housing will be of most benefit to unhoused seniors, who make up a quarter of Pacific House’s clientele.

Future residents will be chosen from Fairfield County’s Coordinated Access Network (CAN) waitlist for unhoused families, Colon said.

“We know that not just Fairfield County, but the entire state of Connecticut, we do need more housing to be able to continue to make sure that people that reside in the state of Connecticut and Fairfield County can stay in Fairfield County and do not have to leave the areas where they grew up in,” Colon said.

Rotary Commons is expected to be move-in ready in about two years.

The development was funded with $8.7 million in private investment, almost $6 million from the state Department of Housing, $2 million from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, and low-income housing tax credits from Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.

“We had a lot of catching up to do when it came to housing,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “More housing for single people, more housing for workforce housing and more affordable housing, and more supportive housing for folks who really need it most.”