Like in many other communities, planning decisions in Mansfield are heavily influenced by one number.
Under Connecticut law, at least 10% of the housing stock in a city or town must be affordable in order to maintain the most local control over development. Drop below it, and builders can propose affordable housing projects that bypass local zoning regulations.
But in Mansfield, where only about 6% of housing is affordable, that threshold has proven difficult to reach.
The town has taken steps to grow its share, including passing rules that require affordable units in many new apartment buildings.
Mansfield is in the midst of a building boom, fueled in part by demand from students attending the University of Connecticut. The town’s affordable housing requirement is meant to ensure new development doesn’t serve only the student population.
But a new, upscale apartment complex that opened this summer is putting that assumption to the test.
As we reported last month, a collection of apartments within The Standard at Four Corners reserved for renters with moderate to low incomes remains largely empty, nearly three months after the complex opened.
As of early November, more than 85% of the 52 units designated as affordable and workforce housing had yet to be filled, according to the owner. By contrast, there was strong interest from students in the market-rate units at the property. Many were leased weeks in advance.
The absence of tenants has frustrated and puzzled some local officials. Across Connecticut, renters face an affordability crisis as they navigate tight inventory and increased costs.
The empty apartments have also raised questions about the developer’s efforts to market the project beyond Mansfield's student population, and sparked concerns about the town's housing guidelines.
Chase Powell, a senior development director with Landmark Properties, the Georgia real estate company behind the estimated $91.7 million project, told me those regulations effectively prevent many students from occupying income-restricted units, limiting the pool of applicants.
Part of the challenge may also be that even income-restricted units are too expensive for many tenants.
Another factor to consider is the design and marketing of The Standard, which aims primarily to serve a student population, said Jennifer Kaufman, Mansfield’s director of planning and development. Kaufman said the town is open to reconsidering its guidelines as it prepares for a major increase in new apartments.
"It would do no one any good if they are not successful, and it would also do no one any good if these affordable units are not occupied," she said.
