Homesteads Site—

Developer Proposes

146-Condo Complex In Hawleyville

By Andrew Gorosko

The Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) is considering a request from a Greenwich developer to provide sanitary sewer service for 146 age-restricted condominium units proposed for the site of The Homesteads housing complex in Hawleyville.

Representatives of Paragon Real Estate met with WPCA members on June 10 to discuss that firm’s request to link the proposed 146 condo units, which it would develop at the Homesteads site, to the Hawleyville sewer system, which discharges wastewater into the Danbury sewage treatment plant.

Local attorney William Denlinger and engineer Albert Bisacky, of SEA Consultants, Inc, of Rocky Hill, represented Jay Addison of Greenwich, of Paragon Real Estate, at the WPCA session.

The developer proposes constructing 134 new age-restricted condos on a 50-acre site at The Homesteads. Twelve age-restricted condos already exist on that property, but they have never been occupied. The existing 12 vacant condos would be refurbished as part of a 146-unit Paragon condo complex.

Several years ago, the Homesteads organization encountered serious financial problems, which led to large outstanding bills on the property and an inability to secure all the required town approvals for condo occupancy. Those bills included extensive delinquent real estate taxes and sewer debt.

The Homesteads site consists of two parcels: the ten-acre 166 Mt Pleasant Road parcel, where a 95,000-square-foot assisted-living building containing 100 rental apartments is located, and the 50-acre 12 Pocono Road parcel, an adjoining site where the Homesteads has built 12 of the 46 condominiums for which it received Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) construction approvals. The 60 acres have EH-10 (Elderly Housing) zoning, which is intended for multifamily development for people over age 55.

The ten-acre site has been known as The Homesteads at Newtown. The 50-acre site has been known as The Homesteads Community at Newtown. The sites have been under separate corporate ownership. The Paragon proposal does not involve the 100-unit Homesteads assisted-living residential hotel.

The Homesteads site is adjacent to Ginsburg Development Corporation’s Liberty at Newtown, a 96-unit age-restricted condo complex, which is now under construction on 40 acres at 178 Mt Pleasant Road. 

Economic Development

The Homesteads approached the town in early 1998, seeking permission to build a 300-unit elderly housing complex, describing the project as a source of local economic development. As part of that project, the developer received generalized town approval for a 162-unit congregate living complex on the site, but the congregate housing aspect of the project never materialized.

The town designated The Homesteads as an economic development project. The town then constructed the first phase of the Hawleyville sewer system to provide sanitary sewer service for that complex. The Hawleyville sewer system was designed to foster economic development.

Mr Denlinger told WPCA members June 10 that the developer wants the WPCA to modify the sewer connection approval that was granted to The Homesteads, in order to provide sewer service to the 146-unit condo complex now envisioned by Paragon.

Mr Denlinger said that Mr Addison would not build any congregate-living units on the 50-acre site, but instead would construct 134 condos, in addition to the 12 vacant condos that are already there. Mr Denlinger said that the developer holds a purchase option on the 50-acre site.

The Homesteads initially was envisioned as a 300-unit complex that would provide housing for senior citizens in three categories. Condominiums would provide residences for independent living. Congregate living would be provided for seniors requiring some help in their lives. The 100-unit residential hotel would provide yet more aid in the form of assisted-living.

Modified Plans

“We’re looking for your approval for our [modified] plans,” Mr Denlinger told WPCA members. The lawyer said the sewage flow, which would be generated by the proposed 146-unit condo complex, would be approximately the same sewage volume as was formerly approved by the WPCA for the 50-acre site. A 146-unit condo complex would have approximately 292 residents, Mr Denlinger said.

The developer does not consider congregate housing a viable form of housing, but believes that condos would be viable, Mr Denlinger said. “Apparently, the market just fell apart for congregate [housing],” the lawyer said. “We think that our [development] plan will make this a viable [residential] project,” he said.

WPCA Chairman Richard Zang pointed out that the condo complex envisioned by Paragon would be categorized as an “economic development” project, not as a pollution abatement project.

WPCA members want the Economic Development Commission (EDC) to provide them with guidance on the Paragon proposal, Mr Zang said. WPCA members want to know whether the EDC endorses the Paragon project, he said.

Mr Denlinger said he would seek an EDC endorsement of the condo proposal at a July 20 EDC session.

Mr Zang also asked that the developer prepare sewage-flow statistics concerning the volume of sewage that a 146-unit condo complex would discharge into the sewer system.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley predicted that the Paragon proposal would raise technical and legal issues in terms of acquiring sewer service. Mr Hurley urged that the developer review the various sewer easement issues for the 50-acre site that the developer would own.

The proposed Paragon complex would contain mostly four-unit and eight-unit residential buildings, with some three-unit and five-unit buildings, Mr Bisacky said. The two-story buildings on the site would contain elevators, as required by the zoning regulations, he said.

After securing EDC and WPCA endorsements for the complex, the developer would approach the P&Z for land use approvals, Mr Bisacky said. Wetland approvals might also be required.

The envisioned complex would include an age-restricted health club for its residents and for members of the general public over age 55.

The site holds conservation easements, which would result in some of the proposed condos being served by new roadway extending directly from Mt Pleasant Road.