Date: Fri 10-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Riverview-condos-town-employee

Full Text:

Condo Developers Offer Affordable Units To Town Employees

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Fairfield 2000 Homes Corporation, the marketing agent for 13 units of

affordable housing at the 49-unit Riverview Condominiums complex now under

construction on Washbrook Road behind Sand Hill Plaza, is offering town and

school system employees the first opportunity to buy the affordable units.

In a letter to First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, John Madeo, president of

Fairfield 2000, writes "(R&G Riverview Associates, LLC's) marketing plan

indicates that, subject to all applicable state and federal housing

regulations, it intends to give preference to town (and school system)

employees for the purchase of these affordable housing units."

The sale price of the affordable units will be $146,600, with market rate

units sold at significantly higher prices, according to Mr Madeo.

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approved the condo complex with a

significantly higher than normal construction density because 25 percent of

the units are designated as affordable. "Affordable" is an elastic term which

varies from place to place based on a the annual median income of a family in

a region.

To qualify to buy an affordable unit, the maximum annual family income for a

one or two person household is $38,912; for 3 persons it's $43,776; for four

persons it's $48,460; and for five persons it's $52,531.

Beyond the sale price, the monthly condominium common charge is estimated at

$125 and the monthly property taxes are estimated at $185. The approximate

size of the affordable units is 1,200 square feet.

Buyers can chose between two different two-story units -- The Farmington and

The Ohio. The units have full basements.

P&Z members unanimously approved issuing R&G Riverview Associates, LLC, a

special exception to the zoning regulations on a 16.5-acre section of the

18.7-acre site last October.

The relatively swift approval of the 49-unit Riverview complex comes in

contrast to the P&Z's protracted consideration of the controversial Newtown

Village, a 98-unit condominium complex which has been proposed for Route 34

near Interstate 84 in Sandy Hook. The developers of Newtown Village have

proposed that 24 of the 98 units be designated as affordable housing.

The P&Z rejected Newtown Village after which its developers sued the town in a

move to get it built.

When P&Z members held a public hearing on Riverview last year, only positive

comments were made by the public.

Affordable units must be owner-occupied. Regulations require that affordable

condos remain "affordable" as defined by the state for at least 30 years.

In a housing complex with such high construction densities, the market value

units subsidize the price of the affordable units.

Affordable condos will be scattered throughout the complex and won't be

recognizable from the street. Affordable units will be smaller than

market-value condos.

The complex will contain two two-unit buildings, three three-unit buildings,

and nine four-unit buildings.

Site plans depict 14 contemporary buildings arrayed in semicircle overlooking

a large lawn and the Pootatuck River. A spur of buildings would extend off the

semicircle away from the river.