On Friday, State Senator Norm Needleman (D-Essex) took a tour of The Lofts at Spencer’s Corner, a recent redevelopment project in Centerbrook created by the HOPE Partnership in hopes to simultaneously revitalize a central commercial property key to the town and provide affordable housing to the region. Friday’s tour, hosted by HOPE Partnership Operations Manager Loretta McCluskey and Board of Directors President Dave Carswell, explored the mixed-use property, which has apartments ranging in size from one to three bedrooms on its second and third floors and a combination of retail and office space on the first floor.
“It is wonderful when a group of volunteers come together to take on projects that will have long-term benefits for the community,” said Sen. Needleman. “The HOPE Partnership should be lauded for its efforts in not only bringing new, revitalizing development with both residential and business opportunities to the heart of Centerbrook but expanding access to affordable, sustainable housing, something our region needs. I’m looking forward to seeing new neighbors and families take up residence in both its housing and business spaces.”
The HOPE Partnership’s work to redevelop with the intent of increasing access to affordable housing is based off studies and reports from sources like the Center for Housing Policy, which found affordable housing development does not negatively impact nearby property values; in fact, in many cases, they increase those values by injecting new economic investment in a community, it said. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reported that 100 new affordable rental homes could generate $12 million in local income, more than $2 million in tax revenue and government funding and 160 jobs in a community in just one year. This is especially important as some Middlesex County towns see more than half of all renters burdened by rent, in other words spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing each year.
The Lofts at Spencer’s Corner, located on Main Street in Centerbrook, is the HOPE Partnership’s latest property, in addition to its success developing affordable housing with Old Saybrook’s Ferry Crossing townhouse project, which offers 16 homes to families earning less than 80 percent of median area income and was completed in 2012. It is also working to develop a 35-unit project in Madison with 24 affordable housing units.
Caption: State Senator Norm Needleman, HOPE Partnership Operations Manager Loretta McCluskey and Board of Directors President Dave Carswell at The Lofts at Spencer’s Corner.