Meriden City Center Initiative

Public Involvement Process
Commercial Center Market Assessment
Environmental Impact Analysis
Harbor Brook Realignment
Preliminary Design of Transportation Improvements
Conceptual Land Use
Design Guidelines
Fiscal and Economic Impact Assessment
Appendix A: Property Acquisition Plan
Appendix B: Residential Relocation Strategy

	Scattered Site Relocation

	Mixed Development

	Mixed Ownership

	Summary

	Public Housing Recommendations

	Privately Owned Housing

	Acquisition Process

	Private Housing Relocation Recommendations
Appendix C: Preliminary Opinion of Cost Summary

Mixed Ownership

The third model is the mixed income, low-density ownership and rental community exemplified by the Homes at Monterey Place in the Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven. Monterey Place is a 346 unit mixed public and moderate-income housing program which replaced in the same location the high rise 475 unit Elm Haven public housing project built in the late 1940’s. The development is a mix of single-family detached, garden style and 3-story multifamily units, ranging from one to four bedrooms. The setting is very attractive and, in effect, presents itself as a small community with five internal streets and well-landscaped areas. The development was financed through a Hope VI HUD program and is nationally recognized as a model project. The developer and manager is Beacon/Corcoran Jennison of Boston.

The advantages of this model are many:

The phasing is manageable and the relocation can, therefore, be spread over a period of time avoiding the crisis management associated with large-scale public housing relocation. With sequential development of different housing styles (mid-rise, duplex, etc.) in the same location, families can be moved in groups as units are finished.
The mixed-income aspect provides a desirable environment for the relocated families and others needing moderate income housing, including ownership.
Neighborhood acceptance is likely, given that the design and physical improvements are compatible with the existing neighborhood and any articulated plans for economic and residential development.

The disadvantages are:

This approach requires a subsidy in order to achieve marketability for the non-public housing units. The Homes at Monterey were funded though the HOPE VI program which is threatened by being phased out, requiring identification of a different funding/grant source. The level of subsidy is a function of the cost of non-public housing units to be integrated and the gap to develop same for moderate income tenants and buyers.
In order for this model to function efficiently, development of a minimum of 100 units will be required. Therefore, a large site must be located in a neighborhood that will be acceptable to the private, moderate income market. Given that the 100 units may be composed of only 50% public housing, the requirement may entail finding two such sites and building double the units needed in order to satisfy the public housing relocation need.