Key Stratford housing developments to keep an eye on in 2024

STRATFORD — The town could be in for a bit of revitalization over the next several years, with the planned construction of dozens of new housing units, including renovations that will transform old buildings into apartments. 

Local land use boards this year approved four small-scale residential projects that will add a total of 66 units across town. Meanwhile, zoning officials are set to consider several larger proposals that could lead to more than 500 additional units. Here are some of the developments to keep an eye on in 2024 and beyond. 

One of the largest proposals involves the old Dictaphone Corporation property off Broadbridge Avenue. The owners of the vacant office park want to transform the site into a 234-unit housing complex by converting an existing building and constructing a pair of new ones. 

“The redevelopment plan is the adaptive reuse of the property into three buildings, all of which will be residential,” Barry Knott, an attorney representing the developers, wrote in an application submitted last summer.   

The project is a part of a larger push by developers to convert unused office space into more profitable residential rentals, a trend that has accelerated in recent years amid a nationwide housing shortage and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered many larger offices.  

The long-planned redevelopment of the old Center School property near the heart of Stratford is also set to see significant movement next year. The town council voted late last year to sell the property for $1.69 million to Romano Brothers Builders, which plans to construct a 154-unit housing complex. 

The development, which was one of two proposals that were considered by the council, calls for a four-story apartment building with 134 units plus 20 two-bedroom townhouses facing Sutton Avenue. 

“We’re very excited and we’re looking forward to doing this,” Mark Romano, the developer behind the project, told Hearst Connecticut Media following the council’s decision. 

Town officials have long eyed the Center School site for redevelopment. The 3.6-acre property sits just a few hundred feet from the town’s Metro-North train station, making it an attractive location for developers.

The school, which opened in 1970, was decommissioned in 2005 and demolished in 2018 with the help of a $1.2 million state grant. Local officials began soliciting proposals to build on the vacant town-owned site about four years ago. 

Though the council has voted in support of the proposal, the project still needs to be approved by the zoning commission before construction can officially begin, according to Stratford Planning and Zoning Administrator Jay Habansky. 

The future of at least one proposed residential complex could depend on the outcome of an ongoing court case. The developer behind a 129-unit apartment building proposed for Hawley Lane has asked a judge to reverse a decision by a land use board to reject the project. 

The inland wetlands commission, which is charged with determining whether construction projects follow local environmental regulations, rejected the proposal after staff members determined the construction plan did not include enough protections for local wildlife and safeguards in the event of a stormwater system failure.  

Russo noted the revised application includes changes to a pump station, a plan to restore more than an acre of wetlands, and protections for vulnerable animals, such as box turtles. 

Zoning officials are also set to take another look at a project that should be familiar to some of them. The developer behind an already-approved apartment building planned for Lordship Boulevard is seeking permission to expand the project to a total of 127 units. 

Chris Russo, an attorney representing the developer, has told zoning officials that the project may not be economically viable unless his client is allowed to increase the number of rental units and add an additional floor to the building. 

“Unfortunately, since the beginning of the project, the economy has changed,” Russo said last summer. “Obviously inflation and interest rates have impacted everybody. It has also impacted development.”   

Residents interested in living in the old Masonic Temple on Main Street will soon be in luck. The owners are now working to convert the historic structure, which sits near the Stratford Train Station, into an apartment building. 

The plans call for the developers to gut and renovate the interior of the 102-year-old building and construct a three-story expansion that will double the size of the former temple. Barry Knott, an attorney representing the property’s owners, has said the apartments will be made up of one-and-two-bedroom units that will be rented to tenants at market rate. 

Site plans show the developers plan to convert the 2,100 square-foot church into multiple residential units, potentially up to six one-bedroom units. They also plan to build nine new detached condominiums directly to the east and south of the church. 

The developers originally aimed to build a 64-unit apartment building on the site, but later scaled back the proposal as part of an agreement with town officials.   

A dozen new apartment units will soon be available on Paradise Green. Zoning officials this fall approved plans to construct a two-story building next to a shopping plaza at the corner of Main Street and Paradise Green Place. 

Site plans show the proposed 7,744-square-foot structure will replace an existing 83-year-old office building that the Stratford-based developers described as “past its usable life” due to its deteriorating foundation. 

“The replacement will mirror the residential building on Paradise Green side of the project, bookending the strip shopping center,” the developers wrote in an application submitted to the town earlier this year. 

A unique project is set to change the appearance of a Barnum Avenue building that has historically been home to restaurants. The owner has been given the green light to build a new floor with a half-dozen apartments on top of the existing single-story structure. 

The addition will sit directly above the Mangoz Bar & Lounge, a sports bar that is also known for serving seafood dishes. It will feature six one-and-two-bedroom apartments, according to site plans.