New Life For Connecticut’s Oldest Public Housing Complex
Soundview Landing (formerly Washington Village), constructed in 1940, is currently the oldest public housing development in Connecticut. The area was flooded during Superstorm Sandy, and residents needed to be relocated due to damage. The Norwalk Housing Authority and City of Norwalk Redevelopment Agency applied for, and secured a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) grant to replace the existing 136 public housing units with a mixed income community of 273 housing units.
Tighe & Bond was responsible for the site and traffic engineering for the project, secured zoning approvals from the City, and provided assistance to the City in preparing its successful application to HUD for the CNI planning grant and the CNI implementation grant. Tighe & Bond also assisted the City in obtaining a funding application for a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program through the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (CT DEMHS) for local infrastructure improvements.
Due to its location in a floodplain, and as a recipient of grant money administered by the State, the project required a Floodplain Management Certification from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP). Additionally, the project also required an exemption from the State’s flood management statutes because of the increased intensity of development within the floodplain. The project was designed to provide 1-2 feet of freeboard above the 500-year flood elevation, with all residential units located above the floodplain, and at-grade parking below the building. Improvements to existing roadways in front of the site would provide dry access to contiguous dry land. Tighe & Bond was able to successfully demonstrate that the project met the four criteria to obtain an exemption: the project poses no risk of injury to persons or property, the project is in the public interest, the project is NFIP compliant, and making the owner aware of the flood insurance requirements.
Services Snapshot
Tighe & Bond provided design, permitting, and grant funding assistance to the Norwalk Housing Authority and City of Norwalk Redevelopment Agency in support of this project.
