KENT—Kent Affordable Housing, which in April received conditional approval to take ownership of a 1.16-acre parcel of town-owned land on Kent Common, has chosen an architect for the project. The new construction is expected to add 10 or 11 dwelling units to the town’s stock of affordable housing.
At present, between the town’s senior house complex, Templeton Farm, and KAH’s projects, the town has 61 units of affordable housing. It has more units than any other Region 1 School District town other than Canaan. Kent’s housing plan calls for at least 20 dedicated affordable housing units to be created in the next five years.
Full acquisition of the property will not occur until after all necessary approvals for construction are received.
KAH President Justin Potter said this week that, while an architect has been selected, the town did not obtain a $800,000 Congressionally Directed (earmarked) federal grant through senators Richard Blumenthal’s and Chris Murphy’s offices. KAH sought the grant to assist in building the infrastructure needed for the new development.
“It made it to the correct committees, but we didn’t get it,” Potter said. “What they said was that they received many more applications than they could fund.”
Potter is not worried about the future of the project, however. “The state has relatively abundant financing, so we have no concerns about that. It was kind of like doing due diligence—the state wants you to file with the federal government first.”
He said it will “be a while” before all the pieces are in place and hopes that the groundbreaking will take place something in 2025.
