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Housing issues affect everyone in Connecticut, from those who are searching for a safe place to live, to those who may find it increasingly difficult to afford a place they already call home.WNPR is covering Connecticut's housing and homelessness issues in a series that examines how residents are handling the challenges they face. We look at the trends that matter most right now, and tell stories that help bring the issues to light.

Hartford Housing Authority Scraps Plans For Major Development

Jeff Cohen
/
WNPR

Last summer, we told you the story of plans to knock down two of the biggest and oldest public housing complexes remaining in the city of Hartford. Officials at the Hartford Housing Authority hoped that developers would think big when it came to what's next.

But it turns out they didn't think big enough. 

The authority said it declined all of the proposals it received to redevelop Westbrook Village and Bowles Park. It has officially canceled its solicitation while it works to amend it and, eventually, to ask developers to try again.

Annette Sanderson, the authority's executive director, said, "While we appreciate the time that was spent by potential developers to respond to the solicitations for proposals, we feel that the process for evaluating the proposals did not provide the best outcome for the authority, its residents, and the City of Hartford."

In a letter to developers, Sanderson said that the authority's efforts to elicit a high number of creative responses from developers actually had the opposite effect. The result was a "limited pool" from which to choose, she said.

The authority said it plans to seek further input from residents, community stakeholders, and the city as it moves forward.

Jeff Cohen started in newspapers in 2001 and joined Connecticut Public in 2010, where he worked as a reporter and fill-in host. In 2017, he was named news director. Then, in 2022, he became a senior enterprise reporter.

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