Affordable housing is being designed for the vacant CT convent building
ENFIELD — Once they were hoping to build 330 residential units on a large lot on Enfield Street, developers have come forward with a new proposal that plans to build just 45 units.
The Felician Sisters of North America, which has managed Our Lady of the Angels Monastery and surrounding buildings on a roughly 30-acre campus since 1932, plans to get back before city planners in a few months with a large-scale new project. – Propose support for affordable housing units for seniors supported by a federal housing grant.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs awarded a $10 million grant to Felician Sisters partner, Boston-based nonprofit The Community Builders Inc., to redevelop affordable rental housing for low-income residents. 62 and above.
HUD funding will support the repurposing of the vacant St. Felix Center on the Felician Sisters’ Enfield Street campus into 45 units, with 41 one-bedrooms and four studios, according to Christine Anderson, senior development project manager at Community Builders. The partners plan to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission to obtain a special permit for the project sometime this winter, she said.
The St. Felix Center, which has been vacant for three years, served as a residential and training space for the sisters, Anderson said. She added that the building will be preserved, and an energy-efficient addition will be developed to create affordable homes. The project will also include community gathering spaces and amenities such as a health and wellness center, community gardens and outdoor walking trails.
Rachana Crowley, senior director of development at Community Builders of New England, said the new plan for Felician Sisters has been scaled back from previous proposals and will include renovating the existing building for housing.
“Over the past year, they have been meeting with neighbors, city officials, and local and state elected officials to help shape the current plans for the cadet building,” she said. “We are extremely grateful to HUD for recognizing the importance of the Felician Campus housing development, and to the Enfield community for continuing to work with us on a plan that works for the community.”
HUD funding enables the Felician Sisters to keep Enfield as their home without having to change the area while creating 45 homes for older residents, Crowley said.
The Felician Sisters’ original plans called for more housing on the 26.8-acre campus. Starting in 2021, they and community builders have appeared before the PZC and several times revised a proposed project for what would have been 330 apartments for multifamily and mixed-generation housing units in response to residents’ concerns. Among the issues raised by residents were increased traffic in the surrounding neighborhood, increased taxes to support public schools if families with children rented units, and the impact on the historic district’s views.
In 2022, representatives appeared before the PZC and described their new proposal that would have added 250 rental apartments to the campus. Some community members supported the proposed project, saying the city needs affordable housing for older and younger citizens who may have to leave the city for communities where they can afford to live.
During a June 2022 hearing on the second amended application, Carl Landolina, an attorney for the applicants, said all criteria for a zone change request had been met. He said the applicants came before the PZC about two years ago to discuss options for the proposed project in the context of zoning regulations. The consensus of PZC members at the time was that applying for a special development district was the appropriate mechanism to move forward with the project, Landolina said.
Ultimately, the PZC in October 2022 rejected the applicants’ application for a special permit. In a 5-2 vote, members said the proposed project to add 250 rental apartments does not comply with the city’s zoning regulations. The two members who voted in favor of the zoning change said the affordable rental housing project would provide a significant benefit to the community.
