State funding gets affordable housing development off the ground

By Joe Kelly

A plan to build a campus of compact, affordable homes on 39 acres off Old Colony Road has cleared a major hurdle: the state of Connecticut has committed nearly $4 million to start construction. 

The state money, combined with a roughly $2 million construction loan, means that 2025 will be the year that the 10-unit development known as Haystack Woods—a mix of two- and three-bedroom, energy-efficient homes plus two carports—will go from idea to reality. 

Kate Briggs Johnson, president of the Foundation for Norfolk Living, said a formal groundbreaking has been scheduled for May 9. The builder is David Jones of Revival Homes LLC out of New Hartford, which specializes in energy efficient construction. 

The carports are going up first and piers were dug into the ground in March. In addition to parking, the carports hold the solar panels that will power the heating and cooling, enabling the development to qualify as net-zero—the energy that’s generated equals what’s being consumed. 

The energy set-up at Haystack Woods also includes batteries, so the development can store power for extra resiliency during storms and generate credits for the future homeowners by selling excess power back to the grid. The carports also have electric vehicle charging stations, giving residents the option to enjoy carbon-free transportation and zero automotive fuel costs. Once the carports are done, work will start on the 10 houses, but don’t expect to see any basements being dug or walls constructed onsite. All the houses, which range in size from about 1,200 to 1,355 square feet in size, will sit on concrete slabs. 

The houses will go up in assembly line fashion using insulated, structural panels that will be fabricated off site. The panels are insulated, and they will be supplemented by more insulation made of recycled glass, recycled paper and mineral wool, a fiber made from stone, silica and other naturally occurring materials. The idea is to create a seamless shell that limits heating and cooling loads, enabling very efficient air-source heat pumps to maintain a consistent year-round temperature. 

After construction is complete and Haystack Woods Road is accepted by the town, the houses can go on the market. Buyers are likely to take occupancy in 2026, but Johnson said it’s too early to predict an actual move-in date.

In an interview about the project, Johnson and Lou Barbagallo, former board chair, acknowledged the amount of time that’s been required to bring the project for fruition. “No activity has not meant no work was being done,” according to Johnson who said the team behind the Haystack Woods has met every week to hash out details. All site work was completed more than a year ago.

Public funding comes with a load of paperwork. Johnson said securing the latest grant alone required compliance with a mind-numbing, 100-point checklist. And the FNL team is also busy hammering out the details of what will be the Haystack Woods homeowner’s association. It is expected that the homes will sell for $159,000 to $261,0000. That’s well under the actual cost of construction but will generate enough to pay off the construction loan while still allowing the homes to qualify as affordable. 

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing is affordable where the occupant pays no more than 30 percent of their gross income for housing costs, including utilities. Potential Haystack Woods homeowners can earn between 60 and 80 percent of the median income. They must also be first-time buyers. A typical example would be a family of three earning $49,000 to $66,000 who can keep the total cost of a mortgage, utilities and property taxes at $1,225 and $1,650 per month.

Johnson noted that rising interest rates and energy costs are real challenges for meeting the affordability standard, making the commitment to net-zero all that more important. “Ideally, you are looking at flat energy costs, which is really important for keeping the homeowner’s cost of housing under 30 percent,” she said.

The $4 million from the state, administered by the Department of Housing, helps cover the gap between actual constructions costs and the revenue generated by selling the homes. It comes on top of $2.8 million previously provided to FNL for site work and building the access road to meet town specifications as a public road.