Note: This article was written by Brian Lockhart for the Connecticut Post and was published on its website on December 8, 2024.
BRIDGEPORT – Twelve years after opening affordable apartments for homeless women with children, Connecticut Housing Partners is aiming to build an adjacent companion project.
“It’s been such a successful program, we really want to expand on it,” said Renee Dobos, Trumbull-based Housing Partners’ executive director. “(And) we have an affordable housing crisis in this state.”
A post-COVID-19 pandemic spike in rents and real estate sale prices in Bridgeport put enormous pressure on a low-income housing stock in the city that, while more robust than suburban neighbors’, is not meeting the need.
Still in the planning and fundraising stages, Housing Partners’ new 30-unit development is proposed for 43 Madison Ave. in Bridgeport’s Hollow section, site of the long-shuttered Saint Joseph German Catholic Church, owned by Catholic Charities of Fairfield County. It will be adjacent to the existing 22-unit complex Housing Partners opened several years ago at 65 Madison Ave.
“The church is going to be taken down,” Dobos said. “We have a purchase/sale agreement with them (Catholic Charities) and will be procuring the building and land.”
The stone structure, built in 1923 according to land records, has been appraised by the city’s tax assessor at $2.6 million. Dobos said the entire development will cost an estimated $20 million and, on top of private contributions, will require state and possibly municipal aid.
Bank of America recently awarded the project a $15,000 grant.
Mike Donoghue, executive director of Catholic Charities, headquartered in Bridgeport, confirmed the partnership with Dobos’ agency. His organization already provides supportive services for the women and children living at 65 Madison Ave.
“The shelters are all full, so there’s a huge need for affordable housing,” he said. “While we had other offers on the property we wanted to team up with Connecticut Housing Partners again.”
After Saint Joseph’s closed, the Thomas Merton Family Center, which offers aid to the homeless, moved in in 1989. That nonprofit a year ago relocated to a newly renovated building at 1406 State St.
“The center was outgrowing it,” explained Donoghue. “And it was (an) old church that was kind of falling apart from a maintenance standpoint.”
Dobos said that earlier this year, Connecticut Housing Partners consulted with state’s historic preservation office about Saint Joseph’s future.
“It’s not historically significant, so we will be able to tear it down,” she said.
In an emailed statement, Jonathan Kinney, a preservation officer for the state, wrote, “We determined that the church building is not eligible for the state or national registers of historic places, as it has been significantly altered over time, including changes to its major character-defining features.”
At least one local activist, Robert Halstead, has been trying for a few months to start a movement to preserve the church. A former Bridgeport City Councilman who most recently ran a failed bid for the legislature as an Independent third party candidate, Halstead has a passion for the city’s history and for architecture.
He argues Saint Joseph’s is not only “beautiful” but the last remnant of that neighborhood’s German heritage.
“They shouldn’t be tearing it down, whether it’s historic or not,” Halstead said, suggesting perhaps housing units could be built within.
“Try to preserve the character of our city,” Halstead said. “Try to be creative about adaptive reuses.”
But Donoghue claimed “although the outside facade is nice, its a very, very old church that’s kind of crumbling and would be hard to preserve.”
Dobos said Housing Partners is still determining the look and scale of the new apartment building.
“We’ve been working with (Bridgeport) planning and zoning and learned we can’t go higher than three stories,” she said. “We were hoping to go a little higher to get more units in.”
Meanwhile her agency is working on an application for state funding to be submitted next year with the aim of breaking ground in 2026.
