Hartford Business Journal

20 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 22, 2024 Gov. Ned Lamont recently rode the CTrail Hartford line from the Capital City to Meriden to promote transit-oriented development. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER All Aboard! Lamont looks to replicate CRDA's success with statewide development agency tasked with financing transit-oriented housing By Hanna Snyder Gambini hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com T he quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority has been credited with helping spur the development of thousands of new apartments in Hartford by providing low-interest gap financing to projects that were unlikely to get off the ground with only private investment. Now, efforts to replicate CRDA's success in other cities and towns are gaining traction as part of a Lamont administration focus to spur transit-oriented development. The Municipal Redevelopment Authority, or MRDA, was estab- lished in 2019 to mirror CRDA's efforts statewide. However, the initiative never took hold, after MRDA failed to receive funding and state and local officials became distracted by the pandemic. The establishment of MRDA also met resistance from some municipal- ities over population thresholds that excluded some smaller towns and mandated the participation of larger or distressed cities. Last year, lawmakers quietly tried to address those issues by approving funding for MRDA — $600,000 in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 — to hire staff, and eliminating membership mandates and restrictions, opening up the program more broadly. Last year's state budget also allows the Bond Commission to autho- rize up to $60 million to capitalize MRDA. The funds would allow the quasi-public agency to help finance development projects, likely through low-interest loans. Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this month, while taking a train ride on the CTrail line from Hartford to Meriden, said he intends to name an executive director to lead MRDA, with hopes the organization's launch will fast- track more transit-oriented develop- ment projects, like those that have already sprouted near bus stops and train stations in Meriden, New Britain, Berlin, Hartford, Windsor Locks and other places. And while the state has invested tens of millions of dollars in recent years to support multifamily and other local economic development projects, much more needs to be done to address the state's housing shortage, he said. "Connecticut is gaining population and I have to make sure that keeps going, and we can't do that without housing. And we need all types of housing, single-family, workforce, affordable…," Lamont said. How MRDA would work According to the law that created the quasi-public agency, MRDA will be overseen by an executive director and 16-member board of directors. The governor has the authority to appoint the executive director and board chair, according to his office. Lawmakers have established the framework for how MRDA will operate, but some details still need to be finalized, the governor's office said. MRDA's main purpose is to assist in local development and redevelop- ment efforts, with a particular focus on new housing. Any municipality that opts to join the authority must establish "housing growth zones" that are prime for development and likely to substan- tially increase housing production. Towns will be able to determine where they want to see housing and what they want that housing to look like, Lamont said. "You want no more than two-story or three-story housing? Tell us what you want to do, what you want housing to look like, and we'll provide the financing necessary to get you over the top," Lamont said. Part of MRDA's charge is also advising member municipalities on establishing zoning regulations that provide certainty to developers. Brian O'Connor, director of public policy and advocacy for the Connecticut Confer- ence of Municipal- ities, a group that represents cities and towns, said the refined MRDA program is more user-friendly. It, for example, makes participation voluntary for some larger cities and allows smaller towns to join inde- pendently instead of in conjunction with neighboring municipalities. MRDA can help smaller towns, O'Connor said, gain develop- ment-savvy partners that can expe- dite projects, or gain access to grants and tax abatements. In the years post-Covid, smaller towns with aging populations and declining school enrollments seem more open to transit-oriented devel- opment projects, O'Connor said, with an eye toward infilling downtown areas to make them more vibrant. "They are seeing certain value in growth, especially housing growth," O'Connor said. CCM is planning to host an infor- mational webinar on MRDA guide- lines, he said. CRDA's impact Michael Freimuth has been the executive director of CRDA since its creation in 2012. The quasi-public agency was designed to encourage development in Hartford and several Who will oversee MRDA? The quasi-public Municipal Redevelopment Authority will have a 16-member board, including six members with expertise in housing development, plan- ning, zoning and transit-oriented development. In addition, leaders from the following agencies will be on the board: • Office of Policy and Management • Dept. of Labor • Dept. of Transportation • Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection • Dept. of Public Health • Dept. of Housing • Dept. of Economic and Community Development Brian O'Connor

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