New $90M development authority eyes first target zone for multifamily housing

A new quasi-public agency with $90 million to spur multifamily housing development in Connecticut’s downtowns and near transit hubs is preparing to designate its first target zones next week, starting in Naugatuck.

Connecticut Municipal Development Authority Executive Director David Kooris told reporters Wednesday that the group’s board of directors is expected to approve a target development area in downtown Naugatuck at its upcoming meeting. He added that additional communities could also be included if agreements are finalized in time.

“Once the district is established and that boundary exists on a map, then we can entertain funding applications from any projects that meet our parameters within that district,” Kooris said.

The CMDA can provide assistance in several forms: technical support to communities for zoning adjustments; grants to municipalities for demolition, brownfield cleanups and infrastructure improvements; and low-interest loans for developers pursuing high-density housing.

In Naugatuck, the agency is eyeing a zone around the planned downtown passenger rail station, next to city-owned properties being cleared of pollution for redevelopment, Kooris said.

Naugatuck was the first municipality to contact the CMDA in February, Kooris noted. Since then, 25 more communities have sought to join and are working toward designating their own target zones. Kooris said most of those should advance through the process by early next year.

Currently, it takes about seven months for a community to complete enrollment and designation, but Kooris expects that timeline to shrink to three months once the agency is fully staffed and has worked through an early rush of applicants.

Gov. Ned Lamont appointed Kooris to lead the CMDA last July. The authority launched with $60 million in bonding authorization. In the session that ended in June, state lawmakers added another $30 million in bonding, available starting July 1, 2026.

As part of the state budget implementer bill, several changes to the agency take effect Oct. 1.

Communities will be able to enroll with the CMDA more easily, as local executive boards like city councils can approve participation at a public meeting without holding a separate hearing. In towns with a town meeting legislative body, the board of selectmen will be allowed to authorize enrollment.

Lawmakers also expanded CMDA participation eligibility to six greater Hartford communities — Bloomfield, Newington, South Windsor, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor — that had previously been excluded because they fall within the Capital Region Development Authority’s territory. While the CMDA is modeled after the CRDA, those six towns in the CRDA’s footprint have rarely advanced projects through that agency.