A deal to sell the former LoPresti School on Maple Street has been finalized, Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller announced last week.
The town sold the school building to developer John Guedes’ Primrose Companies for $335,000.
The building will be converted into 40 market rate apartments, according to Miller. The number of apartments has been fluctuating between 30 and 40 since last May.
Market rate means rents will be dictated by supply and demand. There will be one- and two-bedroom apartments for rent. Guedes told the Valley Indy last year he hopes to charge $1,200 a month for the two-bedroom units.
Guedes will invest an estimated $4 million to renovate the building. He believes there is a market for renovated apartments in the lower Valley, because much of the rental stock is within old houses. A newly renovated property will have a leg up on existing apartments, he said last year.
In a post on his Facebook page, Miller said the sale and redevelopment project is good for Seymour.
“This sale not only provides a nice boost to our grand list but, more importantly, all of the proceeds from the sale will be reinvested directly back into our existing building infrastructure to be used for much needed improvements and upgrades,” Miller said.
The First Selectman said the project falls within the town’s “transit-oriented development” strategy.
Transit-oriented development is a practice that promotes sensible development with transportation in mind. In Seymour, for example, the idea is to take advantage of the town’s train station and downtown business district, and tie those to nearby neighborhoods, such as Maple Street, where the apartment conversion will take place.
Click here for a 2013 report (file is a PDF) that looks at transit-oriented development in Connecticut
“With its location so close to the downtown, this project falls directly with in our TOD District Strategy,” Miller said in a statement. “I am very much looking forward to this and some other development projects that will be coming to Seymour in the very near future.”
Guedes has been purchasing and renovating old buildings in Bridgeport and elsewhere. His company has redeveloped much of Canal Street in Shelton along the Housatonic River.
In Bridgeport, his company:
- Purchased the former Elias Howe School on Clinton Avenue for $355,000 and converted it into 37 apartments for senior citizens.
- Purchased the Webster School on North Avenue for $300,000 and converted into 19 two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units.
- Purchased the St. Patrick School on Wells Street for $335,000 and converted into 25 two-bedroom apartments and two one-bedroom apartments.
While town officials have endorsed the plan, neighbors to the property have not been as enthusiastic.
At meetings last year, neighbors worried about quality of life issues, including increased traffic from the development. They also said the number of apartments was too high, and that the number of trees to be cut was not acceptable.
There were also fears that the apartments would be rented to people on public assistance.
