"I live in Trumbull. And we don't want this project."

Such was the welcome Elisabeth Youngerman received when she visited the local mall to spread the word about Trumbull Townhomes, 43 affordable condominiums being built in the affluent suburb, Trumbull, Connecticut.

"I went to the Trumbull Mall because it is a big employer in Trumbull," recalls Ms. Youngerman, who is a development consultant to Mutual Housing Association of Southwestern Connecticut, Inc. (MHA), the developer of the townhouses.

It seemed an inauspicious start for the marketing campaign of the second housing initiative to be developed under Connecticut's Affordable Housing Appeals Act. However, MHA would prevail over this and other setbacks, proving that there's much to be said for the value of persistence.

A Tumultuous Beginning
Planning for Trumbull Townhomes began in 1993, when MHA first executed an option on a vacant 5.9-acre site. A former plant nursery, the property backs up to a day-care center and is bordered on two sides by denser single-family neighborhoods. "If you're going to do multifamily housing in Trumbull, it's the perfect site," says Larry Kluetsch, MHA's executive director.

Shortly thereafter, MHA submitted a zoning application to the local Planning and Zoning Commission for a "Housing Opportunity Zone" to allow for the construction of affordable housing. The application was filed in accordance with Connecticut's Affordable Housing Appeals Act, legislation enacted in 1989 to open up suburban towns to affordable housing.

Under the act, developers denied the opportunity to build affordable housing by local authorities may appeal the local rejection in court. A judge must then determine whether a town's reason for denial "clearly outweighs the need for affordable housing."

"It was very hostile, very against affordable housing coming into the suburbs," says Mr. Kluetsch of Trumbull's initial reaction to the proposed development. He cites concerns about how multifamily housing would change the town's character and the development's possible impact on schools as foremost among the complaints.

The town rejected the Trumbull Townhomes application, and MHA appealed the decision. After a lengthy series of hearings and appeals, wetlands and site-plan approvals were completed in 1998. A year later, final approval for a site plan containing 50 units was guaranteed by Connecticut Superior and Appellate Court decisions.

Growing Acceptance
Mr. Kluetsch says the town's outlook on Trumbull Townhomes eventually "changed dramatically." Key to this was MHA's decision to make the 50 units condominiums instead of apartments.

Says Ms. Youngerman: "In the end, we decided that Trumbull is a town of home owners; it's not a town of renters."

Shortly thereafter, the town's first selectman approached MHA.

"Ken Halaby, being very forward-looking, approached us and said, 'Can we work something out?' They (the town) then asked us to slightly reduce density," says Mr. Kluetsch. "In exchange, they said they wanted us to build more affordable housing."

MHA agreed to reduce the number of units in Trumbull Townhomes from 50 to 43, and the town donated a vacant parcel that MHA is now developing into 39 units of affordable senior housing.

Mr. Kluetsch also credits the development's complete affordability with helping to win over the town.

"What has sometimes happened under [the Affordable Housing Appeals Act] is that, under the guise of affordable housing, some for-profit developers have been able to build housing that is only 25- or 30-percent affordable." He notes that because of the area's high median income, even units deemed "affordable" often aren't for low-income households. "An affordable rent might be $1,200 for a two-bedroom unit."

Continues Mr. Kluetsch: "So I think there was a sense [in Trumbull] that 'OK, we really do want affordable housing. If we're going to do this, if this is going to happen, let's do this together, let's do it right.' Because the sticker shock around Fairfield has really gotten to people. A $300,000 home is really hard to find. Everyone knows relatives or children or employees or new teachers or others who simply cannot afford to live in Trumbull."

Also a possible motivating factor for the town's acceptance is a moratorium to the Affordable Housing Appeals Act. The moratorium allows towns that show progress toward affordable housing to receive exemption from the act for several years.

"I was concerned about that (the moratorium) coming in," says Mr. Kluetsch. However, he notes that the moratorium seems to have created an incentive for towns to promote affordable housing.

Holding the Financing Together
Putting financing together for a development under litigation proved a challenge.

"You can't finance something that's not approved," says Ms. Youngerman. "We were really fortunate. A group of doctors owned the property. They had originally intended to develop doctors' offices but were not successful in the zoning process. We gave them an annual payment to renew the option, and they kept it in place for us." (The Melville Charitable Trust provided the funds for MHA to renew the option.)

Further helping to ease the predevelopment financial constraints were lawyer Tim Hollister of Shipman & Goodwin and architect Henry Shadler, who both offered MHA flexible payment schedules.

In 1998, MHA began formally applying to financing programs. "We were coming to the end of the hearings and what was going to be the final site plan. We were negotiating with the town," says Ms. Youngerman. "At that point, we would get in line for tax credits and the state would take away our HOME funds. It was a very difficult process until there was a final plan."

A $250,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's Affordable Housing Program (AHP) and funding from Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation helped stabilize the financing plan.

"The AHP is not the major piece of funding all the time, but it's the critical one that makes it work. It's flexible and predictable," says Ruth Price, president of MHA's board and the CRA officer for Bridgeport-based People's Bank, which applied for the grant in Round Two of the 1998 AHP.

"AHP grants and subsidized advances are so critical because we get them early on in the process," adds Mr. Kluetsch. "Without them, it would make it a lot harder to do this. Not just because it would be more expensive, but because the timing is so critical."

In addition to securing the AHP grant, People's Bank provided $4.5 million in land-acquisition and construction loans and some of the buyers' mortgages.

"Affordable housing is a critical issue. We're wanting for it very badly in Connecticut. And there's not enough of it on a regional basis. So anytime there's an opportunity for it in a suburban setting, it's most welcome," says Ms. Price.

Rewarding Results
For MHA, the development of Trumbull Townhomes has been a long struggle with a happy ending.

By the end of January, 43 ethnically diverse, low- to moderate-income home buyers will be living in their new townhouses. The price of the most expensive condominium unit at Trumbull Townhomes is less than half the price of the average home in Trumbull.

The buyers have completed prepurchase counseling and soon will participate in a course designed specifically for new owners of condominiums. The majority come from communities outside Trumbull, and almost all are first-time buyers.

"At least half of the households have some connection to Trumbull: they either lived in Trumbull and couldn't afford to stay, are a family member (of a Trumbull resident), or work in Trumbull," says Mr. Kluetsch. "When suburbs look at this (affordable housing), they say, 'Well, we want it just for us, suburb people.' And we say, 'We can't do that. We have to do Fair Housing.' Here, we hit all the notes. We have great diversity, and we also brought the town an asset for the connections that are there."

The success of the development also bodes well for the state of affordable housing in Trumbull.

"If you go back to 1993, there were several hearings where we might have had 300 people coming out virtually unanimously against it," says Mr. Kluetsch. "All the fears that were expressed turned out to be unfounded. The development looks great. It looks like upscale housing, which is always our objective."

As for how this has changed MHA's relationship with the town?

"We're part of the Affordable Housing Committee in Trumbull now. The new first selectman, Raymond Baldwin, is also super-supportive," says Mr. Kluetsch. "It's a great working relationship, from the tax collectors to the Building Department to all of the committees. So we're hoping to do even more housing — even after we finish up the senior housing."