Land Sale for Windsor Center Apartments Approved

The town council approved the sale of 6.5 acres on Mechanic Street in Windsor Center to Lexington Partners, LLC Tuesday. Lexington Partners plans to develop the property, located behind town hall and just over the train tracks, into a two-building, four-story apartment complex housing 130 units.

The development, called Olde Windsor Station, now must be approved by citizen vote a a public meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. on January 7. Upon approval at the public meeting, Town Manager Peter Souza said, the project could be presented to the planning and zoning commission as early as late winter, early spring.

According to Martin Kenney, owner of Lexington Partners, the development will have the following breakdown of apartments and rental prices:

• 4 studio apartments at $950-$1,100/month
• 88 one-bedroom apartments at $1,100-$1,400/month
• 38 two-bedroom apartments at $1,500-$1,800/month

Kenney told council members that he does not plan to convert the units into condos in the future, but said that construction of each unit would be "condo-quality" so the conversion into properties for ownership would be possible.

Kenney also expressed a confidence in the current marketplace, assuring council members that banks, unlike recent years when a previous developer (Upton Partners) of the same Mechanic Street property failed to secure funding, are now eager to be involved in rental projects.

"You're probably worried about financing," Kenney said to the council, "But since Upton looked at this in 2010, the market has improved greatly... We're starting another project in Bloomfield next year and we got eight bank proposals, where two years ago, banks weren't interested. Banks are realizing the demand for this type of housing."

The council, expressing pleasure with the development's design and with the need to bring younger families to Windsor, approved the sale to Lexington, though not unanimously.

Don Jepsen and Lisa Boccia voted against the sale.

"I voted against the first proposal, and I'm going to vote against this one... I worry about access when the road floods and I would have preferred to see condos and home ownership. I'm not one to trust the apartment concept," said Jepsen.

Souza stressed the importance of adding both foot traffic and income to Windsor Center to support business, particularly in the years ahead of the speed rail development, which is set to begin operation in 2016.

Souza also estimated the taxable value of this landsale to be about $300,000 of town revenue on the grand list.