Two dozen extremely low income and formerly homeless residents are getting a new start in Hartford, with the opening of Beaumont Lofts.
Beaumont Lofts are run by My Sisters' Place, a homeless services provider and affiliate of Community Housing Advocates.
The 24 apartments are all reserved for residents earning at or below 30% of the area’s median income (AMI), Community Housing Advocates Chief Executive Officer Kara Capone said.
“Beaumont Lofts represents a significant step forward on our ongoing efforts to ensure that everyone in our community has access to safe, quality and affordable homes,” Capone said.
Half of the apartments are for residents who meet the federal definition of Extremely Low Income, earning below 30% AMI.
The other half of the apartments are set aside for disabled formerly homeless residents, who are referred to My Sister’s Place by the Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network.
“That will allow for families really to enjoy an apartment that is quality, energy efficient, with affordable rent,” Mosquera-Bruno said. “I’m going to keep saying that. Affordable rent to those individuals that are going to be living here.”
As of February, there were more than 1,000 residents sleeping outdoors on any given night, more than 100 in the Hartford area and more than 200 in Fairfield County, according to data from the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.
Five of the units at Beaumont Lofts are subsidized through Shelter Plus Care housing vouchers. The vouchers are provided through Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The remaining 19 units will be subsidized through the Hartford Housing Authority.
In 2023, Connecticut reported about 2,400 emergency and transitional beds for homeless residents and nearly 10,000 permanent supportive and re-housing beds, according to HUD data.
A history of helping homeless residents
My Sister’s Place has a track record of providing homes for the formerly homeless, having previously founded Mary Seymour Place and Sue Ann Shay Place apartment complexes, with 30 and 34 units, respectively.
My Sister’s Place residents meet one or more of the criteria for their affordable housing. The criteria are low income, living with a mental illness, and/or are currently homeless.
"We've meticulously designed these apartments to be well-appointed and to create a living environment that anyone would be proud to call home,” Capone said.
Beaumont Lofts are at the site of the former Proctor Silex factory in Hartford’s Clay Arsenal neighborhood, located in the city’s North End.
The project cost $8 million, primarily with federal and state funding.
The factory was converted to family shelter space by My Sister’s Place in 1991. Lack of funding forced the shelter to close in 2017, until the organization was able to begin revitalization and began renovating for apartments in 2023.
Beaumont Lofts was made possible with American Rescue Plan Act funding specifically set aside for projects with rent at or below 50% AMI, Department of Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said.
“A goal when I started was to streamline the Department of Housing and minimize inefficient ways of doing this work,” Mosquera-Bruno said. “This is a prime example of the efficient use of time and resources to build housing more quickly.”
There are about 300 housing units under construction in Hartford, and more than 5,000 statewide, Mosquera-Bruno said.
