By
GINNY MONK and MARK PAZNIOKAS/The Connecticut Mirror
The first four developments paid for through the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority, including housing, a museum and downtown retail space, got approval on Friday for about $19 million in bond funding.Connecticut’s State Bond Commission approved about $652 million in funding for statewide projects, school construction, upkeep of state facilities and purchasing of electric vehicles. The Connecticut Municipal Development Authority, formerly called the Municipal Redevelopment Authority, was established in 2019 as an unfunded entity and officially got money and started work in 2024. The authority partners with municipalities to help them reconfigure their zoning to allow more housing and transit-oriented development, particularly in downtown areas.More than 40 towns are member agencies. Once towns are member agencies, developers can apply to the authority for funding.
The agency has been a favored initiative of Gov. Ned Lamont and is one of his administration’s answers to a looming housing crisis partially borne of restrictive local zoning that makes it hard to build apartments.“The demand is there for housing. We need more housing to make sure that people can continue to move to the state, stay in the state, young people can stay in the state,” said Lamont, who chairs the commission, during Friday’s meeting.
