Nonprofit outlines plan to acquire, rehabilitate two Chester affordable-housing properties

The Merry Fund, a Connecticut-based nonprofit, told the Chester Housing & Community Development Committee on April 14 that it plans to acquire two troubled project-based properties — Benjamin Banneker and Daniel Scott Commons — and pursue a financing package to fund a comprehensive rehabilitation.

The Merry Fund’s chairman, Frank Farica, told committee members the organization would not seek direct city grant money and that the nonprofit will invest its own funds and pursue state and federal resources. “I’m not here to ask you for money,” Farica said. He said the nonprofit would apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and seek an adjustment to the existing HUD project-based contract so the properties could support larger debt service while keeping tenant rents unchanged under the subsidy rules.

The plan targets two distinct properties. Jeremy Filo, president of KMA Design Studio, said Benjamin Banneker — a mid- or high-rise building — needs deep infrastructure work, including electrical, mechanical, plumbing, envelope and accessibility upgrades. Filo estimated roughly $155,000 in construction cost per unit for Benjamin Banneker and…