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Council approves tax-incentive for 341 Jordan Lane redevelopment after contested public hearing
Summary
The Wethersfield Town Council voted to approve resolution R25-014 to authorize a phased tax-incentive agreement for 341 Jordan Lane, a three-phase market-rate apartment redevelopment proposed by 341 Jordan Development LLC. Supporters said it will transform a blighted property; critics called the abatement corporate welfare and warned of school and tax impacts.
The Wethersfield Town Council voted Oct. 6 to approve R25-014, a tax-incentive resolution for 341 Jordan Lane that implements a phased abatement tied to construction and occupancy of a three-phase apartment redevelopment.
Joe Califuri, managing partner of 341 Jordan Development, told the council the site is a former nursing home that has been vacant for more than a decade and requires environmental remediation. "Without this, the project is dead," Califuri said, arguing that rising interest rates, construction-cost escalation and remediation expenses made the incentive necessary to attract bank financing and enable a roughly $50 million investment in the town.
The developer described a phased build: a 34-unit first phase followed by two larger phases (about 63 units each), with amenity features including a fitness center, walking trails and community space. Califuri said the company volunteered 5% of units (eight apartments) at 80% of median income. He estimated limited school impacts based on a prior project: "We have zero school-age students in almost 30 units," he said, and a study of a 160-unit project projected roughly 15 students as an upper bound.
Opponents in the public hearing said the abatement amounted to corporate welfare and would shift costs to other taxpayers. Robert Young said the town should not "give tax advantages" to wealthy developers and warned of long-term fiscal consequences. D. Garcia urged the council to prioritize senior housing rather than market-rate apartments.
Town officials and multiple councilors pushed back with revenue estimates and timeline clarifications during debate. Councilors and the applicant noted that the abatement schedule phases in tax increases as buildings stabilize and that personal property and vehicle taxes would add revenue beyond the baseline tax on the vacant property.
The motion to adopt R25-014 passed after discussion. The approved resolution is contingent on a final tax-incentive agreement to be drafted by the town attorney and town manager that will specify schedule A and the final legal terms. The council did not attach additional conditions on affordable-housing percentages beyond the developer’s volunteered 5%.
What’s next: The council’s approval allows negotiation of the final agreement; construction timetables depend on permitting and financing. The developer said phase one could begin in 2026 if approvals and financing are secured; subsequent phases would follow as the project stabilizes.
